1 1/4 oz. 7'6" 4-piece mid flex 7.5 fly rod for 3 wt. line.We set out on an adventure to make the world's lightest fly fishing rod. Along the way, we also made the world's best. If you love to challenge big fish with a light rod, then the Helios Ion 763-4 Mid is the rod you want to take with you. At 7-feet, 6-inches, the rod has the length that will offer you pinpoint accuracy at short to medium distances, but with the power to reach out just a few more feet in larger streams. As a 3-weight, there is strength, but more importantly the ability to present a small dry fly silently, perfectly, and deftly in those situations where precision is imperative and anything else simply won't do. There is perhaps no better rod for Tricos or spring creek midges. Built with Helios technology and weighing just 1 ¼ ounce, it is the closest thing to a surgical instrument a fly rod can be.
Average Customer Rating:
5 out of 5
Rating Snapshot
(3 reviews)
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3 of 3 (100%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.
The Incredible Ion,
September 18, 2009
By:
MrPebblesfrom Roanoke, Va
"Lay a size 20 Elk Wing Caddis on still water without spooking fish: check. Lightest 7'6'' 3 weight: check. Good looks: check. Enough strength to handle an 18 inch rainbow: check. Happy fisherman: check."
Review 2 for Helios™ Ion 763-4 Mid 7.5
Number One Contributor
Overall Rating:
5
/ 5
Ability to cast without even thinking about it!,
July 27, 2009
By:
Muskratfrom Oakville, ON
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Small stream rainbow
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Chunky small stream brown
"Small streams present their own difficulties but small rods don't often measure up: too stiff, too short, too flexy, etc. This rod is so close to perfection that I never question my ability to make even what I would previously have thought overly difficult casts in tight, tangly situations. This rod has given me the confidence to do whatever I need to do. I like the Battenkill Large Arbor 1 as a matching reel. Make sure you seat it up tight with the rings against the cork handle. Check after you've landed a big fish, as the rod tends to flex and the reel can work loose! I've had mine fall off a couple of times, and believe me, that can create some anxiety!"
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Review 3 for Helios™ Ion 763-4 Mid 7.5
Overall Rating:
5
/ 5
On the Mend,
March 23, 2009
By:
Risingtrout
"On The Mend
In fly fishing, the mend is that delicate little move with the rod that rolls the body of the line back upstream following the cast. For those of us that love to fish fast moving streams it isn’t as pretty or fun as its counterpart the cast, but it is at least as important. When mending is done correctly, the fly itself never changes position from the sweet cast that delivered it softly to the other bank. The body of the line is repositioned upstream from the fly and the proper mend results in the longest drag-free float.
I guess you could say I was on the mend, the life kind of mend, when I purchased my Helios rod. I had seen a 25 year marriage pass away from me like a fly that popped off on a tree on the other side of the bank. All I could do but helplessly watch it float away from me. The mend I was experiencing was like the mend in the stream. It was not a re-adjustment, nor a healing; it was more of a re-positioning of me in relation to my life.
As the divorce rode its unsteady course downstream I felt like I felt like I owed myself to purchase the rod I had coveted and tested out countless times in the Orvis store near my office. Of course, a trip to the stream which I had fished since I was a kid to try it out the new purchase was simply part of the deal. I certainly needed something that summer to enliven that feeling of old feeling of anticipation and hope. Like when you are wading upstream to the next hole around the bend which is holding that beautiful fish you had been dreaming about all winter.
As I made my first casts with my Helios I knew it was special. It is a sublime casting rod. It loads the line perfectly on the back cast and effortlessly releases the line out over the stream. But for those of us that fish fast-moving high altitude streams where presentation is critical, it simply isn’t only about the cast, it is about the mend. A subtle, but commanding mend with the rod insures the line gets back upstream to continue the perfect float for a delicate size 18 caddis pattern.
Having a rod that is light, quick, and powerful is especially important in the making a mend. It is something that you really can’t stream test in the store or in the parking lot outside the store. I knew pretty quickly that this is the best mending rod I had every held in my hand.
After a short time casting and wading I lapsed into a reverie, as many of us are wont to do, especially after catching several nice fish. The stream itself provides such a nice allegory for the incessant movement of life. It occurred to me that this whole endeavor of fly fishing provided an even better metaphor for my current life situation. We all make our choices in life. We make our cast and regardless of where it lies we have to make our mend.
The mend that we make while fishing is not so much an adjustment as a re-positioning because the fly hopefully stays pretty much in the same spot moving toward that hungry fish. The mend in life means getting ourselves in the correct frame of mind and attitude behind the choices and actions we make. Sometimes in heavy current or the dreaded wind the mend is especially difficult.
I am doing pretty well with my life mend. Spending many hours with my rod in hand in the stream has helped. When all is said and done, there is no doubt that this is the best mending rod I have ever possessed. This Helios will forever be my mending rod.
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