Well it's that time of year again. Another year The Fly Fishing Show hit's New Jersey. Love it or leave it you'll probably be there for at least one of the days. I haven't heard much scuttlebutt from the other TFFS's but that third day seems to one that they could do without. The problem is, without the third day, vendors and such would be itchin' to split as early as possible. The third day keeps them around for at least one solid day, which is the middle day. In years past, like a long time ago, when there were a ton of vendors, people would come back to the show during the last hours of the last day to score a deal. That's in the past. Before eBay and the internet. In the good old days. These days, by Sunday the vendors and talent want to get home and the attendees are thinking about playoff football games.
After coming off Stock the Box in Newport last weekend, and looking towards the Long Island Fly Fishing Expo in March, I go into this weekend optimistic. If what you're used to being on the show floor, like carpets, vendors and bargains, hasn't been there in recent years maybe this year will be different. There seems to be a lot more seminars
Popovics 2014
and presentations offered this year. And that's good. Maybe, just based on the increased number of presenters coming, who I hope are getting paid well, things on the floor, literally, like carpet, may be more like we saw in shows past. Over the years I have enjoyed and learned so much from the innovators and legends in the game and some just local everyday good fishy fly fishermen and women. I would recommend taking a peek at the schedule this weekend and mapping out a strategy so you don't miss someone who'd like to see again or for the first time. Below is just the Friday lineups.
I can only imagine that all of this talent and their peeps will be staying in the closest lodging to the venue so there will be great hangs somewhere. That is why having shows in a one-stop-shop location, show-food and drink-bed, is the best setup, always. When people have to scatter for a bed it just changes the whole vibe and hang, which is probably the best part of these shindigs.
So what can we expect new this year? I didn't hear much out of the Marlborough and Denver shows. This year we'll see what, and if, big name manufactures come back, if at all. Covid gave them the perfect pause to not keep up with the Jones's, to reevaluate if it's worth the investment of staff, time and money, and either to come back or not when things opened back up. The big guns used to have triple corner booths, now they fit into the 10 footers. Orvis? They used to come large, but not last year, and I don't think this year. If you've been following Orvis then you've seen the some movement in their fly rods and reels over the last year. Real quick, no pun intended, the Mirage reels are staying put. The Hydros reels I think are getting phased out.
I have seen on the Orvis website, as well when I visited the company stores, the Helios 3-D go from the $900+ price tag to just under $600. When companies start to blow things out that's a good sign something new is coming out soon.
So I can tell you this, say you heard it here, Orvis will launch their new Helios rod during the second week of February 2024, in just a few weeks. It's not a Helios 4, because one day they'd be up to a Helios 7, it's just the Helios. The original Helios ZG hit the scene around 2007, then came the Helios 2, or H2, and then the Helios 3D, and that came in several options, like F and Blackout. I guess you can say that every five or so years they come out with a new higher end rod. And higher end? Well there's higher end and then there's higher end. R.L. Winston has launched their new big gun, the Air 2 Max, this spring with a price tag of $1,245. That's just for the rod. The Helios 3 would have set you back just under $1,000, so I am anticipating the Helios to go somewhere between, $1,100-$1,200. That's hefty for the average anglers out there. Is there enough of a market share of people with that money? Who don't already have an H3D? I know there's people out there that need the latest to be relevant...but we'll see.
When they launched the Helios 3 it was all about accuracy. Fly casters, who are really good, I guess can tell what that means. Maybe those that sight or dry fly fish can really see and need that difference. For bull-in-the-china-closet casters, like me, who primarily fish for striped bass that isn't as important. I've don't own nor have casted the H3, and I don't know if I would be able to tell the difference. I just cast and fish with whatever I have in my hand. I purchased my first Helios in 2011 for
the Upper Delaware and then went with the H2 in 10 weights and an 11 weight for the salt. Along the way I had others in the Hydros, Recon and Clearwater lines. They have all served me well. And now that the Helios is about to come out I may be making a change in the rods and reels that I use. Orvis has served me very well. My stuff needs to find a kinder and gentler home. More on that to come.
The new Helios is, well, supposed to be even more accurate. The new technology, and don't hold me to this, has reduced and improved rod tip movement, both left and right and up and down, if I have explained that correctly. I have heard that means better power transfer from rod tip to the line and either eliminating or drastically reducing line "movement" due to the rod tip movement that occurs on the stop of the cast, which, in the end, makes for further and more accurate casts. Whew...just remember I failed the FFF CI test twice, so I might not be your guy when it comes to explaining all things casting.
Somerset 2010
We are always looking for new. New rods and reels, new gear, new materials, new flies, new talent. Squimpish arrived. The Beast Fleye pandemic came just as the menhaden were on the rebound. Blane broke out the Game Changer and now the Feather Changer. So what will this year bring?
Murphy 2014
And as always, I will hopefully see Rich Murphy again at the show. I looked at the TFFS website and he wasn't listed. Last year I just had a feeling that 2023 would be his last show. I hope to enter tomorrow and look and see his booth just off to the left of the entrance. It's sad when folks we love have to adjust to getting old and ending and beginning new chapters in their lives. It must be so hard for them, so we should all take advantage and enjoy the time spent with them while we can.
Have a great show if you go. And you should go.