For those familiar with the landscape of the fly rod market know that the previous generation Helios 3 rod was a pretty big deal when it came out in 2017. High-performance, costly, and painted with a decisive white label that created quite a stir among the opinionated guardians of the pastime. No doubt the new (un-numbered) Helios will bring folks out of the woodwork, too.
What's New and What It Means
Along with updated aesthetic touches, the new Helios comes with an impressive bevy of performance stats that were measured in front of my own eyes in Vermont (while sworn to secrecy). This is where the excitement comes in—four times more accurate, 25% more durable, and a 10% lighter swing weight than its predecessor.
The $1,098 starting price tag isn’t intended to grant its owner smug superiority, but it absolutely does comes with a no-questions-asked 25-year product warranty that will come in handy when your humility rears itself following the crack of a fly rod that just got crushed by an errant car door.
Due to the Helios’ tight manufacturing process at the Manchester rod shop, replacement rod sections will arrive by mail and have you back on the water in five days or less–far quicker than other rods in this category that require the entire thing to be mailed back to the manufacturer for repair over several weeks or months.

Searching an alpine lake with the 9' 5-weight Orvis Helios
If you’ve made it this far, you’re either an angler yourself or at least very interested in going down the wormhole of this gear-rich hobby that diehards might even consider some kind of divine calling.
For the latter crowd, know that the contender for the best fly rod ever made won’t guarantee any more fish than the $100 beginner outfit from a big box retailer. But, if you take your casting as seriously as your catching, then you’ll be in for a real treat every time you shoot line towards a likely lie with any one of the 29 models of the Helios’ fresh and saltwater variants.