Review: Orvis Superfine Glass Fly Rod

Orvis has redesigned its Superfine Glass rods with improved tapers and construction techniques that increase accuracy, and reduce swing weight, yet retain the smooth and soulful casting of fiberglass. “S-2 unidirectional glass is a higher-modulus material compared to E- or S-glass, resulting in noticeably thinner-diameter blanks, especially in line weights 2 through 5,” says Shawn Combs, Orvis’s director of product design and development. “Traditional E-glass has a tendency to ‘bounce’ on the forward cast, which can affect accuracy. The higher modulus of S-2 unidirectional glass has better tracking on your cast, and will recover much more quickly.”

Offered in six rod sizes, from a 3-piece, 6'6" 2-weight, to a 4-piece 8'8" 8-weight, the new Superfine Glass rods are a great addition to your quiver, whether you’re fishing for Appalachian brook trout in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, backpacking into the Rockies for alpine trout, or slowing down your approach for bass and redfish.

I fished the 8' 5-weight model on Pennsylvania’s Big Spring Creek and Yellow Breeches. Soft, delicate casts to wary spring creek trout and easy loading while standing in thickets of briars and cattails allowed for smooth and accurate casting. Roll casting nymph rigs and throwing large Hexagenia mayfly patterns on the Yellow Breeches was a breeze. Being able to easily load the rod while having trees, steep banks, and bushes behind me was advantageous over a fast-action graphite rod. When hooking an average-size trout the rod bent deeply, but the S-2 unidirectional glass had more backbone than I anticipated, which allowed me to easily land and control the trout.

Available in a sanded matte olive blank with hard chrome double-footed snake guides, a black type III anodized aluminum reel seat with a burled hardwood insert (2- to 5-weights), or an aluminum tube insert (6- to 8-weights). Made in the U.S.A.

$498 | orvis.com