The regular Undergrounders might remember my field test of the Orvis Helios fly rod. I liked it, though not as much as the Detroit Free Press (found via MidCurrent), who loved the Helios enough to lightly bitch slap the biggest name in fly rods. To whit:
I got to use the 9 foot for a 5-weight line last summer, when it was still a big secret, and was amazed. It was incredibly light, about 2.5 ounces, but that’s not what got me. It was the almost effortless casting. You just lifted the line off the water, did a quick false cast and let it fly.
For the past 10 years Sage has set the standards for upmarket fly rods. But when I tried the Helios side-by-side with a 9-foot Sage TCR, using the same reel and line, I thought the Orvis was noticeably better.
Zing! In the genteel (translation: bought and paid for) fly fishing industry, you don’t normally zing the other guys, though apparently the Detroit Free Press didn’t get the memo.
You’ve gotta think the guys at Orvis have already sacrificed a goat to the Detroit Free Press in thanks, and are busily papering the walls of the rod design shop with copies of this review.
For the graphite fly rod set, the upcoming years are going to be interesting indeed…
[tags]fly fishing, fly rod, orvis, orvis helios, helios fly rod, detroit free press, sage tcr[/tags]
Tom,
Is the problem here that it was not a full comparison, or do you not feel A-B comparisons are appropriate. I like them – especially if there is at least some attempt to quantify performance difference. For example, George Anderson has a couple nice articles on 5w and 8w rod evaluations (http://yellowstoneangler.com/).
Ultimately I would like to see some complementary totaly objective evaluation as is don with the Common Cents system (http://www.common-cents.info/) I wish every rod came with such data. Then, you could look at some objective parameters and decide if the rod might be for you.
Anyhow, I like the fact that the writer expressed an opinion. Hey, I say “shake things up”.
– Kevin
Kevin(Quote)
I guess I wasn’t over the top enough — I was implicitly criticizing the reviewing practices in this industry, where people rarely ever make direct comparisons.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Tom – I think everyone but me got it. You just have to hit me over the head with it.
– Kevin
Kevin(Quote)
What’s Orvis doing giving the Detroit Free Press fly rods? Don’t they know no one in Michigan has a job?
Alex(Quote)
I think it says “special to the Detroit Free Press” so Eric Sharp might be a freelance writer. As everyone knows, that’s code for unemployed, shiftless, and probably unwashed.
But he writes an interesting rod review.
Tom Chandler(Quote)
Aren’t people in Michigan too busy driving fast to actually have time to fish? :) Actually my times fishing in the upper peninsula have been the best times at the sport in recent memory.
Fly Fishing(Quote)