Featuring: Echo and Baltic Flyfisher

Our rods for the tournament are indahouse, so it's time to proudly present them on this blog. We already decided beforehand that we would want to take a 9 weight and a 10 weight rod per person. Although some of us fish with an 8 weight here in Holland (and with small streamers you could easily go as low as #6/7), fishing from a boat at sea is best done with a 9 weight or up. Not because of the size of the fish, but to be able to cast a big, heavy streamer in a strong wind. After testing quite a few different rods we came up with the nice combination of a medium fast 9 weight and a fast 10 weight. Let's start with the 9 weight in this topic, the Echo 2 SW.



The Echo 2 Saltwater is a strong and very handsome rod with two faces. It has two tip-sections, the softer A-tip for accuracy and the stiffer D-tip for distance: a very nice and unique concept.



Echo claims the tip-sections are different, but not so much that you couldn't use the other tip as a spare in case of emergency. I think Echo is right about that, although you really can tell the difference between the two tip-sections. The A-tip bends the rod in a progressive way, while the D-tip forces the rod to load sooner in the lower sections. So far, we found the D-tip to be better for casting our heavy streamers (and we would think that the A-tip, which generates a faster rod action, would be great for lighter flies that will not misbehave so much while airborne).

Considering how deep it bends into the butt with the D-tip, the Echo 2 SW remains remarkably strong and accurate. This is a good thing, because it allows for casting big streamers a long way, while on the other hand the nice bend in the rod will guarantee a lot of feeling when you've got a fish on. It's truly amazing how well-made these rods are by any standard, especially when you find out about the economics: for the price of one Sage (or Loomis, Orvis, Winston, etc.) you can buy two Echo 2 rods (of course in different line weights) and still have some money left for a fly line or, maybe even better: the Echo Micro Practice Rod for improving your casting skills indoors.

Oh, and one more thing: if you happen to be a sucker for the esthetics of a fly rod, you probably already noticed the nice dark blue blank of the rod, but how about these very slick Titanium nitride coated stripper guides:


Sweet!


Our Echo 2 SW rods are kindly donated by Stuart Longhurst from Baltic Fly Fisher in Tostedt, Germany (just below Hamburg). Stuart is distributor of Echo Rods for Europe, and also runs a fly-casting school with his daughter Silja (yeah, that's right, the first female FFF casting instructor in Europe). You can buy Echo Rods straight from his web-shop. If you're from Holland and you'd like to try one of our Echo 2 SW 9 weights, you can reach us at: thedutchfour@kpnmail.nl. We live in Utrecht, Ommen and De Lutte.