Fly Fisherman's 2025 Gear Guide Best New Fly Rod Series: Orvis Helios

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The Helios 3, introduced by Orvis in 2017, became one of the best-selling fly rods of all time. Consumers loved it because it was light, delivered flies with pinpoint accuracy, and was extremely durable. It was the most popular and widely acclaimed fly-fishing product in Orvis history, so it was a difficult task for Shawn Combs, director of product design and development, and his team at Orvis when they set out to create a rod even more accurate, durable, and lighter. According to Combs, the fourth generation of the Helios is all three of those things, and he’s got the data to prove it.

One of the greatest impediments to accuracy is the wobble you get in your rod tip when you stop your hand at the end of the cast. The problem is, even when you stop your hand perfectly there is some degree of wobble in the tip of the fly rod, and that little wobble at the end of your cast has an effect on where your fly ends up.

The Helios 3 was accurate due to a significant reduction in this wobble. Orvis calls this “vertical tip displacement” and “horizontal tip displacement” and they’ve designed laboratory tests that measure, record, and plot on a chart what the rod tip on the newer Helios does after the stop. Most of the competitive rods Orvis tested in the lab begin with just a slight displacement, and after a second or two they begin wobbling to the point where the rod tip moves in a circle or oval. In other words, it’s displacing in every direction. The new Helios has virtually none of this type of wobble when it’s loaded and released through mechanics in the lab. It still has some reverberations, but they are in line with the tracking of the original cast, and aren’t erratic enough to plot a circle on a graph. According to this type of laboratory measure, the new Helios has 4 times less wobble than the Helios 3. In my hand this translates to a rod that comes a dead stop unlike anything I’ve ever cast, and maintains a constant connection to my hand that isn’t disrupted by any errant wiggles at the other end. Because there’s no disconnect at the rod tip, the accuracy is literally in my hands.

I have tested prototypes of this rod on Cape Cod beaches and flats and from a boat for striped bass, for bonefish on ankle-deep Bahamas flats, for smallmouth bass on Susquehanna tributaries, and for spring creek trout in South America, and I can tell you this isn’t just another product introduction. There’s something noticeably different about this rod the moment your hand stops and the fly begins its journey.

When Orvis says the new Helios is 25% more durable, that’s not in relation to nicks and damage from fly impacts. The new Helios is actually 25% stronger in terms of lifting power and the ability to bend without catastrophic failure. Orvis designers measure that with the travel distance of the rod tip. We all know what a 90-degree bend looks like. The previous Helios 3 could withstand tip travel distance measuring 100 degrees, while the newer Helios can travel 125 degrees. For comparison, imagine that 180 degrees would take the rod tip from the inert 12 o’clock position all the way to a point in line with the 6 o’clock position.

No one actually bends their rods like that, but because Orvis has done the testing—and filled trash cans with broken rods to achieve this standard—you know your rod will stand up to boat gunwales while you’re playing a 20-pound striper, or survive any antics that might occur when you’re high-sticking and trying to net your own steelhead in a difficult situation. Because of the hoop strength that creates this radial power, the new Helios also has enormous lifting power for muscling big fish like tarpon, GTs, or Hudson River carp.

The Helios comes in 29 new models, and across the range they have a 10% reduction in levered swing weight. There are 12 Finesse or F models from a 7’6” 2-weight to a 9’ 8-weight, and 17 Distance or D models from a 10-foot 4-weight to an 8’5” 14-weight. The F series are matte olive and the D series are matte black.

Within these F and D series there are subfamilies of rods for every type of fishing: small-stream presentation rods like the 8’6” 4-weight F, Euro-nymphing rods like the 11’ 4-weight F, quick-loading 8’5” snap-and-shoot rods in 7-, 8-, and 9-weights, and a complete line of big-game rods from 7-weight to 14-weight. The series has six different grip configurations across the 29 models, everything from a tiny 6.5’ half wells grip for rods under 7 feet, to a 7” full wells grip with a composite cork “gas pedal” for your thumb and a 2.25” fighting butt on the 12-weight tarpon rod.

The rods have burl wood inserts on the freshwater models and machined type III anodized aluminum reel seats made in New Hampshire in the saltwater models. They have crushable REC recoil titanium snake guides that pop back into shape after you remove ice from your guides, and titanium-frame stripping guides with silicon carbide inserts for smooth, slick casting.—Ross Purnell

$1,098-$1,198 | tridentflyfishing.com

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