Went out for a couple of hours after dinner last night to try out my new Echo Base 7' 6"3 wt.

I had tossed it for a little while Friday night at a pond with some small sunfish, but this was its first real test.

The wind was blowing pretty hard when I got there but there was a corner of the pond relatively sheltered and when it got later the wind pretty much stopped. Managed seven or 8 small bass and quite a few bluegills with a greenie or two.

There was 8 - 10 feet of moss and some kind of weed surrounding the pond. I would fight the fish until they buryed themselves in the vegetation. Then I set the rod aside and pulled the line in by hand. I felt like a kid opening his Christmas presents as I dug through the slop to see what I had caught.

Only lost 1 bass after they hit the slop and were hand lined.

All fish caught on a #12 olive woolly bugger on a 6 lb flourocarbon Tippet. For once I didn't lose a fly.














I had 4 more pictures I tried to attach, but I think I exceeded the limit for a post.

Anyway the 3 wt is a really fun little rod.

Great way to break in the new rod! Nicely done.




Side Note: Those are some fat Bluegill!

Very good.....and I also love a good three weight rod. Sounds like the Echo is a good one.

By the way, some nice green sunfish in there with the bluegills and bass. Those greenies are really fun on a 3 wt.

Awesome! Looks like you were able to give the new rod a pretty good workout!

cool!-p-

Nice fish on the 3 weight, well done.

Great job!!! 3wt for life! I have heard some very good things about Echo, I was actually thinking about that same rod when I got my TFO...thinking I may have to swing another some day and Echo will be the rod of choice. Thanks for posting.

Thanks Kent.

I wanted to jump into the UL fishing but didn't want to invest too much money as I have 3 more expensive rods in higher weights and the wife worries about little stuff like retirement and emergency funds.

The Base is Echo's entry level rod, and I didn't have any reviews of its 3 wt performance available, but I had read Yellowstone angler 5 and 8 wt shootout for the Base and it beat out a few much more expensive rods.

I figured for $90 it was worth a chance and I was pleasantly surprised.

I like the 3 wt for panfish. I have to play the larger ones some rather than pulling them across the water like they're on a jet ski when I use the 8 wt.

I must admit your videos are part of the reason I got interested in UL fishing. Please keep them coming.

where did you find the echo base in 3 wt?.. i am looking for an inexpensive 3wt and all i can find is 4 wt echo base online

I bought it online from reelflyrod.com . I believe the 3 weight is new this year. They have the just the rod or a package with a ross Eddy reel/rio mainstream line for $189. I got mine with a Echo Ion 2/3 weight reel and Orvis Access 3 wt line. They threw in the backing and a leader. It was about $220 for everything with free shipping.

It took about a week from the time I ordered it to arrive.