Photo courtesy ECHOflyfishing

I’ve been searching for a while now for a solution, I think maybe I have found it, today another part of it came together for me helping with that confirmation. I have in my possession the new for 2017 ECHO Boost Beach fly rods which are genuine beach fly rods designed for overhead casting at long range in saltwater. Not necessarily of course always from a beach, coast may be more apt! If you need more details regarding who ECHO are clicking here will help.  You can see Tim Rajeff from ECHO in the video below.

The rods arrived shortly before Christmas from Baltic Fly Fisher and I’ve been testing them over grass since then.  My thought process for some time has been to find a Lightweight power solution on the saltwaterfly that is easy to master: Boost Beach fly rods cast overhead simply and effortlessly and with a minimum of practice you too can put out very long casts time and time again. If you are coming to saltwater fly fishing for bass and seatrout for the first time and want an uncomplicated and easy method of casting and catching fish on the fly then these rods are the solution. If you are already a single handed caster and are looking for something a little different or in fact seeking a different challenge with minimum outlay and change this could be where its at!

Light weight line loading and grain windows: Bear in mind most if not all your Single Hand saltwater lines or Shooting Heads will transfer to these rods –  The 6 wt loads with 230 gr lines; the 7 wt with 265 gr lines; and the 8wt loads with 300 gr lines. That said I have overloaded these rods during the past few days with various lines and with any slight overload and they will cope admirably and continue to cast like a rocket.

At the end of the day, these are accessible lightweight powerful and versatile rods for the overhead caster on the Irish coast matched perfectly for light bass and seatrout fishing.

The Rods

BEACH-6120 12’0″  line 6 – pieces 4 – weight 7.6oz – Fast
BEACH-7121 12’1″    line 7 – pieces 4 – weight 7.9oz – Fast
BEACH-8122 12’2″  line 8 – pieces 4 – weight 8.1oz – Fast

Warranty: ECHO lifetime 

Blank: matt finish dark smoky grey
Thread color and accent colors: these are translucent with flashy blue tips.
Guides: The easy flow stripper guide is SIC, the guides are stainless of course.
Reel seat: anodized aluminum does not require maintenance

Like most equipment subjected to a saltwater environment these rods require some post session maintenance –

Wash all components with warm freshwater after each days use in saltwater. Pay extra attention to the space where the guides meet the blank and the metal parts of the reel seat. Try to keep sand and dirt out of the ferrules. Occasionally use a few drops of any reel oil or grease on the reel seat threads to keep it operating smoothly. Paraffin wax can also be used on the ferrules if needed to ensure a proper fit.

Some Notes –  these rods are not switch rods or spey rods, they are genuine two hand fly rods that are intended for use by the overhead caster at the coast. These rods give you extra distance with little or no physical effort cast after cast, they will carry your line and fly to where you need it to go. They open up the possibility for you to cover water with the fly you could never reach before, more effectively than before.

The following lines I have tested on the rods so far are

Rio, Airflo, Guidline, Vision and Salmologic, – matching rod and line is personal and probably beyond this posting, I have my own favourites!

The rods are available in Europe from Balticflyfisher