![]() The new Orvis is full of young, energetic, highly educated folks at the very top levels of the design process. The change behind the change is the most significant. I have to say that the material cutting process Orvis uses is the most precise I have ever seen and quality control has been taken to a whole new level. Kent and I recently toured the rod shop at Orvis and I was impressed by some of the innovative changes they’ve made. It may sound silly, but with all the gear I carry, I love it! I’d love to have Orvis tubes for all my rods. Orvis rolls their own graphite rod tube for the Helios 2 which weighs next to nothing. The finish is outstanding and even the rod tube is good looking and innovative. In addition, the engineering behind the Helios 2 produces a more responsive rod with greater strength. There is an inherent crispness that a rod gains just from the removal of weight. It’s less fatiguing to fish, which is a real pleasure but the action benefits as well. That’s a huge difference in the weight of a rod. The really innovative part of the design shows in the weight, or lack of it. The tip is soft enough to spare light tippet, while the butt and mid let you show them who’s boss. When you hook up, the Helios 2 has remarkable authority over a fish. It’s definitely a mid flex rod but it will surprise you with its line speed. It has a wonderful feel while maintaining a fast recovery rate. The action of this rod is hard to describe. The little 4 weight had no problem handling a ten pound rainbow for me. In the process the Helios 2 has put me on some very nice fish. It has gone from a rod I needed to fish in order to write a review, to a rod I wanted to fish because of how it performs. Having had the opportunity to fish it in a variety of conditions I have to say, I love it all the more. I’ve fished it extensively over the last couple of months. I would not have caught that fish with a lesser rod. The Helios 2 performed flawlessly, landing cast after cast with delicacy and accuracy. He was a picky fish but I worked him and he eventually ate. The only way to get him was to throw a backhanded curve cast, landing the fly downstream of the leader, giving me a good six feet of drift. A sixty foot backhand cast from the back of the boat to a trout sipping BWOs in the soft current on the far side of a seam. My first shot at a Delaware brown trout was not an easy one. I fished it with Chris Budro from Orvis and our guide put us on rising fish less than a hundred yards from the launch. Most readers will know the Delaware’s reputation as one of the best and most challenging dry fly rivers in the east. I had the chance to fish it for the first time on the Delaware and it proved itself on the first fish. My new Helios 2- 9′ 4 weight mid flex is, in my opinion, the best fly rod Orvis has produced recent memory. Some better than others, but it’s been a while since I had one I really loved. I always have, but I admit that when I picked up the new Helios 2, my expectations were limited. Orvis has seen its share and they get a lot of trash for it but when you look at their record there have been far more good years than bad. I think it’s fair to expect that in over a hundred and fifty years of making fly rods there will be ups and downs. Photo by Louis Cahill Every once in a while a rod surprises you.
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