Orvis T3 Sal****er tip action

I've never been a fan of the Orvis brand, not because of their products
(which I've never owned), but because of the company's image. But I
tried Willi's 8wt T3 in the Bahamas and I really liked it -- better than
my Sage RPLXi. So I'm planning to get one as a bonefish rod for my trip
to the Seychelles. I'm also thinking about getting a T3 12wt for
trevally and milkfish.

Do any of the gear whores out there have opinions about this rod? My
local Orvis dealer is big on the Orvis Helios, but she doesn't have an
8wt for me to try.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

On Jun 16, 8:13*am, rw wrote:

Do any of the gear whores out there have opinions about this rod? My
local Orvis dealer is big on the Orvis Helios, but she doesn't have an
8wt for me to try.

The T3 8wt tip flex was a little too quick for my casting tastes
whereas the T3 8wt mid flex reminded me a lot of a Winston BIIx. I
personally don't think they're as powerful as a comparable Sage Xi2 or
Winston BIImx but at the price differential for the T3 given the
limited amount of use I have for an 8wt would not justify the more
expensive sage and winston offerings.

I played with some demo Helios rods in the trout weights on stream in
May and am considering one of the "switch" rods (the 11' 7wt). The
local orvis store is supposed to have one shipped in for me to play
with but given my propensity for more moderate action rods I am leery
of how its going to feel. I think they're excellent rods but I'm not
sure they're that much better than the competition for the prices
Orvis is asking.

wrote:
rw wrote:
Do any of the gear whores out there have opinions about this rod? My
local Orvis dealer is big on the Orvis Helios, but she doesn't have an
8wt for me to try.

The T3 8wt tip flex was a little too quick for my casting tastes
whereas the T3 8wt mid flex reminded me a lot of a Winston BIIx. I
personally don't think they're as powerful as a comparable Sage Xi2 or
Winston BIImx but at the price differential for the T3 given the
limited amount of use I have for an 8wt would not justify the more
expensive sage and winston offerings. ...

George Anderson and crew reviewed a bunch of 8wts;

http://tinyurl.com/39ya2f

They like the GLoomis rods best and rank the Orvis rods poorly;

http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/Pho...ResultsBIG.htm

--
Ken Fortenberry

Ken Fortenberry wrote:
wrote:

rw wrote:

Do any of the gear whores out there have opinions about this rod? My
local Orvis dealer is big on the Orvis Helios, but she doesn't have an
8wt for me to try.


The T3 8wt tip flex was a little too quick for my casting tastes
whereas the T3 8wt mid flex reminded me a lot of a Winston BIIx. I
personally don't think they're as powerful as a comparable Sage Xi2 or
Winston BIImx but at the price differential for the T3 given the
limited amount of use I have for an 8wt would not justify the more
expensive sage and winston offerings. ...


George Anderson and crew reviewed a bunch of 8wts;

http://tinyurl.com/39ya2f

They like the GLoomis rods best and rank the Orvis rods poorly;

http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/Pho...ResultsBIG.htm

This article looks bogus to me. The problem is their use of the "swing
weight" category, which they count very heavily.

They say, "The swing weight is the weight you feel out ahead of your
hand when the rod is held in a horizontal position. Lighter is better
for most anglers."

But this depends on the weight of the reel. It's just the old "balance"
argument -- that a reel should "balance" the rod. By varying the reel
weight (or otherwise adding weight to the butt end) you can make the
swing weight just abut anything you want.

Bogus.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

wrote:
On Jun 16, 8:13 am, rw wrote:


Do any of the gear whores out there have opinions about this rod? My
local Orvis dealer is big on the Orvis Helios, but she doesn't have an
8wt for me to try.


The T3 8wt tip flex was a little too quick for my casting tastes
whereas the T3 8wt mid flex reminded me a lot of a Winston BIIx. I
personally don't think they're as powerful as a comparable Sage Xi2 or
Winston BIImx but at the price differential for the T3 given the
limited amount of use I have for an 8wt would not justify the more
expensive sage and winston offerings.

Price differential? What does that have to do with it? I thought you
were a gear whore, Wayne. :-)

I played with some demo Helios rods in the trout weights on stream in
May and am considering one of the "switch" rods (the 11' 7wt). The
local orvis store is supposed to have one shipped in for me to play
with but given my propensity for more moderate action rods I am leery
of how its going to feel. I think they're excellent rods but I'm not
sure they're that much better than the competition for the prices
Orvis is asking.

Yes, they're expensive. So what? :-)

Seriously, thanks for the opinion. Willi's 8wt T3 cast like a dream in
the Bahamas, notwithstanding that I was casting like a complete idiot in
the wind, getting overexcited sightfishing to bonefish.

Here's a question: My Sage 9wt RPLXi, which I bought ten years ago, cast
qualitatively worse than Willi's 8wt T3, even (or even especially) in
the wind. The RPLXi was, I thought, state of the art in 1999. So, has
fly rod technology advanced that much in ten years, or is the RPLXi just
a ****ty rod?

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

"rw" wrote
Seriously, thanks for the opinion. Willi's 8wt T3 cast like a dream in the
Bahamas, notwithstanding that I was casting like a complete idiot in the
wind, getting overexcited sightfishing to bonefish.

Here's a question: My Sage 9wt RPLXi, which I bought ten years ago, cast
qualitatively worse than Willi's 8wt T3, even (or even especially) in the
wind. The RPLXi was, I thought, state of the art in 1999. So, has fly rod
technology advanced that much in ten years, or is the RPLXi just a ****ty
rod?

appropos of nothing, i have long held the opinion that nearly every sage rod
i have cast would have made a fine broomhandle...

yfitons
wayno(jmo, of course)

Wayne Harrison wrote:
appropos of nothing, i have long held the opinion that nearly every sage rod
i have cast would have made a fine broomhandle...


The Sage LL (Light Line) series is a classic. I have a 9' 4 wt
that is the finest 4 wt I've ever cast. I'm fond of the original
RPL's too.

Getting back to the big sticks, I don't have an 8 wt but when I
went shopping for a 9 wt I tried several different rods, including
Sage, and ended up with the Winston Boron II-MX. I would imagine
I'd make the same choice among the available 8 wts.

--
Ken Fortenberry

On Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:53:16 -0500, Ken Fortenberry
wrote:

Wayne Harrison wrote:
appropos of nothing, i have long held the opinion that nearly every sage rod
i have cast would have made a fine broomhandle...


The Sage LL (Light Line) series is a classic. I have a 9' 4 wt
that is the finest 4 wt I've ever cast. I'm fond of the original
RPL's too.

Getting back to the big sticks, I don't have an 8 wt but when I
went shopping for a 9 wt I tried several different rods, including
Sage, and ended up with the Winston Boron II-MX. I would imagine
I'd make the same choice among the available 8 wts.

Two words - fiber glass...OK, so it's probably one word, but still...

HTH,
R
....or, for the Frankish amongst the few, the happy (proud) few, "fibre
glass"...and for the Stevish amongst few, be he n'er so vile, "get yer head out
of yer ass glass"...oh, yea, oh, boil and bubble, toil and trouble...