Are Orvis Helios D and F Fly Rods Really That Different on the Water?

I wanted to know, first-hand, the difference between the Orvis Helios D and F, so I tested both fly rods side by side in tough, real-world fly fishing conditions.

The Orvis Helios D on the Brewster flats of Cape Cod. | Photo by Geof Garth

What is the "on the water, real-life" difference between the Orvis Helios D (D=Distance) and the Orvis Helios F (F=Finesse)? I studied all the specs and then read the reviews, which seem to focus on the specs. However, I wanted to know how the designations "D" and "F" translate in real life.

Questions

Is the distance the D throws really that much different from what I can get the F to do? Is the accuracy in the F so much better than the D?

A Test Run

Orvis agreed to send me both rods in an eight-weight to test and learn for myself. When I received the rods, I went to a nearby baseball field to try them out. I achieved good distance from the Orvis Helious D and was able to accurately hit targets I had laid out around the field. When I tried the Helios F, I found it to be slower and softer in the bend, which made it more accurate in close quarters. I could bomb out some long casts with the F, too, but a baseball field isn't a real-life fishing situation.

Saltwater Fly Fishing - The Real Test

Still not feeling like I had an answer, I took both rods with me to fly fish the Brewster flats of Cape Cod. This is a yearly trip I take every June, where I wade the flats, sight-casting to cruising stripe bass, often at a distance, and into a stiff breeze.

The Orvis Helios D and the Orvis Mirage fly reel. A perfect combo for saltwater fly fishing. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

The Orvis Helios F

My first day on the flats, I fished the Helios F. There wasn't much of a breeze, and I'm a fan of slower fly rods. I was fishing a sand eel pattern because a buddy of mine told me of a bass he caught the day before that had coughed up a bunch of eels. The rod felt great in the hand; it did everything I asked of it at both long and short distances. My best cast was when I placed the sand eel-fly on the nose of a bass that was in close. He took my fly, and I scored my first fish of the trip.

Stripe bass eat sand eels like it's candy. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

Raising the Bar

On the second day, I fished the Helios F again because I really liked how it cast and felt in the hand. I noticed a lot of crabs on the flats, so I changed out to a crab pattern. A few hours into the day, the wind picked up and my casting became more of a struggle. The wind took the power out of the rod and my distance casting suffered for it.

Chris Kokorda's designed and tied Dredge Crab. | Photo by Ken Baldwin

After fishing most of the morning, I needed a break and headed in. I would come back in the late afternoon to fish the end of the low tide and then the rising tide.

The Orvis Helios D

Back out on the flats, this time equipped with the Helios D. The wind was still blowing, but it didn't present as much of a problem because the Helios D was more equipped to cast into a stiff breeze. The rod had to carry a lot of weight with the bulkier crab-fly and an Orvis PRO Depth Charge sinking line. It all paired up fine, and the casting was easy.

On the baseball field, I couldn't tell much of a difference between the two rods. On a windy saltwater flat with a heavy fly and sinking line, there was a noticeable difference.

A quick sidenote: If a sinking line isn't part of your arsenal, I highly recommend you add it. I caught a lot of fish on this windy day, and it was because the Orvis sinking line got my crab down to where the fish were. The guys on the flat that were fishing a floating line didn't do so well.

An Exceptional Fly Rod

For the next three days, I fished the Helios D on the flats and in the surf. It excelled at casting into the wind, picking up sinking line out of the surf, and when I needed to make the long cast. It is surprisingly light in the hand for all the work it can do. I now had a real-life understanding of the difference between the Orvis Helios D and F. KB

Part 2- When and where the Helios F shines.

---

"The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover

The gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for the purpose of evaluation.The views and assessments presented are my own.