The Board

For fly casting students I would like to have a well balanced rod available which is also affordable.
I don’t feel good about visiting stores, trying loads of stuff and maybe not buying.
Can you guys please give me any suggestions?
Maybe something between €150 - €200.

Cheers, Bart

Mightely biased, and as such take this with a grain of salt!

Echo base rod.

Cheers
Lasse

Thanks Lasse.
I don’t mind if your biased. I trust that it is solid advice.

Cheers, Bart

I'm biased too. I don't always know where, but I am.

I like those Echo rods. I have no affiliation with them, but I've cast a couple and they are as good as many rods that are much more expensive.

Cheers,
Graeme

Check out the 2nd hand market. At least on the Danish 2nd hand market, you could get Sage TCRs, XPs, Scott S3/S4s etc within that price range. The 2nd hand market has gone bottoms out and prime rods are really cheap, as long as they're not last year's model.

Lars

I think you need to try each individual model and not simply a manufacturer or range even. For example many years ago the Redstart 9056 was an absolutely fantastic rod. It retailed for 100USD. However some of the other Redstart rods were dogs.

I’ve been considering sourcing some budget rods for friends here in Malaysia who can’t afford a HT. A compete outfit for 100-150USD. I know it’s possible.

Cheers, Paul

Redington path I feel are exceptional rods here in the US, I believe sage still owns or provides the blanks, I've had a 5 weight for two years now with no complaints.

Sage own Redington and Rio, well technically Far Bank owns them all! The Redington rods are manufactured in Korea.

Cheers, Paul

Hi Bart. The only Echo rod i have tried is the white instructor one in a #5, and this was really nice.

The Fladen Warbird kit isn't too bad, it is a 9' #6 bright orange rod with a very progressive action and quite a slow recovery. Good for beginners to practice a smooth stroke perhaps? It's actually a half decent bit of kit, the line that comes with it is very good, it's like a Barrio GT125. It's not, but it's a nice long belly weight forward. It comes to about £70, depending on where you buy it from. It actually comes with the rod, an ok reel, line, backing and leader all ready to go. Good for beginners, just set it up and tie and fly on.

Have you thought about building your own rod? I have thought about doing this with a Sage blank, maybe the trout LL. I know this is expensive though.

Another option is the Greys GR40 9'#6, it's actually not a bad little rod and i'd happily fish with it. About £100

Cheers

Nick

Greys GR50 is a crisper quicker rod than the old GR30 and I found the #6 weight 9 foot 6 version very good - now available for bargain prices well under £100 if you shop around internet (I think they might be phasing them out and replacing with GR60).
Kevin