Saturday, January 24, 2009

Found Myself A Bargain

Yesterday, Amy and I wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather so we headed up to Gatlinburg. I know what you are thinking, Gatlinburg!?! I stay away from G-burg during the summer and fall, but it is quite nice in the winter. I can stroll along the streets peacefully, and stop in at any of the little shops I feel like. I don't have to worry about where to park or how much I am going to gouged for.

Anyway, on our way up there, Trey started getting really fussy as we were going through Sevierville. So, we chose to stop in at Orvis to walk around to get Trey out of his seat. While at Orvis, I thought I would ask about the outgoing Zero Gravity series of rods. The guy working the counter informed me that they only had one left in stock, an 8.5' 5wt. This is the same length and weight that I have been planning to purchase to round out my arsenal. I took the rod outside and made some casts with it. With a very strong side wind, it still was the easist casting rod I have ever had in my hands. I couldn't not believe the distance at such ease I was achieving with this rod, and it weighed in at about 70% of what my go-to 9' 4wt weighs. When I asked about the price, they told me that they are selling for 40% off, but since this rod was missing the cap for the rod tube theY would let it go for 60% off. Also, more temptation came in the form of the following statement, "Orvis will most likely replace this rod in the event of breakage with a new Helios." That was all the temptation I needed. This was a $625 rod that I walked away with for $200 (thanks to a $50 gift card).

I do 95% of my shopping with Little River Outfitters, but I don't expect to ever find another bargain like this again. I had to jump on this deal.

2 comments:

Tyler Legg said...

A missing rod tube cap is not enough for me either to pass up a reduced Helios, you are a lucky angler...a Helios reduced that much is rare..I would hold onto it as it may be the rod you pass down to Trey some day...

Take Care Travis,
Tyler

Travis said...

Tyler,
Maybe I wasn't all that clear. I didn't get a Helios for that price, it was a Zero Gravity. This rod was the predecessor to the Helios, and once Orvis runs out of ZG replacement parts they are planning on using Helios rods for warranty claims. Either way, it is one sweet rod for a steal.


19" Clinch River Brown