Salty Saturday - Scott Heliply 888 Fly Rod

Scott Fly Rod Companyäó»s 888 Heliply _8äó»8äó 8 Line) is a classic saltwater stick. It was called äóÖone of the best dozen rods ever madeäó» in one review. It has a cult following among Scott fans and people still seem to talk about how much they loved this rod. Scott themselves in their original online material (via Wayback Machine) said äóìThis rod is the cornerstone of the whole Heliply series.äó When Scott äóìredesigned the 9, 10, 11, and 12 weight Heliplys they did so in the likeness of the HP 888/3.äó Sounds almost Biblical! Funnily enough in Christian numerology 888 represents Christ the Redeemer. A foil for the far better known 666. I spent a couple of sessions chasing tailing Golden Trevally with it. It accounted for a bunch of äóìpocket rocketsäó and a couple of middling fish in the 3-4 kilo range. It cast very smoothly and was a stack of fun once you dialled in that retro fast not-so-fast action. You need to forgive a 20 year old rod a certain amount of tip bounce. Having said that it happily threw an Airflo Flatsmaster with a 1/0 lead-eyed flats fly. On better fish, it bent deeply into what Chico called its äóìfat buttäó. Chico Fernandez said äóìI simply don't go to the flats or into the mangrove world without one or both of these.äó Iäó»m with Chico.