Casted the Helios at the show
- This topic has 9 replies, 4 voices, and was last updated Feb 3, 2008 at 2:14 am by
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I was at the Atlanta fly fishing show this weekend. Usual stuff but two things worth commenting. First, I learned a very cool fly tying technique which employs the addition of a little rubber loop at the top of the fly and allows for a quick-exchange system for adding or subtracting weight directly to the fly in the form of dumbbell eyes or bead-chain eyes. Great for salt-water flies and streamers. I will post some pictures under fly tying section later.
Helios rods! Basically that is what everyone wanted to see/touch/smell/etc. There was a waiting line at the casting platform just to cast the rods. I casted the 5,6,8 wt. Yep, they are light as a feather. The 5 wt feels like a 3wt and the 8wt feels like a 5wt. The key though is flex of the rod. It is very non-Orvis like and is truly a step forward for their line. It has more of a medium-action feel to it but it does recover like a fast-action rod should. One guy summed it up very nicely when he said, “it feels Winston (ish).” In fact the 5wt did kind of remind me of a 5wt BIIx. After using a 4- and 6-wt Z-axis for the past year I felt all out of whack with the Helios but that is not to say it wasn’t a sweet rod. I think time will tell where this rod will end up in the grand scheme of selection by the mass market. At $750 I will wait and see.
What flex rating did you cast Mike.
I cast a 6.5 Helios 5wt in Denver in September and stiffer than a ZAxis. Way faster than I was expecting and in fact I wrote at the time I thought it would scare a lot of traditional Orvis users.LOL.
In fact I wondered if it had been mislabelled and was actually a 9.5.Nice rods, I got to play with a prototype the previous year 🙂 it was a cannon too,.
I looked specifically after experiences with the zero g, i thought the 6.5 i cast in denver the year before was a dog (apparently so did orvis who admitted to problems with it in 07) compared to the 9.5
but to my recollection the rod i cast, felt more tippy than the z or the bii, and id been casting bii and bii mxs an hour before. but it was the end of the show and my brainwas tired.
I must go and play with them some more, real shop floor models 🙂
oh and sorry neal i thought i read mike on the post lol
cheersI recall making some of the same comments a few months ago, concerning the lightness, accuracy, and overall great feel of the rod, plus the expensive tag, but what ensued was a daily diatribe that almost brought out the “delete thread” button.
Dusty
I posted my thoughts in the SOmerset Show post but I like dthe Helios a lot. I only cast the 5 and 6 weight tip flex rods and was impressed. However, I didn’t think they were better than the new Winson BIIMX or the Z Axis. SO Orvis has a very competitive rod with the big boys but the rods felt a little mechanical for me. A great step forward but not sure the hype is justified.
Neal,
I have seen some feedback regarding the salt sticks in the Helios line, but most of what I have seen was via other blogs or the web in general. What many seem to be waiting for, myself included, is the mid-Feb. release of the 107-4 Helios, which I intend to string w/ some Sharkskin.As far as the lighter rods, one that sticks out most for me is the 843-4. I could describe it to you, but you have already heard all the associated adjectives. Try one if you can. That being said, when I, or a couple of other guys in the shop, reach for a light stick, we go to our Superfines. I just recently broke my new one in on a trip to Broken Bow, OK, and I absolutely love the full-flex, etc. It’s a roll-casting machine.
Dusty
Hey Neal,
Maybe we should just avoid Orvis topics altogether as they do not tend to get viewed or discussed with any frequency.
Did you say you live in Atlanta? If so, go to the O’ shop and ask for Shannon, the fishing mngr. He’s good people!
BTW, I’m out of the industry now; flyshop wages don’t pay back student loans. It just took me a couple of years to realize that.
Dusty
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