We recently had a chance to spend some time fishing ECHO’s new Echo3 7130 on the Deschutes River in Oregon. As you might have guessed, this is a 13 foot rod for a 7 weight line – a great format for steelhead fishing on lots of water in the Northwest.
We fished the 7130 with an Airflo Skagit Compact and an Airflo Skagit Switch, both at 510 grains. Airflo’s recommendation for this rod is a 540 Compact or a 510 Switch; regardless we fished it most with the 510 Switch.
We really liked the 7130. We don’t have a detailed review for you today – we just thought we’d tell you some reasons we liked it.
Echo3 7130 – 4 Reasons We Like It
- Length. 13 feet is a great, versatile length. It’s shorter than what would historically be normal for a rod of this format, and keeping with the trend of gradually shrinking spey rods. This length gives lots of power and distance without a lot of fatigue, and it pairs well with modern Skagit heads like the Skagit Compact and the Skagit Switch.
- Weight. It’s light but not too light. We didn’t weigh it so this is totally subjective – it’s just got a nice, light, lively feel.
- Grips. These are some of the most comfortable grips we’ve grabbed in a long time. The cork feels nice and dense, and the shape suits our hands well.
- Price. $549.99. It’s a nice, modern, powerful, crisp steelhead rod, and it won’t break the bank.
Would you consider the ECHO 3 7130 at $549.95 an entry level rod?
Hi Rick,
No, I wouldn’t call any $550 rod entry level! I’d call it more of a great value relative to other higher-performance rods out there.
Andrew,
What I’m looking for is a “reasonably” priced, “entry level, low water, steelhead rod”, that I may used 3 or 4 days a year. I’ve always felt the way to go is “better” rod, “better” line, and any reel “on sale” will do.
Right now, I am fishing about 60 days a year with a Sage VXP 590-4 for California “Put & Take” trout, and about 10 days a year a for the Delta stripers using 2 Redington 890-4, one rigged for Poppers , and one rigged with a S6 tip for Clousers.
I was thinking that besides my yearly trip to the PNW, I might try using
a spey rig for striper in the irrigation canals around here.
Any advice?
Rick
I am 78 y/o and would like to learn to fly fish for Pike. This year we will be fishing the Taltson River, NWT in June and fishing from a boat and at other times fish the large clear Canadian lakes in the Yellowknife, NWT area. We usually a catch a few in the 20 to 25# range. The Skagit style seems as if it would be the easiest for me to learn and use. What rods, reels, line, tips, DVD’s etc do you recommend. My fishing partner uses a 10 weight conventional fly rod and primarily casts 6″ to 7″ bunny flies, some weighted flies, large deceivers, large flies in general etc. I live near San Antonio, TX and know of no one locally to give lessons