Orvis checked unbeatable accuracy and power off the list, but the H3F also delivers the finesse required to delicately drop a fly without spooking fish, and it has plenty of backbone to haul in the big fish of your dreams without flinching. The Helios 3F reduces the variables and harnesses the energy behind each cast for enhanced accuracy, so you can reach the far bank and drop a fly with precision every time. The difference in a couple of inches can make or break a catch. Hurling a fly across the water and hoping for a strike won’t win any trophies-it’s those accurate drops that bring in the real prize. While the Helios 2 isn’t hand hewn of bamboo, it is hand made here in New England, and you can be sure that a lot of thought and experience went into making a rod this well-rounded, a rod this impressive.Not only has Orvis built a super lightweight rod in the Helios 3, but it also offers a crisp feel in hand for an unbeatable casting experience.
Orvis helios rod review full#
To fish a rod in the waters that inspired its makers - that’s a craft brought full circle. I mean this as much about companies like Orvis as master bamboo makers like Per Brandin and Marc Aroner. I can’t emphasize enough how important I think this is: I encourage all fly fishermen (and women!) from New England to support our New England rod makers. There’s more life to a rod that way, and a deeper sense of connection to the nature of the sport as a consequence. I’d rather fish with a rod to which I can feel a connection, and one that telegraphs the connection to a trout, than blast out casts all day and drag in trout with ease. The craze of faster graphite is, thankfully, giving way to rods with more feel and more soul. Moreover, it’s a great rod for New England. In the end, this is a great all-around rod for New England’s smaller rivers. But those are small concerns from a purist for a rod that surpassed all my expectations. The accent wrappings are nice, though silver wouldn’t be my first choice, nor would the black reel seat. It landed dries neatly on the surface, it fired streamers out, and it even handled nymphs well in the small water I was fishing, though it’s a rod that shorter than most nymphing rods.īeyond performance, I like the look of the rod: the midnight blue is a nice, dark hue the cork is high quality and smooth and the burled wood in the reel seat is nice. Gear Rod Review: Orvis Helios 2 ApBy: Erin Block Living in two worlds makes you anxious, like multiple personalities will put you on meds (or wine, I suppose, lots of wine). The cork-wrapped feather in my hand keep shooting line out. I took a few long casts, gradually lengthening the line. Ok, I thought, let’s try this, as I stripped a bunch of line off the reel. Normally, that’s a good thing that day, my cynicism was cracking. I tried to introduce some wobble, but the rod stabilized and recovered quickly, laying my line out straight. This was true whether I was doing a straight-up overhand cast, or trying roll-casts or Snake rolls. At short distances, with a small dry, the rod was pin-point precise. I matched the rod with a Mirage 1 reel and an Hydros 3 wt line. (Note: The Helios 2 rod tube, judged by weight and function, is one great tube, graphics aside.) The 3 wt truly is featherweight. You hardly need to cast the rod to know the latter is true: the Helios 2 in the tube is lighter than many rods I’ve cast before. The Orvis Helios 2 is touted as being 20% stronger and 20% lighter. I entered into this review a bit of a cynic. I’m not a religious man and so I can’t speak for the Second Coming, but I can say this is a great rod. Some H2 reviews referred to it as “The Second Coming.” Others, like Gink & Gasoline, said it heralded the return of “The Big O” after Orvis had some down years. Other reviewers have been rendered speechless, or hyperbolic, in their reviews. Let me sum it up by saying this: the Orvis Helios 2 is a great rod. I fished it in a variety of conditions - early fall cold, with frost on the ground and snow on the mountain peaks, and warm, windy early fall - and using a variety of flies, including dries, streamers and nymphs. This fall, I took the rod to the Upper Pemigewasset and some of its tributaries, and to the upper Deerfield. And so, I thought I’d try out an H2 3 wt - a rod with less power to mask finesse - on some of New England’s smaller sections of water.
(Spoiled, I know.) All the reviews talk about how the H2 is precise and powerful, and yet it doesn’t compromise on feel. But when I want a 5 wt, I fish the bamboo rod my dad made for me. I tried the H2 a few years ago in the 5 weight that so many people have reviewed, and so many have loved. The Orvis Helios 2 - a rod that has won so many awards that it hardly needs an introduction.
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