Gear report

At the fly fishing show in Marlborough, MA this weekend, one of the vendors
was offering a 10% show special on all rods they brought to the show. One of
these was the Orvis Superfine 7'9" 2WT, which I'd been eyeballing in their
catalogs for more than a year. When I picked it up and put it through a
slight amount of casting motion, it called out to me and I had to buy it. I
didn't want to, but it had to be done.

For those unfamiliar with the Superfine series, this is a full-flex rod -
very light (1 1/2oz.), and soft and slow with a lot of touch. I don't expect
to be driving a lot of line through it, just spring creek / tail water
fishing, which is mostly what I do these days. When I got home from the
show, it was 50+ degrees and sunny outside, so I loaded up the rod with my
CFO-I reel and some 2WT Wonderline (yeah, yeah - Orvis-boy) and took it out
in the back yard to see how it felt. It was like the rod was custom made for
me. I had a paper plate for a target, and started at around 25' to get the
feel of it. I was able to place the fly (a little piece of yarn) either on
the target or right next to it on just about every cast. Some of you good
casters are probably saying, "So what?!", but this is good for me. People
have asked me what kind of casting style I have, and I reply that I have
none. Anyway, I moved the target another ten feet and tried again -
same good results. I moved the target several more times until it was about
60' away, and the rod was still keeping up pretty well. If I can get near
the target at 60', that's an exceptional feat for me, and a skill I seldom
need anyway because of the waters I fish.

The rod is balanced quite well with the CFO-I, but I also ordered a BBS-II
that should be here in the next few days, and I'll give that a try, too.
BTW, if anyone is in the market, Orvis has a special on those BBS reels
right now where you get the spare spool free with the purchase of the reel.

Bottom line is that I think I'm really going to like this rod and I'm
looking forward to having a fish on the other end.
--
TL,
Tim
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http://css.sbcma.com/timj/