A couple of years ago when I was getting back into fly fishing after a 20 year hiatus, I stumbled upon the Orvis store in SF (I'd already bought all my gear at Creative Sports in Pleasant Hill). They were offering a beginner day trip to the Stanislaus and I signed up.
Three guides about 18 beginners/returners and a whole day on the river, with a BBQ lunch thrown in, for free. No purchase necessary, asked for or expected. They spent a whole day coaching us on casting, reading a river and catching and handling fish....and not one person on the trip was fishing an Orvis rod. I had a great day, caught a bunch of little wild fish and was officially hooked again on fly fishing. I made a mental note then to make sure to visit Orvis when I decided to pull the trigger and upgrade my $200 TFO rod n reel combo kit.
Today I pulled the trigger and bought me a nice 9 foot 5 weight Access rod. I wanted the full Access kit, rod reel and line, but, alas, they were out of the Access reel....so they gave me a Hydros III, with Hydros line at the Access price! a $130 upgrade. I ate a little of that saving on a spare spool, but they threw in a reel case and some sinking polyleaders because they didn't have the exact sinking line I wanted for the spare spool, at no extra cost. First rate people, first rate service and very nice gear too! Can't wait to fish it.
