Pine Island Fly Fishing Club swap meet

A few days ago, my friend Dave and I went to the Pine Island Fly Fishing Club swap meet. The club is relatively new and fast growing. I don’t believe they have a website, but you can get news about club “doings” over at Pine Island Angler.comĀ 

Monthly meetings are held in the Matlacha Community Center. Typically they have a speaker; this month, however, they opted for a swap meet instead. Fine by me. Swap meets are great. The club has no membership fee; you simply sign up. But they do ask a 3 dollar donation at the door, to cover the cost of renting the room. Plenty fair.

Pine Island Fly Fishing Club swap meet

Pine Island Fly Fishing Club swap meet

There were roughly a dozen tables full of goods, ranging from fly tying materials to a good selection of rods and reels. Fairly quickly I saw something that caught my eye. An Orvis T3, 8wt, 9-foot, 2-piece fly rod. Complete with tube and sock, the rod was in fine shape and clearly had seen little use. After giving it a wiggle, I decided to buy it as a backup for my Scott S3S 8wt. How much did the mighty T3 set me back? The price was 75 dollars. A good deal.

Orvis T3 8wt Fly Rod

Orvis T3 8wt Fly Rod

The Orvis T3 replaced the Trident, and debuted back in 2001, touting high-modulus carbon fibers with ”thermoplastic-enriched thermoset resins and nanoceramic binders”. These resins and binders were exactly aligned with the graphite matrix in an effort to make a strong rod with a light feel in the hand.

The blank is deep blue. The reel seat is quite attractive. I believe it was made exclusively for Orvis by REC. Nice touch. The guides are titanium carbide, with blue wraps. The listed weight is 4 5/8 ounces. And this particular rod is a “Mid-Flex”.

I used it the other day. Its heavier in the hand than the Scott S3S. And the Orvis is stiffer, and not as smooth as the Scott. Still, after adjusting my casting stroke I found it to be a decent rod. Lays out a long line, and it is very accurate. Happy to own it!

 

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2 Responses to Pine Island Fly Fishing Club swap meet

  1. Dan Ferraris says:

    Ed, we put the boron rod in the wrong tube. If you want the original rod tube, let me know

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