Flycatcher Inc., Thomas and Thomas Helix 4 Weight 9 foot four piece fly rod
Joshua's Rating: 95/100 Brad's Rating: 90/100

Editor's note: We committed to doing an honest review of Flycatcher Inc.'s service and custom rods prior to ordering the rod. There are too many 'consumer reports' services that review everything as perfect, so as to secure more freebies in the future. We at Wilderness Adventures Press, Inc., prefer to maintain our integrity and credibility by giving honest assessments. That said...

Joshua's Review

What's the best thing a reviewer could say about a fly rod? It helped me catch more fish? I had to have it for myself? Well I would say both about Flycatcher Inc.'s custom Thomas and Thomas Helix 4 weight 9 foot four piece rod.

In fact I did buy the rod after reviewing it. It added yards to my cast and improved my mending markedly, thus, I believe, helped me to make better presentations and ultimately catch more fish.

Flycatcher Inc. offers custom rods made from brand name blanks. Everything is customizable, down to the colors of the thread wrap, the style of guides, the reel seat, and of course, the brand and model of blank.

Flycatcher optimizes the castability of the rod by utilizing a process it calls Zero Balancing. Zero Balancing uses a computer program to find the spine on the blanks (the side of the rod where the guides must be placed), whereas most custom rod makers find the spine by feel. Zero Balancing also determines the optimum location to place the guides. The result is a rod as good as you'd get direct from a big-name rod factory.

From the get go, you are choosing a large variety of custom options. If you are not really into custom rods, a lot of these options might seem a bit overwhelming. For example, there are many options for the rod guides. To someone who doesn't know the advantages of one compared to the other, picking through the variety can be tedious. On the other hand, to have the option of several different guides might be exactly what you want.

The pricing is excellent. The custom options allow the price to fit the consumer, but even with the best everything, it beats the manufacturer's suggested retail price (at least for the Thomas and Thomas Helix, which I've seen retail for any where from $640 to $700. Flycatcher offers it as $544.51 for all the best options, and as low as $432.71).

The consumer does need to remember exactly what custom options were requested, because a list of what you ordered does not come with the rod.

Once the order was completed, it did take awhile for the rod to arrive. We understand that this was an issue on the Thomas and Thomas end, so, while it should be noted, it shouldn't necessarily be held against Flycatcher.

When it did arrive, we were impressed with its appearance. The wraps looked great and the epoxy was uniform and clean. If you are picky about your wraps, as some folks who build their own rods can be, you might notice a couple of spots where the thread was not completely perfect. But this is a very nit-picky thing. To the average angler, it would make no difference, and the overall appearance deserves a rating of 99.5 out of 100.

Like I mentioned previously, the casting, which is really the ultimate test for a rod, was beautiful. It added distance to my cast, and improved my mending. It hucked big flies well, and it laid dries down softly. It didn't perform particularly well in the gales that sometimes hinder casting, but it is, after all, a 4 weight rod.

Overall, Flycatcher Incorporated offers a great service, at great prices. Oh, and the rods are pretty nice too. They certainly worth checking out if you are in the market for a new rod. You can get the look you want, with the same castability you'd get from the manufacturer, at better prices. The website is: www.flycatcherinc.com.

Brad's Review
The Order Process:

We received a promo code so that we could go online and order the rod just like a regular customer. The process was about as smooth as you can get considering the amount of options you have when ordering a rod from Flycatcher Inc. In fact, the options are even a bit overwhelming to a fly angler that isn't all that into custom rods. If you are into custom rods, this site would be like a playground for you. I would recommend doing some research on some of the options that are available to you before you actually place your order. Navigating through the actual order process was easy and smooth if you know what you want.

Shipping:

The shipping time did seem a little long, but then again it is a custom built rod, not something you just package up and send. It took at least 2 months to get the rod. The only real con about this review is that it was not shipped in some sort of permanent packaging, like a felt sleeve, or rod case. If I was really spending $500-plus on a high-performance, high-quality product like this, and it just came in bubble wrap, then I wouldn't be all that thrilled. Perhaps Flycatcher Inc. should provide some sort of sheath or at the very least offer cases for sale along with the rod. The rod was very well packed and arrived in good shape, nonetheless.

Aesthetics:

Beautiful! When we opened up the package and finally saw the rod, I was very impressed with its aesthetic appeal. It was easily the best looking rod I've ever seen. In fact I even made the comment that it is just too pretty to use. We did commit to taking it out on a famous Montana trout stream to give it a test run though, so out we went.

On the Madison River:

It took me about 10 casts to get used to the rod, but after that it performed very well. There was some intermittent wind and the rod sliced through the wind very well. Unfortunately I wasn't successful in hooking up with a trout, so I'm afraid my review will come up short in that aspect. I tried several different casting techniques while I was out, and what stuck out to me was the increase in my mending ability. What I wanted my mend to do is exactly what happened when I did it. The rod didn't come up short on long casts; in fact it may have slightly increased the reach that I am accustomed to. My short casts were accurate and smooth. A backhand cast seemed much easier than normal. I can't say for now that it helped me catch more fish, but since my buddy went ahead and purchased it, I may try and talk him into letting my borrow it again so I can update this review. (What do you think Josh?)

Technology:

Flycatcher uses a technology called Zero Balance, to insure that the rod spine is properly aligned, I personally didn't really understand the charts that accompanied the rod, perhaps some explanation would have been interesting, but the fact that every single rod gets ample personal attention, guarantees a rod that will perform.

The Bottom Line:

Sure you can buy a cheaper rod that would probably perform similar to this rod, but where Flycatcher excels is in the custom area. You can order your favorite high-quality brand rod, and you can get it made exactly the way you want it. I believe that if you customize a rod to suit you, it will outperform any rod off the shelf. To top it off, Flycatchers prices are very competitive, against the same rod that you buy off the shelf, without the customization. You certainly can't go wrong with a custom rod from Flycatcher Inc.

Visit Flycatcher Inc. online at www.flycatcherinc.com