A fantastic light rod! I like it with an ambush 5 or 6 wt but my favorite so far is the Rio Skagit short 250 gr. with 10' 5 wt. Sink tips. A Airflow 40+ 5 wt would probably work well also. I bought the 40+ 6 wt. and at 265gr was to much. How are you going to use it? Swinging, nymphing. Streamers? I pretty much exclusively swing streamers & soft hackle type flies but the Echo 3 wt SR would be a good nymphing rod.

- Lawrence S

 

I will probably mostly use it for swinging small streamers and wets, but I am sure I will also do some czech style nymphing with it. Of course it doesn't much matter what line is on it for that.

Rio lists the 4wt as 225-275, so I thought the 3 would be less than that - especially with a 60+ grain sink tip. I will have to get a 250 and give it a try though. Thanks.

 

I know, its kind of weird about lines. I spoke with Jarrad from Echo before I bought the rod and he guessed around 190 - 225 gr would be good, although he recommend a 40+ 5 wt. which is 243 gr.

40+ lines have a longer 35' head (thats what is says on their website), but I have not checked) so if you want to shoot with the head out, the heads seem a little long for my casting style.

For streamers, the 250 gr. Skagit Short, .26 Connect Core running line & 10' 5wt. sink tips or Airflow 10' trout poly leaders is a good match. For Smaller (12's,14,s) I would look at a long belly line in the 215 - 230gr. range.

 

What type of action is the 3 wt? I've been on the edge about buying one but it seems like the light switches are slow, even tho they are claimed to be medium-fast.

 

I have only overhead lawn cast it in freezing weather and I don't have a lot of spey/switch rod experience, but my impression is that it is medium-fast at best. With that said, for a typical light trout application I am not sure that is a bad thing. Last summer as spey nation I was able to a number of lighter spey and switch rods and they all seemed like overkill for anything but big water and big trout. I don't think any of them were less than a 5 wt though and I know I did not try the Echo 3wt.

Hopefully someone who is more experienced will chime in.

 

The shop that sold me that rod here in Fairbanks lined it out with a 5-wt Switch Chucker. At 370 grains it was just too much, so I had to cut 7 feet off the head and put a new loop on it, which helped some. I still haven't got it figured out yet. Next up will be a 4-wt Ambush at 195 grains.

 

I own this rod and absolutely love it. It took me awhile to get in tune with it but I've got a 195 gr Wulff Ambush line working really well with this rod. The key was to use the underhand through out the cast and being very careful not to over power the cast. This is not a very forgiving rod but once you get in tune with it it's an absolute delight to cast.

I always use either a sinking or floating poly leader for spey casting depending on conditions.

I use the rod mostly for small mouth. It handles size 4 streamers with ease.

It also makes an excellent nymphing rod especially for Czech nymphing. I've even used it as a dry fly rod on the San Juan but with a standard DT 5wt line. I was surprised how well it worked overhead casting that 5 wt line. I mean really surprised. It's the only switch rod I've held in my hand that I thought worked equally well as an over head rod or a two handed spey casting rod.

 

I purchase me the echo 3 wt this year and got me a few heads to go with it.
I got a rio scandi 210 and a Skagit 225. I really like the scandi head on this rod. I tried the Skagit but the wind was blowing pretty good and the cast kind of sucked, but I blame it on the wind. I also have a SGS 240 Skagit type line that I have for another rod. (haven't tested it yet) I also have a Wulff Ambush 5 that I havn't tested either. I have some 10' poly leaders and I have some light mow tips. As soon as I get a chance I will be doing some testing.

I am looking forward to swinging some soft hackles for some trout with the scandi line.

I got a question for you'll 3 wt swingers.

What reel are you using?
Does it balance your rod?
What does the reel weigh?

I was looking at a echo ion 6/7 weighing in at 5.5 oz.
I have a hatch 3 but it doesn't have enough room for backing and running line. It weighs 5 oz.


Dan

 

I used my Echo 10' 6" 3 wt. quite a bit this fall & have really been enjoying the rod. I have also been using slightly heavier lines and really like my 250 gr. short skagit + 8' of T-8.

For reels I like my Hardy Marquis 8/9 on this rod, a perfect match! I just purchased an Abel TR 3 & loaded with 150 yds. of 20# + 25 meters of 25# Lazar Line and a 250 skagit head - plenty of room. Check out the Red Truck Desiel 7/8 reel - that would also be a perfect match.

The Echo Ion 6/7 is to much for this rod, the 4/5 Ion is a much better match & has plenty of capacity. One thing that just kills a light trout spey rod is putting a bonefish sized reel with a "'super drag" on them. Keep it light!

- Lawrence S

 

Semi-mendable-snake-roolable line hack possible for this rod?

Got a chance to try my new ECHO SR 3106 a few days back on the Yuba trout fishing, so I though I would add some more data points since there is not a huge ton of feedback out there yet about different lines for this rod.

FWIW A Wulff Ambush 5 wt plus a ~35 gn floating 10' versaleader snake rolled effortlessly 70' and up on this rod. Likewise was very comfortable snake rolling for some heavier sink tips up to about 70-80 gn.

Ambush 5wt felt a bit light (to my tastes) for sustained anchor casts. But they did work passably (if not joyfully). Tried some similar weight shooting heads and felt the same. Probably will try something heavier if for some reason I need to do sustained anchor casts regularly with this rod.

It casts, as some people have posted already, a regular 5wt trout line overhead just beautifully. Since some have disagreed I guess I should at least say I was using a Rio Gold WF5F overhand. The ambush cast overhead as well, but nothing about an ambush is "delicate".

Felt balanced well with both a Nautilus 5/6 fwx (3.8 oz)and a Orvis Clearwater II (5.5 oz).

It feels almost like a potential all-around substitute for a 5 wt single hand. Anyone have a suggestion for a line, or a shooting head + running line that might be better for mending (where I can still snake roll)? Is there such as thing as a light weight tapered shooting line that might work in this light weight context? Maybe I could hack one together if people have any suggestions.

 

3wt Spey

I'm a big fan of Echo rods but have never tried the 3wt switch. I do own a 3wt Gary Anderson Spey that I use to swing wets and streamers (and the occasional San Juan worm) for trout. Its an amazing rod. I have two Steve Godshall scandi heads (240/260grains) that match it wonderfully. I'd strongly suggest you give him a buzz. He's a Very knowledgable and will make you a line to match your needs.