
Our winner enjoys fishing the small streams of his native Virginia.
Photos courtesy Philip Williams
A few weeks ago, to help break out of the off-season doldrums, we launched the Helios 3 Winter-Blues Giveaway, for which received thousands of entries. We recently heard back from our randomly selected winner: Philip Williams of Bergton, Virginia. I asked Philip for a short fly-fishing bio, and here’s what he sent:
I start fly fishing in the small stream in my back yard in Virginia. As I got older and was in high school, I heard about Mossy Creek Fly Shop in Harrisburg, which was about 45 minutes from my house. Through the help from my local fly shop, I got the equipment I needed to fish the local waters that the Shenandoah Valley has to offer and to fall in love with fly fishing and fly tying. My favorite place to fish is in the small mountain streams for native brook trout.
Sounds like a man after my own heart. Philip chose an 8-foot, 6-inch 4-weight Helios 3F because hes thought it offers “the best of both worlds: The strength to cast small streamers but still able to place a dry fly right where you want it.”
Thanks to all everyone who entered the contest. If you didn’t win, you might wanna go test-cast one of these sweet rods to see what you think. And don’t forget to try both the “D” and “F” models.
Click here to check out the Helios 3

The brook trout of the Shenandoah Mountains are Philip’s favorite quarry.
That ugly rod will scare the trout..
Plastic Man has no heart and no soul.
Congrats Phillip! I too love fishing the mountain streams of Virginia. Best of luck on your trout pursuits!