Monday, August 06, 2012

080612


I was in SLC over the weekend, attending a huge outdoor retailer trade show, looking for the next latest and greatest along with 25000 other people! I've never seen anything like it and in addition to all the stuff, the best part of the show was the energy that was going on there. From climbing tools to paddle boating, just about all of the vendors were rocking, buyers were writing orders, and there was just an overwhelming positive vibe overall. Who knows if the economy is coming back or not, but gauging from this show...people are looking and feeling optimistic.
Best thing at the show for me? I hate to beat the old fly rod drum, but what the hell, it's a big drum. Orvis has been working on anew premium rod to replace, yes replace, the Helios rods for awhile now. I've had a couple of prototypes that I've been fishing with for about the last 6 months. We've been supposed to keep it on the down low until they made their first announcement at OR, which is done. I'll go into a review some other time as they won't be available until Oct/Nov of this year in just a few sizes.
Overall though, the rods kick ass from the way they cast to they way they look. The consensus from other testers has been lightweight, powerful, and accurate, durable too. Personally, I love the Helios rods, so I wasn't too thrilled about them moving on but after fishing the new rods pretty hard now for awhile, I'm good with it as the new H2 rods are better and progress can't be stopped. You'll be seeing more and more about the new rods in the coming months.
In the meantime, the word on the streets is that the O-show is not going to be clearing out the Helios anytime soon, so don't hold your breath for closeout deals. I bought a 7 and a 10 a couple of months ago because I really like those 2 models and didn't have them already. I though it wise to get them while I could as when they are gone...they're gone forever.

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