Looking For Advice On 2 New Setups

[stlfisher]

I am looking for some advice on 2 new setups that I am going to buy. I currently use a 6 weight for all of my fly fishing and I am looking to purchase additional set ups. I am hoping to keep each in $250 range, but would expand the budget upwards and delay the second purchase if it was worth it.

I need a 4 or 5 weight for trout and 7 or 8 weight for bass. Since I have a 6 I was wondering if a 5 and 7 would be much different...which is why I am leaning toward a 4 and an 8 weight. I have looked at TFO, Echo, and the St. Croix Avid. I cast a Winston from a friend of mine and it seemed nice as well. Has anyone heard much about Echo? I was looking at the Carbon for trout and the ION for bass. The setups come complete from Cabela's with fly line (I would just pay more to upgrade from the Cabela's brand fly line) and the RLS reel for about $250 each.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

[3wt]

I'd vote 4wt for trout most versatile all around if you plan on doing anything but tailwaters - and you already have a 6 wt. TFO Pro series 9' 4 pc. I can't vouch for Echo, but it's probably a very good choice, I have never laid hands on one. I think pretty highly of the better Cabelas reels, and you get a free line set up that way. By the way my brother fishes the setup w/ the TFO pro and the older Cabelas LSR reel and couldn't be happier.

For bass I think most people go too heavy-in general people overkill I'd say. I'd hang with the 6 if you're shooting at smallmouth on streams. I have never cast anything over a 6, and haven't fished for largemouth on big water either. So I'm probably no help.

Winston would probably blow the budget on the rod alone. But I have cast one also and would probably have to consider Wisnton or Scott as a Splurge rod someday.

[3wt]

And I currently fish a St. Croix (legend ultra) and used to be much more of a St. Croix advocate before TFO and Echo etc. were on the scene. St. Croix makes great stuff, but I think you get more for the money with some others.

[Gavin]

If you have a 6wt, I'd go with a 4wt...A fast 6wt should be OK for smallmouth fishing with medium sized flies (size 2 sneaky petes, and subsurface stuff 3-4" range as long as they arent too heavy) and casts out to 50'-60' or so, but youll want a 7 or 8wt for the bigger, heavier stuff, longer casts, and sinking lines. The Sage Smallmouth rod would be a great choice for a heavier setup in the $250 range and it comes with a fly line(no reel)...Its only 8' long, but its a real cannon. Grey's makes some nice mid priced offerings too. Stop by Tommy's or FC, cast a few, and see what you like best. Cheers.

[3wt]

Did you see this?

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22745

He's selling a 4wt echo w/ross reel.

Might be worth a PM

[zsmith62]

The Sage Smallmouth rod would be a great choice for a heavier setup in the $250 range and it comes with a fly line(no reel)...Its only 8' long, but its a real cannon.

You're better off going with the going with the smallest of the Sage BASS rods, the "Bluegill" model. They don't tell you the actual line weight like most makers do, for some reason, they use grain measurements just for this series of rods. The Largemouth model, the biggest is a 330 grain line, which when you look at a comparison chart, that comes out to be an 11-weight. The Smallmouth is a 290, which depending on which chart you look at, is either a 9 or 10-weight. The Bluegill model is "only" a 230 grain line, which comes out to an 8 or 9-weight...kind of a misnomer, considering no bluegill I've ever seen would justify such a heavy rod.

[stlfisher]

Did you see this?

http://ozarkanglers.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=22745

He's selling a 4wt echo w/ross reel.

Might be worth a PM

I have seen the solo, but I don't think it is as much of an upgrade as I would like. I think I am leaning towards the Carbon at this point, but thanks for the heads up!

Thanks everyone for all the great info so far. I think I am going to go with the Echo Carbon 4wt and still deciding on the 8 weight. The reason I want the 8 weight is I fish some bigger lakes and want the ability for the larger flies and some bigger largemouth.

I think I will use Gavin's advice and make the 6 weight the smallie rod for now. I will certaintly check out the Sage Bass Rod's, but I am not sure how I feel about the shorter length. Some of the lakes have high banks so the shorter rod might make it difficult to cast above them...if that makes sense.

[zsmith62]

The only reason the Sage rods are so short is so that they meet some tournament regulations on rod length...

[Gavin]

Think your comparing apples and oranges Zach. The grain weightings that Sage uses for the bass rods dont translate well into the AFTMA line rating system. The lines they designed for are similar to shooting heads...All the mass in the first 20- 30', and running line after that...A standard floating fly line might comply with the AFTMA ratings for the first 30' but it will have alot of mass in the taper aft of the 30' mark, often quite a bit more. I've had a chance to cast the entire Sage Bass series...and they really arent as heavy as the grain weightings might indicate. Cheers.

[Flysmallie]

I think the Sage Bass series really excels in lawn casting. I have casted the smallmouth rod and it was good, but I think I could get the same for less. A lot of the guys that have fished with them don't think they are all that great and you see a tone of used ones for sale.