Letters from Charles F. Orvis

Two original letters written by Charles F. Orvis, the founder of Orvis, that was purchased at a Florida Antique Tackle Collectors Show in Fort Myers by a vintage Orvis collector 25 years ago.

The late great historian, AJ Campbell, used these letters on loan from the owner of the letters as primary sources in his book Classic & Antique Fly-Fishing Tackle: A Guide for Collectors & Anglers (page 33).

The first early 1908 letter from Charles Orvis mentions that Charles Murphy was a friend of his, and the first to make bamboo fly rods “for the trade” but that Murphy “crooked his elbow quite too much”. And Charles is still an avid fly fisherman at 76 years of age!

Thank you Mike for sending the pictures of the letters!

"Jan 16, 1908
Mr Harry C Buckley

My Dear Sir

I have yours of the 15th and have the 2 rods  for repairs which we will make.

I send under separate cover my #25 catalogue in which you will find prices for all things and on page 5 those for repairing such ...c

I am very glad the rod pleased you for aside from a"

"business wisdom of it I like to please those who favor me with their commands for I know the pleasure of handling tackle that is right and although I am getting old (76) yet I have not lost my love for fly fishing in the leas awaiting your pleasure

I am yours truly
Charles F Orvis"
































About 10 days later, Charles writes his second letter to Mr. Buckley

"Jan 27, 1908
Mr Harry C Buckley

Dear Sir

I have your letter and the rods - have examined them.

It will cost you $5.50 to repair and put in order the whole lot. in this will be one new second joint for the rod that has but one second joint this second joint can be repaired - so it will be fairly good if this"

"is done the bill will be  2.50 less.
Awaiting your instructions

I am yours truly
C.F. Orvis

P.S.
This price includes .85c I paid the Epsom Co on the box.

These rod being to my mind many men long dead that I knew and many pleasant memories - and  so that perhaps  are not so awful pleasant.

I knew Murphy the maker of these rods. He was a good hearted fellow but "crooked his elbow." quite too much.

He was a good mechanic he was the first man that made split bamboos for the trade but made only a few he only made what (up the side) he could make - himself would not have help."


















Interesting to see that the very early Orvis catalogs were real booklets!
C F Orvis Catalog, No 22 1900 (120 years old!). The catalog (over 80 pages!) covers rods, reels, flies, fly books, spinners, accessories, waders, and small amount of camping gear.

Review: Epic 476 by George Minculete

Recently my friend George Minculete sent me a newly built Epic 476 for a review. This rod is finished on the new generation Epic blanks, now called Fast Glass II.

In 2018 mother company Swift changed their supplier of their blanks from CTS (New Zealand) to JS Company (where also rods for Hardy, Loop, Douglas, etc. are made) in South Korea. The main difference now being four piece instead of three piece for easier traveling. The blanks now also has a lightly sanded finish rather than fully sanded smooth finish of the CTS made blanks. Besides blanks Swift also offers rods finished in their own workshop.

As usual Epic offers their S-glass fiberglass blanks in several colours, but this amber colour blank certainly has that 'vintage fiberglass' look which I really like. George has been building rods professionally for more than 15 years and that shows. The finish is simply among the best there is. The very best components are used (Struble hardware, Snake brand guides) and the epoxy work on the guide wraps is outstanding.

The comfortable snub nose grip looks very similar to my 580 Epic George built in 2016 when he did a five rod limited edition series for Swift. The 12 cork ring (6 inch) sized grip matches the length and line weight of the rod perfectly. The whole package comes in a handsome faux leather rod tube. The rod weighs 3.4 oz yet feels much lighter in hand as well as when casting.

The fiberglass series designed by the founder Carl McNeil are known for their smooth and easy casting progressive action. The 476 is no exception. For real fiberglass geeks these Epics are probably on the (too) fast side of medium-fast. Anyone used to fast graphite rods should have no problem with this rod.

The first thing that comes to mind when casting this rod is crisp. I tried several fly lines: Orvis Hydros WF4, SA Mastery MPX WF4, a H&H WF4 and an older Orvis HLS long belly WF4. With a four weight line the rod feels very lively, casting anything from around 20 ft all the way to 50 ft with great ease. This should be an amazing rod for streams and smaller rivers.

After a while I tried the rod with a five weight line and the rod became a magic wand. Less snappy than with a four weight line but the rod seems to love the deeper loading smooth rhythm that comes with a line that has slightly more mass. Even very short distances I had full control of the loop. Is the line rating on this rod a flaw? I don't think so. Rods made of fiberglass are known to have a wider range of line weight 'adaptability'. I prefer to say that this rod is very versatile.

I have no doubt that this rod will perform well in many situations. Depending on the conditions (with windy conditions you want the rod to feel more snappy), size of fly (with wind resistant or weighted flies you want more line mass) or even ones mood you can fish it with a true-to-weight four, heavy four (like the SA MPX or Rio Gold) or a five weight line. A rod like this might even save you money.

For more (amazing) pictures of this rod, check them out at George's website. Thanks George for letting me review the rod. I'm sure the new owner will love this rod!

Keep posted for a Q&A with George soon.

Live the dream...

André Hesselroth is a Norwegian fly fisherman that took the plunge a few years ago. He decided that time is more valuable than anything else and quit his well paid job. Now half the time of the year he lives and fishes in New Zealand and the other half in Norway.

Here's a recent video of a nice sunny day on a small stream on the North Island of New Zealand. André's videos very much appeal to me as they have the atmosphere I try to create in my own video's too. The high resolution (4K) of the video and the slow & easy pace makes it very enjoyable to watch. Thanks André!

Michele Gallo

For the past 20 years or so, most of the time my focus on bamboo fly rods was on makers from the USA with a few exceptions from European makers like Tom Moran (RIP), Bjarne Fries and more recently Edoardo Scapin. The reason I ignored most European makers was that the cosmetics of many European rods don't appeal to me. Details like wooden tip on grips and odd shaped grips wasn't my cup of tea.

Maybe I'm wrong as it looks like currently there's a trend of European bamboo rod makers making rods in the style reminiscent of classic Catskill bamboo rod makers of the past like Leonard, Payne and Thomas & Thomas where clean yet elegant look defined the norm.

A few months ago I got in touch with another Italian rod maker by the name of Michele Gallo. Michele has been making bamboo rods since the early 2000. Recently he expanded his offerings with a series of fiberglass blanks/rods. A few weeks ago Michele offered to send a new bamboo fly rod he just finished to be reviewed by me. Can't refuse that of course! 😃 A few weeks later a fiberglass rod arrived as well.

Michele seems to be one of the few European makers I know building rods with clean elegant finish and functionality that makes a bamboo rod so beautiful. The two rods he shipped are a 7.5 ft bamboo rod in three piece for a 5 weight line and a 8 ft three piece 5 weight fiberglass rod. The bamboo has a very lightly flamed, almost straw color while the S-glass fiberglass blank has a light olive/tan color (Michele calls it 'honey' color). The non sanded finish and the spigot ferrules on the fiberglass rod adds to the vintage appearance.

The varnish on the bamboo rod has a shiny glass-like finish. The varnish on the fiberglass rod also looks as it was dipped like bamboo rods are done. Michele apologised for the wrong inscription on the bamboo rod being a 4 weight rod. Since this is his personal rod, it came with a single tip. I'm not sure if you order a rod it comes with the traditional two tips?  The bamboo rod comes with a very nice alumnium tube with a heavy brass cap. The fiberglass rod came with a plastic tube, but I'm sure a nice aluminium tube can be added for an additional price.

The grip shape and the swelled butt on the bamboo rod has a very elegant appearance reminiscent of Leonard rods from the Tom Maxwell era (mid 1970's / early 1980's). In fact the bamboo rod looks strikingly similar to the Leonard 49 (picture by Gary Siemer (RIP!) of Vintage Fly Tackle) which was also a 7.5 ft three piece for a 5 weight line. Tom Maxwell was the co-founder of Thomas and Thomas, together with his brother-in-law Tom Dorsey. Mid 1970 Tom Maxwell left T&T to run the Leonard Rod Company.

Michele makes all the components, except the guides, himself at his workshop. The guides used on both rods are from Pac Bay, which are a bit thicker wired than Snake brand. Both rods come with a nice agate stripping guide. The fiberglass rod has alignment dots making assembling the rod easy.

The quality of the cork used and the finish on the grips on both rods have this wonderful velvet-like feel of freshly sanded cork. I really like the slim cigar grips that's nicely proportionally sized (5 3/4 inch long) for the length and weight of the rod. Even the (beautiful) wood spacer has a length that keeps the whole appearance marvellously balanced. Both rods look like brothers with the same delightful finish and details.

The bamboo rod comes with two beautiful ferrule plugs. A detail in rod building, that in my opinion, is underrated is a nice script. Michele's handwriting on the rods certainly matches the elegance of both rods. On my scale the bamboo rod weighs 4.0 oz while the fiberglass rod weighs 3.2 oz.

So how do they cast? Having both rods at the same time makes it easy to compare both rods' action. Although rods made from different materials can't be compared you can see the familiarity both in appearance and casting.

Typically for Italian rods, both rods have a swift, medium-fast action that's on the faster side. Casting short distances off the tip seems to be slightly easier with the fiberglass rod. Both rods really come alive after with 8 - 9 m (25-30 ft) of line. The evenly progressive taper of the fiberglass rod smoothly handled any distance I asked for. I could easily keep a controlled loop up to around 50 ft.

The bamboo rod seems to have a slightly stronger action. The bamboo rod has that typical 'organic' action that one can only experience with bamboo rods. It's that additional mass and the flex of the material that is unmistakably recognisable when casting a bamboo rod. The swelled butt on the bamboo rod stiffens the butt section giving the rod an additional reserve power. However trying to cast 60+ ft distances isn't what one has in mind when fishing with a bamboo rod.

I tried several five weight lines (SA Expert Distance, Orvis Hydros WF5 and Hook & Hackle WF5) on both rods. I also tried a 'half weight heavy' four weight line (SA MPX WF4). The fiberglass rod seems to handle a broader range of line weights easier than the bamboo. It casts happily with the heavy four weight line as well as five weights. However just like the bamboo rod it feels best with a five weight line.

It's nice to know the tradition of fine bamboo fly rods are continued both in the USA as well as in Europe. Making a bamboo rod, especially if almost all parts are made by the craftsman himself, takes a lot of honest hard work. Michele's work certainly matches the high quality rods I've seen the past 20 years. Michele offers several models in bamboo in various lengths, line weights and finish. Shoot him a mail and he'll certainly answer all your questions promptly. If you're not into bamboo rods yet still like the more relaxed action of fiberglass I'm sure Michele will gladly discuss which of his fiberglass offerings match your type of fishing.

To end this review I would like to thank Michele for his very generous offer allowing me to have a look at his work!

Happy herring

We like our herring here 😀
Just add onions...

Thread: Danville Flat wax nylon color gray
Wing: strands of white, light grey, dark gray synthetic fibers
Head: white and dark gray deer hair
Hook: Ahrex Light Stinger size #2

Tip: try to keep a smooth transition from head to wing

Santa is early this year!

Deer hair mouse

After a long period away from my vise (vice?) I tied a deer hair mouse for someone special.
It's always great fun tying with deer hair.

I'm using Danville Flat Wax nylon here.
Danville Flymaster Plus is another thread I have been
using for many years for tying deer hair flies.

A couple of different coloured deer hair stacked for some nice effects

The body is ready to be shaped with razor blade and scissors

Body is shaped and the ears are tied in.
Now spin the head and add whiskers (moose body) between the first
and second bunch of hair

Using two pieces of paper to separate the whiskers preventing
these from trimmed while shaping the head

What a mess!...

The coloured stacks on the back

Another rodent is ready to conquer the world! 😃

Whiting dry fly hackle lines

Tom Whiting explains what the three dry fly hackle lines* from Whiting Farms are and how they historically derived from the original sources.

* Whiting (red label), Hebert Miner (green label) and High & Dry (light blue label)

Surprise from Japan

A friend of mine in Japan sent me three TMC bobbin holders in three different sizes! 😲

Thank you Tsutomu!

Almost tying season

My two paintings of my Humpy, one by Gavin Erwin (SA) and the other by Ryan Keene (USA).
Guess it's almost tying season?...

Q&A with Chris Barclay

Okay I've come up with an idea to interview some of the memorable people I've met in fly fishing, both online as well as offline. Rather than a true interview I decided to keep it simple by asking a few Q&A's.

---

Our first guest is Chris Barclay. I've got several rods from Chris and I'm afraid my collection will keep growing as long as Chris keeps designing & building amazing rods.

1) Q: To how many countries have you shipped your rods to? What's the most unexpected destination?

"Looking at a world map the best I can tell is 33 countries. Most unexpected? I'd say Russia or Indonesia."

2) Q: Do you have a rod builder you look up to, get inspiration from his work?

"Yes I have several rod builders I gain inspiration from. Modern: Kazutomo Ijuin is top of the list for being a stylistic and taper inspiration as well as being a good friend. I'm also inspired by Paul Young's ideas."

3) Q: You've built rods from graphite, fiberglass and bamboo blanks. Are you going into bamboo making in the future?

"At this point I have no plans to start making bamboo rods. I have made a few bamboo rods in the past but do not have the tooling available to me anymore. I love the handwork, care and thoughtfulness that goes into it but honestly prefer fishing fiberglass to any other material. One reason is the practicality of time. I'd rather go fishing than build a rod. And I feel it would be difficult for me, in this stage of the game, to change gears and make a living building bamboo rods. Maybe when/if I 'retire' 😃."

4) Q: In rod building a lot of the marketing has to do with the rod builder's style. What do you consider your style and how difficult was it to develop your style?

"When I started building rods, my biggest inspiration was the original Orvis Superfine graphite and bamboo rods. Most of the blanks wrapped with medium brown Gudebrod size A nylon thread. They had a simple cork and dual ring reel seat. Simple elegance and classic beauty. Many of the bamboo rods I was inspired by were very similar especially the ones built by Paul Young in the 1950's.

Since then, I have wanted the styling of the build to not overbear the casting and fishing characteristics of the rod itself. I do appreciate beauty and artistry that go into more complicated rods and love how other builders do a lot of aesthetic flourishes (and often refer clients to other builders if they would like that style) but I find that I prefer to use the blank itself as the center of beauty.

I have moved from mainly doing cork reel seats to using specific species of wood. I still make cork seats on request but prefer the durability of wood. Most of the time I use camphor wood. I love the look of it when finished as it's unique and usually subtle. But I also love the smell when turning it, and when removing it from the tube to fish. It reminds me of my grandmother and mother who are primarily responsible for teaching me how to fish - the frequent use of camphor oil based Mentholatum and it's smell reminds me of them. I can't think of a better way to honor them than thinking of them whenever I fish and build rods.

Wood is also beautiful and can hold meaning for me as well as my clients. For instance, this past year I found some wood in my stash from when I lived in Nacogdoches, TX. In 1995 I was working an odd job helping to renovate an old bowling alley and was able to take home a few slabs of hard maple that were no longer needed. I ended up building a rod for a good friend who was actually born in Nacogdoches and his parents enjoyed going to the bowling before and after he was born. I used a beautiful piece of that birdseye bowling alley maple as the centerpiece of his rod.

Another attribute of my fly rods is that I prefer to make them with clear guide wraps and dark guides for contrast. I like to use accent wraps like amber, olive green, red or brown at the ferrules most of the time tying in the colors of the wood seat or the colors of the intended quarry, tiptop and grip. I also like to do a small trim wrap at the 10" and 12" points with my signature and rod info in between those. I like the contrasting accent wraps at the ferrules to help them stand out when taking apart and assembling the rod.

So, I prefer to build in a classic and understated style with a few personal touches, most of the time they are subtle and nearly always practical."

5) Q: What kind of fishing or destination are in your top three bucket list?

"As far as places to fish, top of my list is Japan to fish for Yamame, Iwana, and Amago. I have several friends there and would love to with with them for those fish.

Then there's Golden Trout in their native range in California.
It's hard for me to think of a third specifically, but I'd love to fish Europe small streams for native trout there. I'd also like to fish for all the known cutthroat species in and around the Rockies here in the US."

6) Q: One development I have seen the past years is the acceptance and even popularity of the ventilated grips. Why is this? And do you see any new grip types or shapes coming into the game?

"That's a tough one. I've seen the popularity/acceptance of ventilated grips with the increased popularity of parabolic tapers I guess. I think it is possibly because of people using rods with them and discovering the advantages a vented grip gives - better sense of timing primarily.

I honestly have no clue if there is anything new coming up. It seems like most 'new' things are basically repeats of things that were done in the past."

7) Q: Do you see new developments in fiberglass that will rock the world (within the fiberglass world that is) in the future?

"I don't know of anything specifically but I do believe the fiberglass materials we use will continue to improve and also be more available to the rod making world."

Thank you Chris!


Update 28 Sep 2019:
A short addition to the answer from question number 6.
Chris once explained the difference between a progressive and parabolic action:

"The way I begin to explain the primary difference between a para rod and a progressive rod is where the blank wants to bend initially.

A para rod begins to bend above the grip and then move out toward the tip. The weight of the blank itself helps to transfer the power and the more muscle the caster puts into the rod the harder it is to cast. This makes it a more intuitive and artistic rod to cast with a generally shorter stroke. 

People refer to the 'hinge' effect in a para rod. That's when too much power is applied and the blank gives up. Progressive rods give up too, especially when the tip is overpowered and collapses. 

Now for the important part... Do they FISH? Both paras and progressive rods fish. There are well done designs of each flavor. And people will disagree and try to argue that one is better than the other. They will fish dries, wets, big bushy flies, tiny flies, cast in wind and calm, distance and short range. You can adjust your casting stroke, line, leader, power application, etc. and do the exact same thing with each flavor of rod."

A progressive rod begins to bend at the tip and then works its way down toward the butt section. Increasing in power until the power is exhausted (you can push it until it can't take it any more)."

Here's a an elaborate history of the parabolic action by the Australian bamboo maker Nick Taransky. The flex diagram is very helpful.

Update 10 Oct 2019:
Here's a look at Chris' day at the office.

My other Q&A's:
1) Q&A with Chris Barclay
2) Q&A with George Minculete

3) Q&A with Edoardo Scapin

4) Q&A with Hoagy Carmichael

5) Q&A with Jorge Trucco

6) Q&A with Per Brandin

7) Q&A with Jack Dennis

8) Q&A with Charles Jardine

9) Q&A with Christopher Rownes

10) Q&A with Leon Hanson

11) Q&A with Joe Messinger Jr.

12) Q&A with Mike Valla

13) Q&A with Larry Kenney

Catskill Homage by Edoardo Scapin

Edoardo Scapin is an Italian bamboo maker, although building bamboo rods for more than 25 years, I discovered only a few years ago. It was his classy video that caught my eyes. Unlike many European bamboo makers, Scapin's rods have a vey nice balance of the looks of classic American rods and more contemporary European details.

Recently Edoardo generously offered to send me one of his demo rods for a review. The rod he sent was his Catskill Homage, an 8ft #3 rod in two pieces. While most of the rods he makes are for 4 to 6 weight lines, this light and long rod caught my attention. Rather than using classic tapers by famous rod makers of the past Edoardo designed all of his models and tapers himself. Designing long and light rods require dedication and lots of R&D. Scapin describes this rod as "... my tribute to Catskill Ideal rod for ultra-light fishing. It’s dedicated to advanced casters who want to fish trouts and graylings with a very sophisticated rod".

The first thing I noticed is the straw color and especially the dramatic swell just above the grip, similar to the individualist series by Thomas & Thomas. The wraps on the rod are translucent giving the rod an elegant and clean appearance. The varnish applied has a very glass-like look. As some might know by now, I am very picky about grips. This rod comes with a 5.5 inch cigar type grip, a length that matches the size of the rod very nicely. The reel seat has a very nice burled olive wood and a very 'statuesque' bright cap and ring made by Scapin himself.

On my scale the solid built rod weighs 4.1 oz, slightly heavier than the similar hollow built rod by Cris Carpenter I've tried in the past. The rod has a positive progressive action that's on the fast side of medium-fast. The dramatic swell certainly adds to the power in the butt section (a 'swelled butt' stops the bending of the rod past the swell allowing the action to be 'beefed up'). Scapin says about this rod's taper: "The rod has a fine tip, but I like to have a little firmly but section with good reserve of Power. I don't like too parabolic action".

I tried several lines on the rod. Rated as a 3 weight rod, with several 3 weight lines (Sage Quiet Taper II DT3, Orvis Hydros WF3 and 406 DT3) due to the strong action I felt the rod casts best after about 25 feet. I would use this rod if I need to fish at longer distances with long leaders and small flies (nymph or dry fly), especially in the 30 - 50 ft range.

After changing to 4 weight line (Orvis Hydros WF4 and a Sage Performace Taper II WF4) the rod really came alive, now also at short casting distances (15-20 ft). I even tried a 5 weight line (Hook & Hackle WF5) and thanks to the strong butt section the rod handled it without a problem. Swapping back and forth I liked the rod best with a 4 weight line as I could feel the rod load and unload more pronouncedly.

The swelled butt is clearly visible

After casting several times this rod puts a smile on my face. The slightly heavy mass of the solid build construction doesn't really interfere with the smooth medium-fast action. In my opinion the Catskill Homage would be an excellent spring creek rod with dry flies like on the Armstrong spring creek or the slow moving low land streams like the Konge Å in Denmark. For easy traveling a three piece version of the Catskill Homage would be wonderful.

A final note about the taper: my preference would be a slightly softer butt section and maybe a slightly shorter length (7.9 ft vs 8 ft) as this will soften the whole rod's action a bit too.

Thank you Edoardo for your generosity and friendship! Hope to visit you one day and cast more rods from your hands.


Update 21 Sep 2019:
Here's a nice interview with Edoardo. The influence of the famous American bamboo makers of the past is very evident.

Update 10 Oct 2019:
Here's Edoardo talking about his passion.

Graphite quad rod

I noticed news about this company called Tate making a graphite rod in a rectangular form almost a year ago but haven't seen any news since.

This company say they got their inspiration from Bill Edwards, the originator of the quad construction bamboo fly rods from the 1930's.

Not sure if the company is still up & running?...













Update Nov 9, 2019:
Shane Gray of Graywolf rods said he worked for Tate shortly in 2018 and built rods. The rods he built sure look amazing!

School time memory lane

I heard this symphony when I was at primary school 40 years ago during music class. I never got to remember what this symphony was called, except it was a Mozart. The violins never left my memory. Until today I heard it only once briefly in all those years. Today I found out what this symphony is called: Divertimento for string K136.

Now I need a 40 year old rod?... 😂

7 knots

Spanish Pyrenees

Just back from a short trip to the Spanish Pyrenees with my friend Nico of Yamame Fly Rods.
Amazing scenery, very tasty food, great friendship and beautiful streams.
However even early July seems to be too hot (30 - 35 C /  90 - 95 F) for good fishing as the streams warmed up too much.
We'll be back another time when it's a bit cooler.