This week I decided to leave the Helena/Craig area and head over to the upper Madison river close to Yellowstone Park. I brought all the rods I own (from 4 weight through 7 weight) and I ended up fishing the 8′ 4wt Orvis Superfine Touch rod more than any other. When delicate presentations with smaller dries are required, this rod is just about as good as it gets on the whole market. At CrossCurrents, a bunch of our employees own and fish this rod regularly from 2 weight all the way up to the 5 weight.

The best part about fishing softer rods like the Superfine Touch is that you can feel all the movements of the fish when you’re hooked on in a way that faster rods are incapable of. In addition to the feel of the fish, softer full-flex rods are just some of the most enjoyable rods to cast in the world. For the past decade the market has moved further and further away from slower traditional actions. Don’t get me wrong, there is a definite advantage in many way to fishing with faster modern-tapered rods like the Orvis H2. Faster rods offer unmatched casting and fighting performance which has opened the fly fishing industry up to whole new audiences.

However, there isn’t a much better feeling than landing a large 18 to 20 inch fish on a soft rod with a small dry fly, like the one pictured above. It’ll take longer to get them in to the bank, but it’s just about as enjoyable as it gets in this sport. If you’re interested in feeling a rod like this we have 3 weight through 5 weight in our Downtown Helena location as well as our Craig store on the river. We also have Orvis’ new Superfine Fiberglass rod which is amazing. Stop in and give them a test run!

Tight Lines,

Marcus Mattioli