O
ver the years, one may have noticed that the preferred length of fly rods is a bit like the ups and downs of skirt lines. There was a time when miniskirts were the rage, and then it was maxi skirts. It’s a yoyo trend that has come and gone for almost a hundred years. Fly rod trends seem to also have their own cycles. My first Orvis fly rod was a 6-foot, 2-wt. Flea. It was the late 1960s, and as I recall, it was the heyday of the miniskirts. As I grew older and more conservative, I transitioned from standard 8-foot fly rods in the early 1980s to a Fenwick 9.5-foot, 4-wt. I stuck with that rod for over ten years catching everything from high country brook trout to a 48-inch Atlantic salmon in the Miramichi River in New Brunswick. Orvis’ Helios 2 104-4 Tip-Flex Fly Rod is one of the latest entries in the currently popular 10-feet plus fly rods being grabbed up by the current generation of Euro nymphers and those who have rediscovered “high sticking.” Frankly, I have to admit that the Helios 2 104-4 Tip-Flex Fly Rod has a helluva lot going for it, even if you try to put it in the trendy, “maxi skirt” fad category. For starters, this 4-piece rods weighs in at a featherweight, 2⅝ ounces—less than most 9- to 9.5-foot fly rods. There isn't an insane amount of swing weight either in this Vermont bred fly rod. You can cast this fly rod all day. According to Orvis, the Helios 2 104-4 Tip-Flex Fly Rod is 20% stronger than their original series of Helios, and 20% lighter in hand with a 100% increase in tip-impact strength.
A good argument can be made that the heart of the Helios 2 is its fine-tuned tapers. The culmination of almost 150 years of rod building experience, these tapers deliver unrivaled tracking, accuracy, and lifting power. On the streams of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park where we ran the Helios 2 through the drills, we rated it as best high sticking, euro nymphing we had ever worked with on these streams. The company’s Tip Flex design/technology is truly a game changing component of these fly rods. Orvis spared neither expense nor effort in creating the Helios 2. The components and finishes of the Helios 2 will make an old man drool, and a young man nutty. The burled wood insert and sleek skeleton reel seat serve as a seductive introduction to an ultra-high quality cork, Western-style cork grip. This fluidly transcends a shimmering dark blue blank adorned with a SiC stripping guide and flexible nickel/titanium snake guides. At 2 5/8oz. it is close to weightless. It is the sort of fly rod even a well-adjusted angler might confess to have slept with at least once The Helios 2 104-4 Tip-Flex Fly Rod comes with a rod tube and is backed by Orvis’ 25-year guarantee. If you opt for the complete rod outfit, you also will have a Mirage II (in pewter finish) that comes spooled with Hydros WF 4 Trout fly line and 125 yards of 20-pound Dacron line backing. It’s really a pretty sweet deal.
www.SouthernTrout.com l Southern Trout l March 2017 l 59