Oris CFO III

[Gene L 0]

The click pawl, not the disc.  It's my favorite reel, English made.  My fishing buddy recently bought a new CFO III, made in America.  It's a nice reel, looks to be quality made.  Sounds like my English reel, and meets all the same specs.  It's black, while my reel is grey.  Parts aren't interchangeable.

I like mine better.  I've got another clicker Orvis, made in England but not machined like the CFO.  Glad to see clickers are still on the market.  Those are my favorites.

[flyflinger 0]

👍 👍 👍

I have never owned an Orvis reel that disappointed me.  I've been buying them for about 25 years, and guided with them.  You might imagine what some (inexperienced or careless) clients can do to equipment!  In all that time I've seen them dropped on rocks, ground in sand, banged on branches to remove ice, etc.  The CFO Reel (Charles Frederick Orvis) has a long history (1971) which you can read about if you're interested (link below).  I actually have one of the first CFO III Disc reels, Made in England, serial numbered "introductory editions".  I've never been much of a "collector", but I'm certainly an enthusiastic "user" of Orvis products.  

p.s.  Orvis makes fine fly rods as well.  The latest Helios 3 is a fine example . . .     

Regards,

http://therustyspinner.blogspot.com/p/history-of-orvis-cfo_5.html         

[MfishP 0]

I have 1 Orvis fly-rod. I don't know if they do the 25 year guarantee, but when I had 2 fly-rods break,they honored the warranty and sent me a new rod.At first I was disappointed when I didnt get the same rod back,but the replacement rod was nicer than the rod I sent in. Their gear is top notch. 

[Gene L 0]

I ran over mine and bent the frame.  A guy my fishing buddy knows straightened it out and the damage doesn't show at all.  Hence, no damage. Mine is loaded with 5 wt. line.

[Jaydub 0]

I have a couple click-pawl, made in England, CFO IIIs. I fished with one this week. It's still one of the best, simply designed, trout reels.

[Philly 0]

I've always used Orvis reels.  I may have had a CFO in the past, but right now I have a Battenkill III for my 5 weight and a Battenkill IV for my 6 weights.  Never had any problems with them.

[Gene L 0]

I was at the Bass Pro shop in Atlanta back about ten years ago when I saw an Orvis reel that had been used for demonstration of rods.  It was a model that was being replaced and I got a deal on it.  Reel which had 5 wt line on it, and it was a clicker, just not machined.  I got it for $60.

I seem to run up on deals for reels.  (see what I did there?)  At any rate I was at a meeting of GOTC, a club which I'm a member, on our annual fishing trip to VA.  A guy had a Hardy L.W. with about a 2"-3" section of the rim missing.  It was essentially ruined. It was a charity auction and no one else wanted it.  I have a LW and thought I'd get if for the spool, so I bought it for $10.  Fast forward a few years, and I showed it to a friend who is a talented welder.  He said "I can fix that," so I left him with it.  He welded a portion of aluminum wire and the reel was whole again.  I wish I had photos of the finished product but don't.  The repair is virtually invisible.  I showed it on the old Fiberglass rod forum.

My fishing buddy has always wanted the reel, since he has a taste for such.  I gave it to him.  Best $10 I ever spent.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

On 6/18/2023 at 12:29 AM, Gene L said:

Glad to see clickers are still on the market.  Those are my favorites.

I agree Gene -- I love the clickers too. Some of my friends turn their noses up at them because of "the noise" -- to which I always reply, "Well, you clearly have never had a good fish pull on one then." 😄 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

I suspect that those old Orvis clicker model reels - were made for them by Hardy - all those years ago.  I know the early Scientific Anglers clicker reels were made by Hardy (basically re-branded Hardy Marquis models).  When I was first chasing fish in the salt with a fly - the reels many of us used were those first generation SA reels...  Since they had two clickers - we'd set them up with both on and you could hear anyone that was hooked up since those old reels would just howl on long runs... That was in the mid seventies, down here in paradise when our usual fly targets included small tarpon up to forty pounds at night under local Miami and Miami Beach bridges... Great fun, and those small tarpon are still lurking in the shadows every night locally... but our gear is a long cry from those simple clicker reels... 

[flyflinger 0]

What a great topic!  I remember when the Ross Gunnison Reel was introduced (mid 1980s);  people squawked about the pronounced "click" it made when a fish made a run, and Ross actually change that sound in the next revision of the reel.  Fast-forward a few years, and people were looking for reels with the "original" clicker.  I passed mine to my (now adult) son a few years ago, because he actually used it on the San Juan many years ago when he was about 12 years old.  Kids love the sound of a good clicking/buzzing sound when a fish makes a run!  (as do most adults).  Conversely, the original Ross San Miguel made no sound at all, but had a smooth-as-butter drag - and people complained about that as well.     

Regards,

    

[Gene L 0]

Didn't the Gunnison have some  teething problems when they first came out?  I remember reading about something going wrong with them 25 years ago.  I'm sure they fixed the problems if there were any. At least I think I remember that.  I went on a reel buying rampage back about then, including some disc reels.  I wound up with several Hardys.  Got a Teton which is a fine reel, but prefer my CFO or a Hardy JLH.  I don't regret buying them, got a Bougle which I've never fished (too nice to fish).

[flyflinger 0]

Hmmm, I don't recall a teething or gearing issue, but who knows . . . 

I do know Ross stands behind their products really well.  I absolutely smoked a Ross Big Game reel in the Yucatan on Bonefish, Permit, and baby Tarpon.  They rebuilt it and had it back to me in a very short time.   

I even recall the old Scientific Anglers early drag system that was literally like our car disc brake - a disk (rotor) that rode between a two-pad caliper.  There are some awesome smooth disc drags around today, and many are even sealed from water and contamination.       

My take on disk drag reels is that when you need one, you really need one (as in the salt water example above).  For most average trout fishing, the good old click-and-pawl with an exposed spool rim is just fine.  

Regards,  

[gadabout 0]

My CFO III is my favorite trout reel of all time.  I bought mine in 1981 and it’s still going strong. Click and pawl reels and Medalists are all I use in freshwater.  You couldn’t give me one of those large arbor reels.  Or those things that look like the skeletal remains of a fly reel. Fly tackle has gotten really ugly in recent years.

[DFoster 0]

I bought a new Battenkill II in 2021.  As fan of Orvis products and a fly fishing traditionalist who generally fishes small streams for small trout I love click and pawl reels and he Battenkill quickly became my go to. But after 18 months of use it began to lock up.  A quick inspection revealed the pawl spring had elevated up because the machining tolerances were not tight enough resulting in the spring being loosely seated in the housing.  It elevated up and was gouging the inside of the spool, sometimes catching on one of the holes and locking.  I sent it to Orvis Reel Repair, they swapped out the spring and returned it with the damaged spool still in place along with a $31 bill. Hmmm... I included the receipt when I sent it back showing that it was purchased in 2021.  IMO a pawl spring should never lift if it is properly installed to begin with so as far as I'm concerned this was on them.  As a longtime Orvis customer I was a little disappointed that they didn't replace at least the 25 cent spring for free.  Replacing the damaged though still functional spool would not have been unreasonable as it was their poor workmanship that did the damage. 

 Battenkill reels have a reputation of being bulletproof but as a coworker of mine likes to say "anything manufactured during the covid lock down isn't worth a damn".   I have an LL Bean click and pawl and when the pawl spring snapped after 7 years of use Bean handed me a brand new real.    I love and often use the Battenkill but considering it's Orvis I really expected them to stand behind their product better than they did.  

[flyflinger 0]

DFoster,  

I am actually very surprised, nay, stunned at your experience!  I'm guessing you got an inexperienced (Covid temp?) employee processing your reel.  You should have been treated better.  A new reel would not have surprised me.  I bet a letter to Orvis with your above story would result in a proper outcome.

Regards,