Echo SR Switch rod review.

[gerry]

I have had an 8 weight Echo SR switch rod for over a year now so can give a solid review now about it. The short version is it works very well and I'm quite pleased with it. The SR stands for switch rod, I always used a single hand fly rod for salmon but now have sold everything else since it works so well. Sure is nice to spey cast but still be able to fire the odd cast overhead still. Took a long to me for me to switch over but I'm glad I did. Plenty of backbone and only 10'10" which is pretty short for a two hander. I met a kid who has a 7 weight version of the same rod and it's pretty sweet for salmon too. Echo is such good value compared to others and are very nice rods.

My catch from last night, caught a bunch of fish and ended up keeping 3 sockeye and a coho

 

[gerry]

From Echo's website

ECHO SR | Echo Fly Fishing

echoflyfishing.com

I would say this review from these guys is pretty accurate too.

Echo SR Switch Rods - Echo SR Switch Rods -

The 10'10" SR 7 Switch is a great rod for summer and winter steelhead, Alaska silvers, and the big trout of Bristol Bay and the Kenai.

www.alaskaflyfishinggoods.com

 

[salmonchaser]

We had a dozen or so Echo 8 wts. And 6 wTs. All were good rods. We had a crew of Argentinians come up every year to fish. Their ring leader was either the South American or Argentina rep for Echo. All those boys could throw and they could throw better than most in the wind. They all ran Echo rods. Always left us afew. They held up much better than Sage.
I played with the switch rod but never adapted. I am envious of having good reds and silvers in the river at the same time. What a great day you had.

 

[gerry]

It was a good day and was nice to finally have a chance to get out. Wrong time of year to get busy! Mid August is a great time to fish since all species are in the river at one time. Chinook's are almost done and the Sockeye run has peaked but still good numbers of those coming up. The Pink run has been huge this year but Steelhead numbers are low. Looks like good numbers of Coho and Chum coming up as well.

I resisted for a long time going to a two hander but there are some good reasons to do it. They fish differently, I find I get less snags and it is a bit less fatiguing too. Here on the Skeena virtually everyone who runs a fly rod has gone to a two hander of some sort for salmon and steelhead. This Echo rod is shorter than most others which helps guys bridge into the two handers. Have zero desire to run a 13-15' rod.

Still run a single hand rod for trout but use the single Spey type lines mostly now like the OPST Commando head.

 

[salmonchaser]

A number of our clients who used to fish the SKeena went to spay rods. Picked it up down there. Must be a thing. Im sitting here ruminating on when I last fished on the Skeena, think it was almost 30 years ago. That’s a shame, great river.
Mid to late August was always my favorite time to guide., Kings were done, Illegal to target them, Reds were still in the upper river/spawning streams. Most were well past eating. Silvers were abundant and so were Pinks. Pinks were my favorite for rookie anglers 50 to 100 hook ups a day really teach them how to fight a fish.
The spawn brought out the Char, Grayling and Rainbows. That is fun stuff when youre casting to individual trout behind the salmon that are getting ready to spawn.

 

[gerry]

If I remember correctly you did some fishing on the Brooks river which I would like to try one day. I check out the highlights from the bear cams up there. Fishing for trout with an egg imitation fly behind those salmon would be a blast. Have done a bit of that for rainbows and it sure was fun.

 

[salmonchaser]

Fished brooks many times, two distinctly different rivers above and below the falls.

 

[JD338]

I would love to fish that river with my 375 H&H Mag.

JD338