Orvis Clearwater Fly Rod Review 

Another rabbit hole to fall into, yet again. I have a couple of 30 year old fly rods/ reels, but here I am watching fly rod videos. Last year I wanted a decent foraging knife because I broke my old folder, which turned into an expensive everyday carry knife. The internet is not your friend when making choices because there are too many choices. After spending hundreds on some really nice knives that I don’t want to lose or have stolen I bought a $13 Amazon special. As with fly fishing there are too many choices. Thank you for doing the review, good entertainment. For the time I’ll watch videos until spring, and then maybe I’m going to dust off my old stuff and see if the arthritic hands can even work the line.

I have an Orvis Clearwater I bought back in the 90's, out of warranty now, but, it has stood the test of time. It's not the same as a newer one I have, but, still like it. Nothing wrong with the newer one, it's a 7wt vs the old one which is a 5wt, got it for a warranty replacement on a previous model I forget the name of, that broke because I overworked it, somwwhere around 18 yrs ago. No issues with either one really, one's a midflex, one's a tip flex. Both have handled a lot of fish.

Nice video and yes I'm an Orvis person. After first guided trip (as I mentioned in another video comment) I called him and asked him for suggestion on buying rod/reel. He recommended a 9' 5wt, good middle of the range for multiple species although I primarily fish trout in my middle age. I did kind of go overboard and got the Orvis Helios 3f as well as the Orvis Mirage reel. Not cheap but I love it! Enjoying your channel, info you provide and the humor! Had no idea you were from Ontario, have a good friend up there as my other hobby is model trains. I spend my free time fly fishing and working in my layout room. And yes, I baby this rod even though if mess it up I know their customer support will take care of a broken section or something dumb on my part (like closing lift gate and catching rod in it (not happened yet, I am VERY conscience about this. A quick tip I learned is you often see in videos and in real life anglers with their rods facing forward navigating through brush, trees, etc. The better way (at least in my experience) is to hold rod by the handle with rod pointing BEHIND you. This way you know where you are walking, will in most cases not get the rod stuck/broke in brush etc. YMMV.

I'm excited to give it a try. Just found a screamin' deal online for the 5wt 9' combo at $358 after tax. I figured for that price, I might as well just take the leap and give it a try. Fortunately, I was able to test one out at my local Sportsman's Warehouse earlier this afternoon and make sure I liked the action. It seems like overall, the reviews are pretty positive for the rod and the combo for being pretty affordable, even at its normal price. I'm definitely looking forward to branching out from my usual tenkara setups and opening up a much larger world of possibilities!

I use the 10' #2 Clearwater for Euro nymphing and can't fault it , lovely rod to use for this technique.

Great review buds! I’m inching closer haha

Got a Clearwater #4 8'6" two years ago and was impressed with the perfect cork grip, caught 100+ large trout so far, it's still pristine tight unlike yours. Sad to see they've went with less quality cork as of late, great rod though

Works great although it ru-vid.comUgkxLoZpKHn4w7dtzXk1eygBlOhbLxuVe3uD took a while to figure out how to reverse it. Nearly disassembled the entire thing. Looks better than my Redington Rise 5/6 reel too.

Alignment dots as overrated fluff IMO. I find it easier and quicker to just align the guides as I put the rod together. Like just look at the sections & rotate as you slid them together.

hi there from Ireland I am going to purchase one of the older model Clearwater rods second hand of course it's a 9ft four piece 8weight tip flex going to be using it for sea trout saltwater fishing and sea bass etc would you have any info on the rod thanks.

Listen , I bought this rod and reel combo …. I thought it was nice at first but my drag knob on my reel was broken off fairly easily and needed it replaced I used it a total of four times up until then, then about 6 months into using it on occasions my rod snapped on an average size trout on the piece closest to the handgrip … the strongest part I’ve never seen it happen before . I take excellent care of my rod always transporting it in a hard case so I’m not sure exactly why it snapped maybe a manufacturer error. But needless to say I am unhappy with the setup , unfortunate because I really looked highly upon orvis. Even cheap rods never gave me this many issues

Orvis also has a 25 year warranty

First comment!

Cheapskate pennypinching omission of the fly keeper ring by Orvis on my 10’. I’m not impressed. Inexcusable! Seen better quality on other Chinese rods for 50% less bucks. C’mon Orvis, get your priorities right - look after your customers and give Rosenbauer a smaller pay check!

Worst rod I’ve ever owned lol do not but spend a little extra

Let's all be honest. Orvis gear is over priced. I always try to by American made goods, but it's my bank account that is suffering. That my friends is a major problem for us all.

American made? Overpriced and largely over rated imo. Don’t forget who made the Gremlin.