Echo Rods.

redneck_billcollector

Purveyor Of Fine Spirits
I will be fishing the Tamiami Trail and Loop Road down in the Everglades later this week on the way to Islamorada. On a fluke I purchased a 7wt Echo Bad A** Glass Quickshot last week. I put a Lamson Litespeed 3.5 loaded with Rio Outward Bound Short 8wt line. This rod with that line is a dream to cast. Was pinging coke cans at 50 feet with it. For 50 foot and under casts, this is the most accurate rod I have ever thrown. Does anyone else use one of these? It will be ideal for in the boat casting to snook under the mangroves too. PS. I used the ** because I did not want the moderators made at me...but that is its name.
 

almoore

Senior Member
I don't use one yet but the reviews are good and so is the price. It looks like a great tool for flats fishing or other types of sight fishing. My favorite rod to date is an Epic fast fiberglass from a New Zealand company. https://swiftflyfishing.com/
Swift's finished rods are expensive but you can build it yourself from a $400 kit or have it built from a U.S. rodbuilder and save a few hundred. If you are interested in fiberglass rods generally, you should check out http://thefiberglassmanifesto.blogspot.com/ Please post a report on your trip.
 

NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Never have owned an Echo rod, but I have one of their reels that I bought a couple years ago. Very good quality for the money, IMO.
 

GLS

Classic Southern Gentleman
I bought the Echo Base Fly Rod Kit for my daughter 4 years ago and it is excellent. It was under $175 and a complete 9' 5 wgt. outfit. As for fiberglass rods, the state of the art at one time were the glass rods made by Russ Peak. There's nothing inexpensive about the costs, however, as they turn up on Ebay often. Gil
 

BeefMaster

Senior Member
On a fluke I purchased a 7wt Echo Bad A** Glass Quickshot last week.

This^^^^

I have become strictly a glass man for fly fishing. I have one graphite rod, a base Echo (great rod, dry fly cannon) and it’s my throwdown for folks who haven’t fly fished before.

I’ve been running Echo glass in a 9wt for several years and the Bad A.. Glass quickshot is a hoot. I picked up a Echo glass 9wt 8’6” (not quickshot) off the Ebay for a song that way I could run sinking and intermediate lines for stripes without doing the reel swap dance. The non quickshot is not as fast but it throws my intermediate line nicely. Again, I am a huge fan the quickshot rods.

Branching out from Echo, I’ve built some blue halo gen 2 rods in 3 and 7 weights and they are enjoyable rods with a nice smooth, slow action.

I wanted to try building a 11wt CTS for tarpon and smaller sharks but the last time I checked their custom rod section didn’t have the bigger rods anymore. I may have to go with an Epic Boca or Blue Halo in 11.

I just read your report from the fishing trip and it looks like you had a grand old time. Congrats on all those critters.
 
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NCHillbilly

Administrator
Staff member
Another low-cost rod with a great feel and action is the Wetfly Element SE. I bought a 10' 3-wt a couple years ago for <$100. I love it. I've caught probably a couple thousand trout on it so far. It's sensitive, but has good backbone. I can feel my nymph ticking the bottom. It's become my go-to nymph rod. Fishes dries good, too.
 

hambone76

Senior Member
I have never used the Bad A Glass rod, but I have an Echo Boost Salt 10W rod paired with an 8/10 Ion reel and I love it.
I used it last year for King Salmon on the Big Manistee River and it handled them quite well.
I’ll be getting after the Kings yet again in a few weeks and will use the same setup for casting big, ugly streamers to Northerns and Musky.
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