I am considering purchasing a Kistler Helium, specifically the Helium Drop Shot Finesse Worm Special 7'0" Spin. I'm looking for an all purpose spinning rod, one that I could use for drop-shot, shakey heads, weightless soft plastics, and topwater poppers and feel this rod may suit my needs. However I have never fished a Kistler and was wondering if anyone could give me their feedback on either this model or a Helium spinning rod that they have fished. Thanks for your time.

 

I don't believe Kistler is currently making Heliums now (though I think they do have a new one planned for the future) so I'm assuming you're looking at a used rod.

Kistlers are rather interesting and polarizing, due to sudden and unannounced blank changes, warranty issues, etc. so it can be difficult to answer your question. For example, I had a magnesium casting rod I purchased new in 2007ish that I LOVED. The Heliums at that time were also very highly regarded. In the following few years, however, folks started seeing changes in the rods and started having issues. As a result, many were turned off to Kistler for a while. So if my assumption about you getting a used version is correct, the answer depends to the approx manufacturing date of the rod.

With all that said, Kistler seems to betraying to right the ship, especially in their KLX line. I picked up a KLX 6'6" ML spinning that I'm quite pleased with. Take a look at the KLX models and I think you be able to find the all-purpose rod you're looking for

It would be a 2013 Helium model, new, however, I will take a look at the KLX line and other rods not limited to Kistler. Thanks for the input.