When I
discovered the real big fish in the Yukon Territory some
years ago I knew directly that I needed I a brand new rod.
I didn't want to fish and cast with 8-9 and 10 weight rods
all day long but so far I needed them exclusively because
the enormous lake trout simply didn't want to come to the
surface with light tackle. I hooked quite a few whoppers
but so far I was unable to land any with tackle lighter
then an eight weight. Even with the brand I was using at
first I didn't feel very comfortable. I hate long playing
because it can damage the fish so badly that it finally
will die. I am a real sport fisherman and a big catch and
release fanatic and I always hope to catch the same fish
another time again. Who knows maybe it has been growing
bigger. I discover quickly that for fly-fishing in the
Yukon lakes I needed a rod that could play and land some
very large fish within a decent time. What I needed was a
fly rod as light as possible but still strong enough to
handle those very powerful fighting fish unharmed! I don't
like too heavy rods because they easily can awake a nasty
tennis elbow what means the end of fly-fishing for quite
some time. When you fish for many hours on row like I do
you learn quickly to protect yourself against problems
like that. This is why I wanted to find a rod that was not
too heavy, could easily cast long sink tip lines and
fulfils all my other wishes as well.
It took
me quite some time but finally I found a beautiful rod
that had all the qualities I needed. It was advised to me
by Lon Deckard! I never ever had fished with T&T rods
before and the results and tests turned out amazing. Then
T&T rebuild the rod by using a new HE graphite fiber
orientation and the new Helix series were born.
Today the Helix from Thomas and Thomas is
definitely one of the best rods I ever used for the
special way of fly fishing in the Yukon. I was not the
only one who had this feeling. During my workshops I
discover that many people had enormous problems with
casting heavy sink tip lines and the Helix made it
possible for many of them. In my personal opinion the
Helix is a power horse among rods. The 9.6 feet weight
7 turned out to be a very special rod and it was indeed
the first rod I was able with to do a decent play for the
30-40lbs lakers. I land quite a few of them and didn't
loose any of of them.
The
biggest fish one I caught was 39lbs! I used mainly 225 and
325 grain 24ft sink tip lines and the Helix is
simply awesome to cast a long sink tip easy, smoothly and
a very good distance too. You don't cast those lines but
you shoot them and this rod can deal with the heavier sink
tips extremely harmonious and with great perfection. Even
during the back cast you shoot and that make the distance
so easy that I even impressed myself about the perfect
line-rod combination. Only 3 three casts where needed to
feel the backing in your holding hand. If you need a
powerful sink tip this is the rod to use. If you want to
play real big fish with light tackle this is a rod to try
and if you need some distance this rod will fulfill your
needs. Also floating lines did extremely well and the rod
can handle 6-7 and 8 weight lines without any problems.
It's a casting and fishing rod. Particular women loved it
because the light weight and easy casting they could use
the rod for many hours without getting tired or getting
any muscle pain.
Some backgrounds:
The Helix series rods incorporate T&T's new HE graphite
fiber orientation. This feature enables the design of rods
with increased strength, power and lightness. Built to
achieve light swing weight and ultra-sure trajectories,
they also meet today's needs for portability. All Helix
rods are of four-piece construction and fitted with
salt-proof reel seats and fighting butts to provide true
cross-over ability to meet salt and freshwater situations.
Line weights 5 and 6 are offered with a western grip and
7-10 feature the full wells grip. For species diversity
and portability, Helix does it all.
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