New Fly Rod Opinions?

[tomsakai]

I am angling (!) for a new fly rod for my Bday to replace the $300 down jacket that was the original gift. I'd much rather be bundled up in old jackets and sweatshirts with a new rod. If I can get away with this without offending the sister-in-law (I do a lot of work for her for free so I probably earned this) I was thinking about an Echo 3 9 foot 6 weight for fishing the upper near Mammoth. Any opinions? I was going to head down to the local fly shop to test cast but I would be interested in opinions. Thanks.

[Artin]

For the Mammoth area I would stick to 5 wt's max. for stream fishing. Uness you have a 5 wt and want to go one over. If you'll be fishing Crowley a bunch go with a fast action 6 wt. is fine for those deep nymph hook sets. Echo is a fine rod.

Artin

[fflutterffly]

Go with a nice 4wt. Still can handle the little ones and has the ability for the larger. I would think Craigs fish on the three weight. OMG

[fly addict]

Tom,
You are on the right track,the Echo 3 in a 9' 5 wt is a great rod. Give Joe Libeu at Marriotts a call and go give one a test.
Mark

[tomsakai]

Problem is that I already have three 5 weights. One Loomis presentation GLX (fishes dries really well), one Loomis GL2 or 3, forget which, (heavier, for mostly nymphing), and one St. Croix (fishes nothing really well). So, looking for something different. I thought maybe a 6 weight for windy days, streamers (once I get into fishing them), and light saltwater. Or maybe a 10 foot 3 or 4 weight.....I used Wildman's 10 footer a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed with its line handling. So many choices.........

[WanderingBlues]

FishingHiker is loaning me a TFO BVK 3wt on Saturday. It's an 8' that comes with a conversion kit to make it a 10' Czech nymph rod. The TFO boys sent one out for testing and it's going to meet the local trout.... Weighs in a 2.4 oz and run $224.00.

[Benny]

I have a Hardy Marksman 10' 5wt nymphing rod which I enjoy using. If I wanted to use streamers with the Hardy I probably could, but for large streamers I usually use the 6wt.

I would suggest if it's going to be a specialized rod for just streamers you stick with the 6wt.

If I'm not to lazy or don't have my camera gear with me , I'll carry two fly rods with me. One for nymphing and another for streamers, I'm not big on dries, but if I was, I guess I'd probably carry one rod set up for dries as well.

Hope I didn't add any confusion to your selection in rods.

[trans_admin]

Go with a nice 4wt. Still can handle the little ones and has the ability for the larger. I would think Craigs fish on the three weight. OMG

2 weight

[KRoberts1]

Might consider a 10' - 3wt Grey's Streamflex. I've been using it for Euro nymphing, czech nymphing, inidcator nymphing and find it an excellent, cost favorable (<$300) tool.

Another fun option I've discovered recently, is fiberglass. I've been experimenting with 8'-5/6wt S-glass with a T130 sinking line for streamers and and an 8' 3/4wt Steffan Brothers for dries & shallow water nymphing and have been having a lot of fun with both. Shane Gray of Graywolf Products built both for me. Very nice custom builds.

keith

[Eric1]

Tom i'll second what Kieth said checkout the greys 3wt ten foot rod. It is a ooutstanding nymph rod. You will not be sorry. If you want to borrow mine so you check it out let me know. God knows it going to be some timee before I can use it again.
Eric

[1mocast]

Problem is that I already have three 5 weights. One Loomis presentation GLX (fishes dries really well), one Loomis GL2 or 3, forget which, (heavier, for mostly nymphing), and one St. Croix (fishes nothing really well). So, looking for something different. I thought maybe a 6 weight for windy days, streamers (once I get into fishing them), and light saltwater. Or maybe a 10 foot 3 or 4 weight.....I used Wildman's 10 footer a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed with its line handling. So many choices.........

Tom,
I use an old TFO TiCR 6wt with the fighting butt for windy days and light surf. I would recommend the TFO BVK but there is no fighting butt in the 6wt, only 7 and up.

The longer light weight nymph rods sound pretty appealing for some of the Eastern Sierras..

[fly addict]

Problem is that I already have three 5 weights. One Loomis presentation GLX (fishes dries really well), one Loomis GL2 or 3, forget which, (heavier, for mostly nymphing), and one St. Croix (fishes nothing really well). So, looking for something different. I thought maybe a 6 weight for windy days, streamers (once I get into fishing them), and light saltwater. Or maybe a 10 foot 3 or 4 weight.....I used Wildman's 10 footer a couple of weeks ago and was really impressed with its line handling. So many choices.........

Tom,
Here is the plan! Sell the 3 5wts you have and buy the Echo 3 and the Grays 10' 3wt. That will cover most of the fishing needs you will encounter with the other rods you have in your collection. Eric and I carry 2 rods most of the time we are on the water.
Mark

[Papasequoia]

If you're asking this crowd for an opinion on whether or not you should risk insulting your sister-in-law by trading in a $300 down jacket for a fly rod you have come to the right place! You have our blessing and if she complains just get her to sign up here as a member and we will help her to understand your reasoning behind the swap and at the same time give her some hints for your Christmas gift.

If you are looking for specific rod advice, some of the suggestions already given are better than anything I could tell you since I stick to just a couple of rods and don't do a lot of buying, selling, swapping, demo-ing, etc. However, I will say that I think a 6 weight is a bit of overkill for the upper. 95% of my fishing in the Eastern Sierra is done with either a 3 or a 4 weight rod. The only time I break out a 5 or 6 is for very windy days or high flows when I'm going to be fishing big streamers and one of your 5 weights could probably handle that.

[NorcalBob]

Shoot, go with a 7 wt and then you could fish steelhead, stripers, shad, surf, and a bunch of other species. Since you already have a stable of 5 wts, I'd really think hard about my next rod being a 3 wt or a 7 wt.

[briansII]

Shoot, go with a 7 wt and then you could fish steelhead, stripers, shad, surf, and a bunch of other species. Since you already have a stable of 5 wts, I'd really think hard about my next rod being a 3 wt or a 7 wt.

Yup. Expanding one's rod selection, expands one's horizons.

Tom, my guess is you have some lighter rods. Time to get some grownup rods.

briansII