
The grip is a Struble Ultrafine Flor grade grip that I modified by adding the inlet to accept the uplocking hardware. But my main goal was to pair the classic Orvis reel with a nice Orvis rod. Theyre the old-school cool of fibreglass, in a more refined, crisper feel with that deeply loaded action you crave and an obvious difference from the glass of. Although I may keep my eyes open for a Cortland Retro II reel as an alternative as it is about an ounce lighter than the Orvis reel and I can abuse the Cortland. Perhaps the rod will balance a tad better after I wrap and finish the guides and etc, and especially after I have about 30 feet of line pulled off the reel and stretched through the guides. Ideally I think the rod would balance best with a reel that weighed between 3 and 3 1/2 oz. Shop Staff Notes: The Orvis Superfine Glass 8 5-weight Fly Rod is a cool rod to fish on small creek to even bigger rivers (though, not great in the wind). and it balances about the middle of the grip with the fully loaded reel. The really innovative part of the design shows in the weight, or lack of it. The tip is soft enough to spare light tippet, while the butt and mid let you show them who’s boss. I intended to use a classic Orvis Lightweight reel made by Young that I received as a wedding gift from my grandfather about 6 months ago. When you hook up, the Helios 2 has remarkable authority over a fish. For a USA-made rod (in a mid-price range) my SFG 805 was initially plagued by building & cosmetic errors. It was on this basis that I ordered my Superfine Glass in 2014. The hardware is a tad on the heavy side (I typically would not use N.S. Before buying this new Orvis glass rod, I already had a very good experience using a full-flex graphite Superfine Touch 804. I traded some rod building stuff with Shane Gray of Graywolf Rods in Michigan for the hardware. I still need to do a bit more sanding before the insert is complete. I am almost finished working on the reel seat insert which I turned from Spalted Box Elder Burl to match the SFT 663 I built a few weeks ago.

The Superfine is a damn nice rod for precise, delicate fly presentations. Donna used this most of the day - I used it exclusively last weekend on a dry-fly day on the Yakima. I've read good reviews of the 804 including the Trout Underground review listed here: Because I'm working on a review of 'dry fly' rods, I also had an Orvis Superfine Touch (8-foot 4-wt) on the river. My last (I think) build for the year will be my "all around" rod which is an Orvis Superfine Touch (SFT) 804.
