So Just How Good Are The Orvis Helios Rods?

[Hoochman]

I cast one. Gotta say, it was up there with all of the high end Sage, Scott, Loomis, and Winstons. Orvis hit a home run with this one. Pricey, though but someone told me the technology made the rods super tough.

[Bubba Smith]

The Helios 5wt ,I have at the moment, has been out fighting very large carp in the cattails and willows, night fishing for large brown trout with large streamers, etc.
When I fish like this it is generally with a 7 or 8wt.
It is a pretty tough rod. I have had it bent over double many times cannot seem to break it.
And I have tried really hard to!

[cycler68]

I finally did locate a test report that matched a Loomis Crosscurrent, a Sage Xi, a Helios and a Winston (the exact model escapes me at the moment. Although the Helios put in a strong showing in several catagories, especially for close in accuracy and, of course, weight, it didn't win. It was last in value for the money and couldn't do a 100 ft cast whereas the Crosscurrent and Sage Xi both could. The Helios also wasn't their fav in the fun to fish, gotta have catagory. The overall winner was the Crosscurrent, with the Sage coming in second, then the Helios and finally the Winston.
With the Helios coming in so poorly in the long distance match I think my idea of overlining the rod with 10 wt line and then casting a crankbait would fall flat on it's face. I'm actually a little surprised that it can't do a 100 ft cast with the line they chose since the rod is quite stiff and I would think that would translate to great power but I guess not.
I'll still fish the rod a lot since it's the best rod by far that I have but if I get the money to spend on another premium rod the Sage and Crosscurrent with both be getting a hard look before I loose the credit card and order one.

[Jackster]

IThe overall winner was the Crosscurrent, with the Sage coming in second

That sounds like a few other rod reviews that just happened to be performed by a shop owner who had input on the design of the rods which always seem to just happen to win!

[Heritage Angler]

couldn't do a 100 ft cast whereas the Crosscurrent and Sage Xi both could.

Jackster politely hit the nail on the head. The credability of the test results is highly questionable here. That test says more about the tester than it does about the abilities of the rod (especially his motives).

The only judge of the capabilities of that rod, what it can do, and how well it performs should be YOU. You can bet there's dozens of folks on this board that could make a 100' cast with that rod! It's a shame that people actually believe tests like that.

[dogtown]

Whoever was casting that rod in that test must have been a newbie.

[LigonierA1]

I've has some limited fly shop time with a 9'5wt and the 9'8wt. Both felt STIFF in the wiggle test and stiff in the casting. Freaky light, however. "How much does .4 of an ounce really effect your casting?.....dunno, but it makes a perceptible difference to my hand. It matters. It's the way of high end, high peformance outdoors products. Those minute differences add up.

Anyway, the casting didn't feel that good to me...the rods didn't "wake up" until you got 40-50' of line out and that's about 10-20' from my casting limits. Then I brought my own line to cast-not the shops beater line- and it came alive.......very nice. Heavier lines work better. I used a wt GPX on the 5wt and that was very nice. Same on the 8wt. The rods like the lines at the heavier end of the scale. No suprise, really.

The 8wt is where the weight gets freaky. By comparison, you pick up the 5wt and say to yourself "yeah, this is light". You pick up the 8wt and realize that the 5wt you have at home is heavier than this. As the line wt goes up, the light weight nature of these things becomes more and more apparent.

I'd agree that Orvis finally has given Sage and Loomis some real competition. About time......

This leaves the cost issue. It is considerable. I have found a way to justify it, however. Feel free to borrow from my convoluted logic.

Anyone golf? Probably not, but you can't touch a set of good clubs for anywhere near this rods cost. OR so I hear. Into technology? Even building your own computers ends up being big $ because you can get the best for less but it still involves $ commitment. I've spent various amounts of time over the past decade building and racing a "cheap" automobile.....only to find there is NO SUCH THING.

This rant to say that fly fishing is a relatively inexpensive game, even with $800 rods. Sad but true......

[cycler68]

I thought you guys might like to look at the article I read that compared the Helios to the G Loomis Crosscurrent, the Sage Xi and the Winston BII Mx. I think they did a reasonable job comparing the four but, as LigonierA1 pointed out, the results could have been different had they used different line. The test url is http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/8.w...i.shootout.asp
Before I bought the rod I was really conflicted about spending the $$$ on a fishing rod but I figured if nothing else it would be a much lighter rod and that would translate into much less wear and tear on my arm and shoulder over the years. I was skeptical if it would really improve my casting that much. When I finally got the rod out on the water it was like WOW. This really is much better. The lighter weight turned out to be secondary to the improved castability as I don't usually spend more than an hour or two fishing at a time anyhow. And of that hour I'm walking, unsnarling my line from trees, branches or weeds, cleaning junk off my fly, etc. as much or more than I'm casting. And, of course improving my form would take care of a lot of the wear and tear on my arm.
But, still I'm not sorry I choose the Helios over a Sage or G Loomis or any of the other fine rods around. Orvis does a lot to help the fish and nature and that is very important to me besides putting out some very, very good if a little pricey products.

[Benjo]

I cast the 9 foot 5 wt tip flex and was not at all impressed. It is not a dry fly trout rod and I notice that all it's praises are in the streamer/long cast department. As a guide I am so sick of people showing up with rods that they don't know how to load or that don't like to load at distances less than 50 feet which is where most trout are caught. I wish I had four hands because I'd give that rod four thumbs down.

[Jackster]

I cast the 9 foot 5 wt tip flex and was not at all impressed. It is not a dry fly trout rod and I notice that all it's praises are in the streamer/long cast department. As a guide I am so sick of people showing up with rods that they don't know how to load or that don't like to load at distances less than 50 feet which is where most trout are caught. I wish I had four hands because I'd give that rod four thumbs down.

Benjo, Benjo, Benjo... it was a TIP FLEX! What in the world do you expect from a rod that is stated as being such?
Some rods are purposely built tippy and fast to satisfy people who can make them work.
Because all needs are different, I for one am glad most good manufacturers offer more than one type of rod. In Orvis's case, you can often get the same rod in differing flex patterns.
http://www.orvis.com/intro.asp?subject=24
I cast several of the Helios rods and was way impressed with the power they had. Especially for the extreme lack of weight they have.

Different strokes...