Guest post by Colin Macleod, Orvis Saltwater Festival Guide
I entered the crystal clear waters of a south coast mullet mark for my first session of the 2026 season. First sessions can be slightly anxious affairs, with a variety of concerns nagging the angler. Will the fish show up? Will they be feeding? Do I still have the knack?
This morning presented an additional variable in the form of a new fly rod to trial, the 6-weight saltwater version of the Recon. I have become so accustomed to fishing with my Helios 3D over the past few years that I was slightly apprehensive about leaving it in the cupboard at home. I need not have worried!
Before graduating to the H3D, I fished with the original Recon saltwater 6-weight for several years and found it to be a fabulous mullet rod and together we accounted for many hundreds of mullet caught. I fully expected the Recon to provide echoes of its predecessor through its lineage but within the first few casts I was picking up definite vibes of Helios rather than Recon! And this first impression was further reinforced as the day unfolded.
The Recon felt very light in the hand as I wandered the margins of a huge sandbar in search of silver. Finally, a shoal of mullet appeared from the depths of a channel to hunt shrimp in the shallows. Strong sunshine illuminated the shallows and I was pleased to see the matte blue finish of the Recon blank, helping to eliminate flashing, which can spook wary mullet. The warmth of the sun was tempered by a cold and very gusty easterly wind with the potential to make accurate casting tricky. The Recon handled the conditions with ease, dropping the flies exactly where I wanted them with each cast and within a few minutes my first mullet of the season nestled in the net.
Small groups of mullet regularly emerged from the channel onto the sand flats like raiding parties, ready to make a smash and grab raid on unsuspecting shrimp. Quick, accurate casts were required to put the flies in the danger zone and despite the swirling winds the Recon managed this admirably. Before long, the second mullet of the morning entered the net. Again, the power and precision of the rod reminded me very much of the Helios.
An area of current formed with the falling tide and the mullet took up position within its flow. It was now a case of drifting a team of flies on the current to where the shoals lay in wait. Normally this approach requires the flies to be retrieved in short, fast strips once they are amongst the fish, to initiate a response. This morning however, I was surprised to feel a gentle tap at the rod tip at the start of the first drift and gently struck to feel the weight of an irate mullet on the end of the line. The fish fought with ferocity, using the strength of the current to its benefit but the Recon showed ample strength to bring it to the net. The drift approach proved successful again on pretty much the very next cast and once more I detected the softest pluck through the rod tip and struck into mullet number four for the day.
Although the Recon and Helios feel very similar in terms of their fast action and accuracy of casting, it appears that the Recon has a slightly softer (and therefore more sensitive) tip than the Helios, which may not have registered the gentle takes of the fish which claimed the drifting flies.
All to soon the session came to an end and it was time to reflect on my day on the water.
I thoroughly enjoyed fishing with the new Recon model and it proved to be an excellent mullet rod. Although a mid-priced rod it delivered a premium performance in all that was asked of it. I paired the rod with an Orvis Pro Trout fly line and this proved a perfect combination, delivering easy casts both close up and at distance.
