Goodbye Orvis Wonderline

So I read a post on the Colorado Fisherman message board talking about how they dislike their Orvis Wonderline a few weeks ago. They said that the tip of the line sinks. There were unanimous posts following this one singing to the same tune and referencing how they replaced it with RIO.

I especially enjoyed this one:

"In my experience, Wonderline is one of the worst lines I have ever used. I'm as big fan of Orvis, but I use Rio lines, they seem to be greatly superior. I have a Wonderline on my 4wt. I have to constantly dress it and clean it...I don't have to maintain my Rio lines (Or even my cheap Cabelas line) as much.

Overpriced! I would never buy one again.

RIO FTW!"
-cfgsteak

Now, in forum speak this is harsh jargon towards a piece of equipment in which I own. At the end he says, "RIO FTW" in which he is referencing the superiority of RIO brand fly line, and then carelessly throwing in a devastating blow of "For The Win".

Come to think of it, I own 2 Orvis Wonderline Advantage lines, and had an additional one stolen from me a few years back. At $60 a piece I've spent $180 on this product.

The last few times I've gone fishing I was catching myself doing constant, upwards line mends in attempt to counteract the sinking of the tip of my line. It was a motion I had accepted as my reality of dry fishing, and a motion that was causing twitches of drag on my fly while drifting through the strike zone.

One of the guys also mentioned that if you send the line back to Orvis they will refund it. They recently replaced my broken Clearwater Classic rod with the thoroughly superior Clearwater II free of charge, no questions asked.

Hell, this is on their website:

The Orvis 100% Satisfaction Guarantee
For over 150 years we have offered the strongest return policy in the business. We will refund your money on any purchase that isn't 100% satisfactory -- any time, for any reason. It's that simple.

...and it's not hidden.

I'd also like to mention that I own 2 Orvis rods and have bought 4 Orvis reels and one spool, two of which were stolen from me. (getting my gear jacked still bothers me to this day... can you tell?)

I love their rod and reel products, but the line don't cut it. I spontaneously shipped my 2 lines of Wonderline back to Orvis today for refund, and bought two new lines of RIO at Front Range Anglers here in Boulder on my lunch break. I'm what they call a "buyer" in the customer service industry.

When I walk into a store it's because I want a product that they have. The only reason I'm here is because I can get it faster from you than I can through ordering online. Otherwise, I would have ordered it in the middle of the night last night when I reached the verdict of what had to be done. I have done the research, I'm here to buy, please show me to the register.

They had to order the line from Denver because they didn't have want I wanted there. I left my reel with 2 spools at the shop and they will wind the line and then mail it to me.

I made the move so seamlessly because I recently made the switch from Orvis' mono leader and tippet to RIO's fluro leader and tippet. That shit is expensive!

However, I have been consistently catching a bigger and bigger average size of trout. Lets face it, I'm hunting trophy trout, and like it or not, these trout are big because not many anglers have been able to fool them. It's so greatly a matter of just being informed. A matter of always placing yourself in a position and a mindset to adapt new tactics, and to constantly refine old ones. And a matter of spending a little dough on gear for performance.

After Orvis refunds me for the Wonderline I will have spent $25 for the dual RIO line upgrade. That sounds good to me. I spent more than that on a set of RIO fluro Leaders.

And all of this because of a few moments of drag on a fly the size a sunflower seed. Curious.


I purchased a RIO Double Taper Selective Trout II line for my very full action 4 weight, and a RIO Weight Forward Gold line for my mid-flex 5 weight. I use the Orvis BBS III reel for both.

Oh yeah, my Dad and Step-mom were visiting town this weekend and bought me some dry shake in combo with a Samadou drying pad as an upgrade from my floatant goo. I learned this drying method from fishing with J. I'm confident that the high ride of his drys was getting him into more fish than my low riding dry. Being super dry will also be very beneficial when dropping two nymphs below. It allows a dry to serve as a very reliable indicator, as well as having a chance for getting a strike rather than a chance for scaring trout away like a big neon indicator might.

The Samadou is so hot that the guide who was trying to solicit me as a client in the Estes fly shop stepped in line behind me to buy one for himself. Hah.