Echo’s Prime One-Piece Fly Rod for Musky

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Echo Prime Fly Rod Review. Photo Louis Cahill

For a while now, I’ve been noticing a huge increase in fly anglers talking about fishing one piece fly rods.

Because I recently had the opportunity to test one, I felt it was only right for me to share the details with the G&G community. Prior to Louis and I hitting the road for West Virginia to chase muskies on the fly, I received a random call from Randy Stetzer at Rajeff Sports. He asked me how guiding had been and what G&G was up to and I filled him in on us fixing to pull the trigger on a musky trip. Talking on, I mentioned I had a bunch great fly rods on hand to use for the trip but what I really thought would be killer was targeting musky with a one piece fly rod. Randy responded, “it’s funny you bring that up Kent, Echo just finished designing a new one-piece series called the “Prime”, and I’d love for you to try it out.” Blown away by the offer, I gave Randy my address and the Echo Prime 10wt 8′ 10″ one-piece fly rod showed up at my front door the following week. Thank you Rajeff Sports for getting this great fly rod in our hands to test out. It’s always super cool when we’re able to spend time product testing during our fishing adventures. Below you’ll find out how the Echo Prime performed targeting musky with heavy sinking lines and 12-inch plus streamers.

Casting fatigue is usually a concern for most anglers when heavy sinking lines and foot long streamers are involved. I’ll be the first to admit that I was a little concerned myself. Although I’m plenty comfortable with casting sinking lines, I rarely pair them up with flies of such great proportions. Surprisingly, the musky set up didn’t turn out to be all that awkward or difficult to cast. It was clear that the Echo Prime one-piece construction helped me feel that way. The one-piece construction made it a very responsive fly rod. I had no problem feeling it load and it did it in perfect harmony from tip to cork (a clear benefit of casting a one-piece rod). The only time I had a problem is when I got overly anxious and found myself over powering my casting. When I casted the Echo Prime easy and let do the work, it resulted in me being able to pull off powerful and accurate presentations for extended periods with very little fatigue. All it took was one or two false casts for most presentations. The Echo Prime proved to be more than ready to handle the challenge of the beefy musky rigs. I matched the one piece Prime with an Airflo Depth Finder 400 grain sinking line, and that turned out to be a very good matchup for most situations. I had no problem turning over my leader and straightening out my fly at distances in excess of 80 feet. Honestly, it was heaven to cast and fish. That being said, if I had a chance to do it all over again, I would have also packed a heavier sinking line for situations where I needed to get my fly down quicker and deeper. In our case, that was about 50% of the time. That was all my fault though, so make a point to pack an extra fast sinking line if you plan on going musky fishing. To fix this issue I bummed a more aggressive sinking line during the trip from my buddy to see how the Prime would handled it. It turned out the Echo Prime had more than enough backbone to handle a 450 grain sinking line.

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The quality of the Echo Prime was on par for the retail price of $449.99. It passed the musky test with flying colors. Everyone on the trip agreed it was their first or second choice among all the rods we fished during the trip, and I will tell you, we had some much pricier rods in the boat. I’d be proud to fish the Prime any day of the week. The aesthetics of the rod weren’t all that impressive, but the Echo Prime made up for that with its titanium coated SIC stripper guides, ease of fishing and its overall light weight construction. Honestly though, If I asked you whether you’d rather fish a pretty fly rod or save a couple hundred bucks and a fish a average looking rod that performed fantastic, what would you pick? I’d be the first to tell you I’d choose the latter. The Echo Prime comes with a life-time warranty and is available in three different models to match your preference.

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I see the Echo Prime being a great all around big game rod for both freshwater and saltwater. The one-piece construction will call for you to put in a little extra effort traveling with it, but that’s nothing a couple bungees can’t handle. I strapped it on the roof of my truck and it was no big deal. If you drive a full size SUV or live where you can fish the Prime regularly I’d highly recommend checking it out. It turned out to be a very good musky rod and I’m sure it would work equally well for multiple saltwater species or for  big striper in freshwater. For more information about the Echo Prime series of one-piece fly rods, please visit echoflyfishing.com.

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First musky on the fly using the Echo Prime. Photo Louis Cahill

Keep it Reel,

Kent Klewein
Gink & Gasoline
www.ginkandgasoline.com
hookups@ginkandgasoline.com
 
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3 thoughts on “Echo’s Prime One-Piece Fly Rod for Musky

  1. I have been fishing the Prime 8 wt since last fall on the marsh flats for redfish. It is easily the most accurate rod I own. Distance casting has been a case of getting the feel of the rod, but the more I fish it the better it feels. I have only two blocks to the boat so transport is not an issue. I have my clients fish it and everyone seems to like it more or less instantly. My new favorite and the price was great.

  2. Moving from a 400gr to a 450gr is going to make very little, to no difference in the sink rate of your fly (maybe a 1/2 inch per second). What it will do is put more strain (and possibly too much) on you and the rod causing premature and unnecessary fatigue. For trout fishing, this doesn’t matter but when you are casting a million times musky fishing, it becomes critical.

    Find a faster sink type or different fly design.

    Good to hear there is a one piece out on the market that doesn’t cost 800 dollars. I’d be interested how this rod matches up to the Loomis CC Pro-1, which is close to the same price point. Thanks for the review.

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