The Orvis Recon —short for "reconnaissance"—lives up to its name by offering a series of versatile, high-performance fly rods built for anglers who explore diverse waters and target a variety of species. Designed to deliver precision, power, and durability, the Recon rods have earned a reputation for excelling in everything from delicate nymphing on small rivers to casting large flies in saltwater conditions. Whether you're chasing trout and grayling in the UK, stalking mullet along the coast, or targeting powerful predators like pike, the Recon range provides a reliable, adaptable tool for the job. Below, three experienced anglers share their insights on how these rods perform in real-world conditions.
Tim Pottage
I’ve been using the 10ft 3wt Recon for nymphing on small to medium rivers for about a year and a half now, mainly for trout and grayling but also for coarse fish. I’ve used it with a FIPS compliant set up consisting of a nymph line and a level leader of 0.15mm bringing the total length of leader plus tippet to 2x the rod length. Lightest beads have been a team of two, 2mm dropper and 2.4mm point fly. Heaviest fly I’ve used with the rod has been a 3.8mm on the point. The rod pitches out flies with ease and accuracy although I’d say that sub 2.5mm beads require more effort due to the level of tip stiffness. If consistently using flies in the sub 2.8mm category then I suspect the 10ft 2wt variant would likely be a better choice.
The action is perfect for a nymphing rod, fast with fairly soft tip to pitch out small flies but with backbone down the blank for playing fish. The rod’s playing action is light enough that it is fun playing small fish but stiff enough that it can tame the largest trout you’re likely to encounter in UK rivers. Being a shorter nymphing rod means that it is more accurate than longer nymphing rods and will have faster tip recovery meaning that you can be in touch with your flies quickly due to reduced rod tip bounce compared with a longer rod.
The 3wt also possesses enough stiffness that it actually performs well for dry fly fishing. I have used it for dry fly fishing, predominantly on the Derbyshire Wye and the Recon performed surprisingly well. Well enough that you could happily use this rod to multi task if your local river is suitable for both nymphing and light dry fly/dry dropper work. Its casting action is fast, adequate enough to generate respectably high line speed given that the rod is primarily designed for nymphing, and the tip section has enough stoutness to help pick line off the water to gain direct contact with the fish quickly.
Where this rod excels in my opinion is multi-tasking, not only can it fish relatively light nymphs it can also cast out a dry dropper set up on a fly line making it the ideal choice for someone who wants one rod to do it all. One good thing about Orvis rods above a certain price point is that you can get spare sections quite a while after the model has been discontinued meaning that less items go to landfill and that you’re able to remain using the rod if you break a section for many years after you purchase the rod.
Rodney Wevill
The Orvis 9ft 6wt SW Recon rod is my jack of all trades type of rod.
Equally at home on the saltwater covering Bass and Mullet or in exotic locations casting shrimp patterns to Bone fish or on freshwater lakes and rivers chasing Chub and Trout, even the odd Carp. This really is a no-nonsense bit of kit that’s tough.
The 6wt rods are extremely popular with my clients on Trout guided days, light in the hand, yet powerful enough to cast distance but soft enough to protect your tippet. The 9ft 9wt and the 9ft 10wt Recon rods are my go too rods for chucking large flies to pike.
These mid-priced rods are built in the USA with matte blanks, silver snake and stripping guides and benefitting from the Helios 3 technology. The 9wt rods are extremely popular with my clients on pike guided days, light in the hand, yet powerful enough to cast big flies into the wind.
But there is always a time for the 10wt rods, extremely windy days or chasing monster pike on the large still water trout reservoirs. These rods come with the Orvis 25-year guarantee, so if anything goes wrong you are safe in the knowledge you will be back on the water quickly.
Colin Macleod
I first fished with my Recon SW 906 in July of 2017. A boisterous, swirling shoal of Dorset's finest silvery Thin-lipped mullet were my quarry that day.
From the first cast I knew that this was a special rod indeed and ideally suited to the catching of mullet. Perhaps the most surprising aspect of the Recon was its price, which offered tremendous value and performance for the cost.
The Recon instantly became my first-choice fly rod for mullet and together we accounted for several hundred mullet during the next few years. The rod felt pleasantly light in the hand during long days on the water but possessed ample backbone to tame the strongest of mullet.
The Recon helped achieve my first ever mullet slam (all three species of mullet caught in a single session) during one memorable session and delivered a 3lb Golden Grey mullet on another red letter day, a fly caught record at the time.
