Any fly fisher person who hasn't been living under a rock will recognize the name Orvis. Orvis is one of the biggest names in the industry, selling rods, reels, and everything else fly fishing related. They have some of the sweetest casting rods in the world, and have for a long time. My first "nice" fly rod was a 7'6" 3wt Orvis Silver Label graphite rod that I got back in the mid-90s. Before that I had done all my fly fishing with an "adequate-but-hardly-high-end" Cortland GRF, which was fine, but not "sweet". The Orvis rod changed my impression of the fly rod, from something that was fun and different, into the most awesome tool that man has ever created.
Some of you may already know that before Orvis sold graphite rods, they were a big seller of fiberglass rods. For the first 10 years or so their glass rods were made by the Phillipson company. The Phillipson-made Orvis rods I have cast have been very nice, but I much prefer the Orvis rods that were made in-house during the later years. Most of these Orvis made rods were known as Fullflex "A" rods. Don't know how they came up with that name, but I do know that they are sweet!
The rod I am writing about today is my 7' 5wt Fullflex "A" rod. It is a sweet little rod with plenty of reach to make 40-50' casts with ease, and enough backbone to cast medium-sized nymphs and streamers, or big-bushy dries. But it can be super delicate, too. The rod I own has a perfectly-sized cork grip, and a nice downlocking reel seat. Fullflex "A" rods were not known for their fancy accoutrements, and this rod is no exception. Simple but elegant script writing on the brown blank, along with single-tone orangish-brown wraps on the guides. But don't let that simplicity fool you. Let me tell you, this is one awesome casting tool. If you can find an Orvis Fullflex "A" rod in any size, I think you will happy with it.
Gear used: Orvis Fullflex "A" 7', 5wt fiberglass fly rod; Ross Gunnison G2 fly reel; No-name peach colored 5wt DT fly line.
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