Those kind and thoughtful fisherfolk are now in the biz of switchrods, with 4 new sizes available (we're told) shortly. Somehow, we rate enough that by phoning up J and begging for 10 minutes, we got a demo 7wt and a few lines sent our way. Beers on us at the Bellevue show, gentlemen.
At first glance, the color scheme is gonna take a while to get used to. It kinda reminds us of the Winston Vapor blank, except without the pastel overtone to the baby-poo green.
The cream wraps offset the color a little and the distinctive grip is nicely done in regular and burl cork, so at least it's got THAT going for it. After putting it together and giving it a "fly shop wiggle", we grabbed some reels, bundled up, and headed for the dock to put this twig through the paces.
First impressions with the Airflo Compact ("Skagito") 360 were not good. As we have stated many times before, we ain't the smoothest 2-hand dude around, but the rod felt a little overloaded with this line and a 120gr tip. Then again, Skagit-style isn't supposed to be the prettiest way to get things done, so maybe our expectations were a little high...ok, we admit that we were hoping Tim had actually touched this rod at some point, so maybe some of his casting awesomenality would rub off on our sweaty mitts.
No awesomnality, but with a line switch to a Beaulah 335gr Elixir tipped with a 14' 55gr polyleader, things got significantly better. The rod had more snap with the lighter weight, and it definitely unloaded much faster and smoother. We were positively giddy at the end of the session, wingin' happy 80's with very little effort and some pretty sexy loops to boot.
Verdict?
Pretty damn cool. We're not sure where the Echo folks are gonna price these at, but if they are under $350 they are gonna be a steal. The way they cast, you won't care if your friends laugh at your "Avorado".
3 comments:
Gsmolt,
How does the Decho compare to the Beluah switches?
Had a bomb in Belize with the Narwahl
Hey FB-
Glad to hear you had a time in Belize, your pics pretty much back that up.
First off, this isn't a Dec / Tim project, at least to our understanding. Tim's baby all the way.
Second, I haven't cast the 6 echo yet. When I do, I will put it up against the 5/6 and the 6/7 Beulah and give you a report.
Interesting..... There is a lot of banter about the looks of the rod.. Gotta admit it will stand out in a rack of rods.
Looks is the least of my issues, but it is interesting to hear the debate.
Look forward to hearing more, and maybe getting to cast one later this year.
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