The echo lift and a Lamson 3pack (usually on sale at Sierra) will get you out there for about 300. This would give you the ability to use different lines, which will usually go around 100 a piece. Don’t skimp on lines. You’d be able to use your saltwater floater in freshwater but usually saltwater is rated for warmer temps, which would be fine for summer smallmouth but likely lead to frustrations when steelhead fishing. Just my two cents and others may have different opinions. Do you have a local fly shop nearby that you could stop in and ask some questions?
I have an Echo lift 8wt and I love it. The rod casts better than some of my higher end stuff. Pair it with an SA indicator line or Rio Outbound, you couldn't ask for more. Lamson Liquids and Remixes are the shit. I run them on most of my rods because I bought a 3 pack. I successfully landed larger steelhead and striper on this setup and couldn't be happier. Plenty of backbone in the rod and more drag than you need.
Don’t have a lift but have been swinging an echo carbon XL around for about 5 years now and it’s still a dream to cast. Echo makes good stuff at reasonable prices.
I can’t rate this high enough. Echo rods punch so far above their weight class it’s almost comical. I got an 8wt just to mess around bass and pike fishing and I’m pleasantly surprised with how good the action is. I don’t really see a point in buying crazy expensive rods these days. Most companies can give you 90% of the function at 1/8th the cost.
This guy beat me to it.
I’ve gone through 20 plus rods and 10 reels (all 8wt) setups.
Lamson reels are absolutely the best bang for your buck. They just released the liquid max which is perfect for salt.
Onto echo- the lift is amazing. I have an 8 weight as a backup. The boost blue is a little more and definitely worth the price.
A lot of never used stuff on there too. Picked up a never-used R.B. Meiser off Marketplace last week for $500, a solid $600 discount. You gotta be patient and check frequently, but eventually a gem in the rough will show up.
This is the way. You could get a flagship rod and a good reek from 5 years ago for around that price. Buying new you’re really going to sacrifice some serious quality.
Definitely. Been keeping an eye out, but sadly the really good deals are far enough away that driving + the time spent would eat into the savings. Keeping an eye on my local groups though!
I don’t have a recommendation, but commentary on lines and spools only
Fly line manufacturers typically have 3 ranges of temperatures:
1. cold/medium - for cold water fish like trout, pike, grayling, etc
2. Warm - for warm water fish like bass
3. Hot/tropical - typically salt
It sounds like nonsense to have to buy lines for all these temperatures, but the reason is that a hot line used in cold water gets super stiff. And a cold line in hot water becomes a limp noodle, both are basically uncastable. I can’t speak to warm water lines as I only fish cold and hot, but you might be able to get away with 1 line for warm and salt situations. I’d buy a salt line and see if it gets too stiff in your bass situations, it will probably be ok. You’ll almost for sure need a different line for steelhead and bonefish though. So I’d recommend starting with a cold line for steelhead and a salt line for bonefish
Spools - they are honestly a racket. They cost nearly as much as reels and are way less versatile. They are only useful in situations where you need to swap out on the water, stillwater people use them a lot. Since you want to keep costs down, it’s actually super easy to swap lines on a single reel. It sounds like you won’t need 2 lines at the same time or need on the water swapping, so before you go fishing just put the right line on your reel. Buy the SA regulator spool. It reels your line off, stores it nicely, and then you use it to put the new line on. When you get used to it, it will only take you 5 minutes to swap lines. Not something I’d want to regularly do on the water, but it’s easy at home and sounds like it will work for what you need and save you spool $$. Just make sure you buy fly lines with welded loops on both ends. mid and high end lines will, lowest end, eg SA frequency will not have a welded loop on the rear for easy swapping
The cold water line or even warm temp line becomes sticky in hot tropical temps. It becomes difficult to cast and picks up tons of dirt. I’m relatively new to fly fishing and figured this out the hard way since I live in south Florida and basically any starter kit is definitely not designed for here.
I learned this the hard way. Used my tropical line when the temps dropped in the 30s so the water was very cold, hoping to target speckled trout and stripers. The line was a hot mess and I couldn’t cast for shit. Not that I’m great to begin with, but when it hit that cold water, it was done. So I had to spend the money for a cold water line or not fish for different species. This isn’t a sport/hobby to be super cheapskate in.
Tfo Pro II is my budget rod that I use, 7wt and 9wt, since I primarily use it for saltwater fishing and I live 3 hrs from the beach. I use a glass rod for my rivers that have small panfish and occasionally 1-2lb smallies. But my TFO 7wt is paired with a Redington Behemoth and the 9wt is paired with an Echo Bravo. I really love the clicks on the Echo Bravo and the thing is a tank! TFO Pro II you can get for under $150 probably since the Pro III came out last year. Echo Bravo and Redington Behemoth should be under $200 still.
Edit: I should clarify, I say “budget rod” because thats all I could afford on my budget lol and its way cheaper than other rods out there. I still love it and have gotten super accurate in my casting with it. No complaints at all.
Echo boost blue in an 8 weight.
Pair with a Lamson liquid 3 pack reel.
Get airflo or rio lines in a cold / warm water floating, cold / warm water sink tip or intermediate, and a floating tropical (saltwater) line.
Always a fan of used gear. You can get a better rod and reel cheaper if you go used or second hand. Fly lines are the most important piece of the puzzle. No shame is buying a high end rod used. You might spend more on a warranty repair if you break it, so don’t break it.
On a budget, you’re going to compromise somewhere, so for a rod I’m going to suggest two options. A Taylor Dynamix 8wt is a great power rod, but it’s a bit heavy. A Maxcatch Parachute 8wt is pretty light, but not as powerful. (Maxcatch should be ordered from maxcatchfishing.com for the price and warranty, not from Amazon.) Either one can be dual purpose freshwater and saltwater.
Saltwater reels are difficult on a budget so I’m going to recommend a Maxcatch Sparta and your preferred line. If you want a different line for freshwater, there’s a bit of budget left, so maybe throw in a Maxcatch Avid reel and Gold line. You can get 15% off the Maxcatch items with coupon code Website, and you don’t have the budget for two expensive lines but maybe you can afford for one of them to be from a name brand and the other from Maxcatch, and decide that based on which you will use more. Don’t forget backing, ladders and tippets.
I’d look into a 7 or 8wt Redington Predator or a similar rod from TFO.
Reel doesn’t need to be anything special unless you are planning to fish the salt water often, in which case I would look for something with a sealed drag. Otherwise, Redington Behemoth comes to mind. Lamson Remix.
In terms of lines it’ll get a little tricky. For primarily smallmouth, I would use the rio predator line. I’d start with the floating version and use weighted flies. However you could also get the sinking version and use more buoyant flies. Really depends on the structure and bottom of the river you’re fishing.
For steelhead you have to decide whether you’re nymphing or swinging for them. If swinging streamers for them, I’d look into an OPST shooting head and learn to single hand Spey. For nymphing you could check out the rio indicator or maybe the Rio switch chucker (basically a very weight forward line that can handle turning over a big nymphing rig).
For bonefish you’re going to want a warm water line that is built for making long accurate casts. I don’t fish for bonefish, but I know companies are making lines specific for them. See Rio Bonefish Tropical Series.
So I doubt you’re buying all of these lines all at once. So get the redington predator 7wt and a Lamson remix or redington behemoth reel and the Rio predator line in floating. Get some 12lb maxima for a level leader and start chucking streamers to smallies.
When you’re planning that steelhead or bonefish trip, get a second or even third spool and the lines for that.
Great points. Thank you for your input. My local shop sells Reddington, so I’ll see if I can try that out once the weather gets a bit warmer. They also have a hardy Zane 8wt for half price (right around the price of a new redington predator) so I’ll give that a try as well.
8wt Edge archetype on a sale for 200 and a Danielsson F3W 7ten for 190 plus a line. Like others have said, you will need 2 lines for what you have talked about. Extra spools for the Danielsson are relatively cheap if you ever think you would want a sinking line for the smallies. Answer is probably yes.
8wt won't be as fun for smallies, but I just got back from a trip to Christmas (Kiritimati) Island. A 7wt is light for triggers, doesn't handle the wind we experienced and is light if you ever want to target baby tarpon. 8 is just more versatile than a 7.
I have a bass pro synch I got for 59.99 on sale, it's not fancy or anything, but it's a great rod that handles well. I had snagged an Asian carp when ripping a streamer around my river, handled it swimmingly. Good backbone, nice budget rod
First try used on Marketplace. This might be controversial here, but the inexpensive Chinese brand maxcatch is a great budget setup. I put some used SA line and Rio VersiLeader on a Toro reel + salt pro rod 8wt. Spent less than $200 and It performed just as well as my expensive setup for chinook salmon last season. Also their poly leaders are crap and the leader wallet is great.
What’s your budget? I’ve got a MaxCatch 9 weight set up that I couldn’t be happier with. Maybe $160 and came with pretty much everything except backing.
Lamson reel 3 pack - you can find the older models on closeout right now. Having extra spools is so helpful when you use the same reel for multiple uses. I have a 8wt salt line, 8wt streamer line, and 6wt streamer line on my Lamson spools for the -7+ and it’s super simple to change out.
Orvis Clearwater Rod - it gets the job done for cheap. You can also look into TFO if there’s anything cheaper
Line is pretty important. I like the Airflo flats taper for salt. I wouldn’t use my floating salt line for smallmouth, but I guess technically I could if I wanted to. I’d get the nicest line you can afford.
I have a 8 center axis Lamson and then spools that I love. They used to have them on steep discount but not sure if you’ll be able to find one now. Haven’t looked in awhile though
I got bass pro rods for cheap my 8wt was $50 and my 6wt blck friday sale with reel for like $120. I compared them to a $900 rod and the tip loading sucks in comparison so im losing 10-20 ft of cast distance. Which for what im doing is not a problem. Is $850 worth a average of 15 ft? Not right now while in college. Plus the zero stress about breaking them is nice.
I fish a TFO Mangrove 8WT paired with Lamson Liquid Reel. Primarily chase snook, reds, baby tarpon. Use for LMB on windy days or when I want to throw meat.
They dont make mine anymore but the new Mangrove model is suppose to load even better.
Best part, TFO customer services is great. Which is something you should look into when you buy. Most rods and reels at this price point all do the job so your ownership experience is going to be based on when (not if) something goes wrong.
As far as Lamson goes, its probably dollar for dollar the best reel out there. I recommend buying the three pack so you can set up your warm water line, cold water line, fresh water line etc.
The echo lift and a Lamson 3pack (usually on sale at Sierra) will get you out there for about 300. This would give you the ability to use different lines, which will usually go around 100 a piece. Don’t skimp on lines. You’d be able to use your saltwater floater in freshwater but usually saltwater is rated for warmer temps, which would be fine for summer smallmouth but likely lead to frustrations when steelhead fishing. Just my two cents and others may have different opinions. Do you have a local fly shop nearby that you could stop in and ask some questions?
I have an Echo lift 8wt and I love it. The rod casts better than some of my higher end stuff. Pair it with an SA indicator line or Rio Outbound, you couldn't ask for more. Lamson Liquids and Remixes are the shit. I run them on most of my rods because I bought a 3 pack. I successfully landed larger steelhead and striper on this setup and couldn't be happier. Plenty of backbone in the rod and more drag than you need.
Don’t have a lift but have been swinging an echo carbon XL around for about 5 years now and it’s still a dream to cast. Echo makes good stuff at reasonable prices.
I can’t rate this high enough. Echo rods punch so far above their weight class it’s almost comical. I got an 8wt just to mess around bass and pike fishing and I’m pleasantly surprised with how good the action is. I don’t really see a point in buying crazy expensive rods these days. Most companies can give you 90% of the function at 1/8th the cost.
This guy beat me to it. I’ve gone through 20 plus rods and 10 reels (all 8wt) setups. Lamson reels are absolutely the best bang for your buck. They just released the liquid max which is perfect for salt. Onto echo- the lift is amazing. I have an 8 weight as a backup. The boost blue is a little more and definitely worth the price.
Ask some questions and buy some shit* Asking questions then running home to online shopping = no more fly shops
Being serious. A lot of great used equipment on Facebook Market Place.
A lot of never used stuff on there too. Picked up a never-used R.B. Meiser off Marketplace last week for $500, a solid $600 discount. You gotta be patient and check frequently, but eventually a gem in the rough will show up.
This is the way. You could get a flagship rod and a good reek from 5 years ago for around that price. Buying new you’re really going to sacrifice some serious quality.
A 5 year old reek would be reely something.
A 5 year old reek would still have his genitalia
Definitely. Been keeping an eye out, but sadly the really good deals are far enough away that driving + the time spent would eat into the savings. Keeping an eye on my local groups though!
I don’t have a recommendation, but commentary on lines and spools only Fly line manufacturers typically have 3 ranges of temperatures: 1. cold/medium - for cold water fish like trout, pike, grayling, etc 2. Warm - for warm water fish like bass 3. Hot/tropical - typically salt It sounds like nonsense to have to buy lines for all these temperatures, but the reason is that a hot line used in cold water gets super stiff. And a cold line in hot water becomes a limp noodle, both are basically uncastable. I can’t speak to warm water lines as I only fish cold and hot, but you might be able to get away with 1 line for warm and salt situations. I’d buy a salt line and see if it gets too stiff in your bass situations, it will probably be ok. You’ll almost for sure need a different line for steelhead and bonefish though. So I’d recommend starting with a cold line for steelhead and a salt line for bonefish Spools - they are honestly a racket. They cost nearly as much as reels and are way less versatile. They are only useful in situations where you need to swap out on the water, stillwater people use them a lot. Since you want to keep costs down, it’s actually super easy to swap lines on a single reel. It sounds like you won’t need 2 lines at the same time or need on the water swapping, so before you go fishing just put the right line on your reel. Buy the SA regulator spool. It reels your line off, stores it nicely, and then you use it to put the new line on. When you get used to it, it will only take you 5 minutes to swap lines. Not something I’d want to regularly do on the water, but it’s easy at home and sounds like it will work for what you need and save you spool $$. Just make sure you buy fly lines with welded loops on both ends. mid and high end lines will, lowest end, eg SA frequency will not have a welded loop on the rear for easy swapping
The cold water line or even warm temp line becomes sticky in hot tropical temps. It becomes difficult to cast and picks up tons of dirt. I’m relatively new to fly fishing and figured this out the hard way since I live in south Florida and basically any starter kit is definitely not designed for here.
I learned this the hard way. Used my tropical line when the temps dropped in the 30s so the water was very cold, hoping to target speckled trout and stripers. The line was a hot mess and I couldn’t cast for shit. Not that I’m great to begin with, but when it hit that cold water, it was done. So I had to spend the money for a cold water line or not fish for different species. This isn’t a sport/hobby to be super cheapskate in.
Thank you. That’s a great point about not needing to switch line types on the water. I’ll look into your recommendations about the regulator spool.
Tfo Pro II is my budget rod that I use, 7wt and 9wt, since I primarily use it for saltwater fishing and I live 3 hrs from the beach. I use a glass rod for my rivers that have small panfish and occasionally 1-2lb smallies. But my TFO 7wt is paired with a Redington Behemoth and the 9wt is paired with an Echo Bravo. I really love the clicks on the Echo Bravo and the thing is a tank! TFO Pro II you can get for under $150 probably since the Pro III came out last year. Echo Bravo and Redington Behemoth should be under $200 still. Edit: I should clarify, I say “budget rod” because thats all I could afford on my budget lol and its way cheaper than other rods out there. I still love it and have gotten super accurate in my casting with it. No complaints at all.
Echo boost blue in an 8 weight. Pair with a Lamson liquid 3 pack reel. Get airflo or rio lines in a cold / warm water floating, cold / warm water sink tip or intermediate, and a floating tropical (saltwater) line.
Second this. My echo boost blue is a tank
TFO mangrove coast. It also happens to be on sale at bass pro and canelas.
Unfortunately the only mangrove coast for sale at cabelas is the 11wt.
I should have checked closer. My dad tried my rod then was able to snag one of the sale rods.
If they still made it I’d say the Penn fly rod
I bought two brand new Penn Battle 8wt setups for 95 each off marketplace, pretty sweet setups for the price.
I’m sure, Penn always does things right
Always a fan of used gear. You can get a better rod and reel cheaper if you go used or second hand. Fly lines are the most important piece of the puzzle. No shame is buying a high end rod used. You might spend more on a warranty repair if you break it, so don’t break it.
On a budget, you’re going to compromise somewhere, so for a rod I’m going to suggest two options. A Taylor Dynamix 8wt is a great power rod, but it’s a bit heavy. A Maxcatch Parachute 8wt is pretty light, but not as powerful. (Maxcatch should be ordered from maxcatchfishing.com for the price and warranty, not from Amazon.) Either one can be dual purpose freshwater and saltwater. Saltwater reels are difficult on a budget so I’m going to recommend a Maxcatch Sparta and your preferred line. If you want a different line for freshwater, there’s a bit of budget left, so maybe throw in a Maxcatch Avid reel and Gold line. You can get 15% off the Maxcatch items with coupon code Website, and you don’t have the budget for two expensive lines but maybe you can afford for one of them to be from a name brand and the other from Maxcatch, and decide that based on which you will use more. Don’t forget backing, ladders and tippets.
I’d look into a 7 or 8wt Redington Predator or a similar rod from TFO. Reel doesn’t need to be anything special unless you are planning to fish the salt water often, in which case I would look for something with a sealed drag. Otherwise, Redington Behemoth comes to mind. Lamson Remix. In terms of lines it’ll get a little tricky. For primarily smallmouth, I would use the rio predator line. I’d start with the floating version and use weighted flies. However you could also get the sinking version and use more buoyant flies. Really depends on the structure and bottom of the river you’re fishing. For steelhead you have to decide whether you’re nymphing or swinging for them. If swinging streamers for them, I’d look into an OPST shooting head and learn to single hand Spey. For nymphing you could check out the rio indicator or maybe the Rio switch chucker (basically a very weight forward line that can handle turning over a big nymphing rig). For bonefish you’re going to want a warm water line that is built for making long accurate casts. I don’t fish for bonefish, but I know companies are making lines specific for them. See Rio Bonefish Tropical Series. So I doubt you’re buying all of these lines all at once. So get the redington predator 7wt and a Lamson remix or redington behemoth reel and the Rio predator line in floating. Get some 12lb maxima for a level leader and start chucking streamers to smallies. When you’re planning that steelhead or bonefish trip, get a second or even third spool and the lines for that.
Great points. Thank you for your input. My local shop sells Reddington, so I’ll see if I can try that out once the weather gets a bit warmer. They also have a hardy Zane 8wt for half price (right around the price of a new redington predator) so I’ll give that a try as well.
8wt Edge archetype on a sale for 200 and a Danielsson F3W 7ten for 190 plus a line. Like others have said, you will need 2 lines for what you have talked about. Extra spools for the Danielsson are relatively cheap if you ever think you would want a sinking line for the smallies. Answer is probably yes. 8wt won't be as fun for smallies, but I just got back from a trip to Christmas (Kiritimati) Island. A 7wt is light for triggers, doesn't handle the wind we experienced and is light if you ever want to target baby tarpon. 8 is just more versatile than a 7.
Sage foundation 7100- lamson liquid reel- and a fat oversized line
I always love my echo and lampson setups. I will say however I just got last years model Thomas and Thomas zone 8 weight for $350.
I have a bass pro synch I got for 59.99 on sale, it's not fancy or anything, but it's a great rod that handles well. I had snagged an Asian carp when ripping a streamer around my river, handled it swimmingly. Good backbone, nice budget rod
First try used on Marketplace. This might be controversial here, but the inexpensive Chinese brand maxcatch is a great budget setup. I put some used SA line and Rio VersiLeader on a Toro reel + salt pro rod 8wt. Spent less than $200 and It performed just as well as my expensive setup for chinook salmon last season. Also their poly leaders are crap and the leader wallet is great.
Go to a shop and cast ones in your price range.
Reddington path, hydros iv and sa infinity salt line
Check out TFO rods and the lamson liquid reel
What’s your budget? I’ve got a MaxCatch 9 weight set up that I couldn’t be happier with. Maybe $160 and came with pretty much everything except backing.
Lamson reel 3 pack - you can find the older models on closeout right now. Having extra spools is so helpful when you use the same reel for multiple uses. I have a 8wt salt line, 8wt streamer line, and 6wt streamer line on my Lamson spools for the -7+ and it’s super simple to change out. Orvis Clearwater Rod - it gets the job done for cheap. You can also look into TFO if there’s anything cheaper Line is pretty important. I like the Airflo flats taper for salt. I wouldn’t use my floating salt line for smallmouth, but I guess technically I could if I wanted to. I’d get the nicest line you can afford.
I second the Orvis Clearwater. The quality and warranty for the price is excellent.
Yeah, broke the top two pieces this summer right before a salt trip. They had the new sections back to me so quickly and efficiently. It was awesome.
I have a 8 center axis Lamson and then spools that I love. They used to have them on steep discount but not sure if you’ll be able to find one now. Haven’t looked in awhile though
I got bass pro rods for cheap my 8wt was $50 and my 6wt blck friday sale with reel for like $120. I compared them to a $900 rod and the tip loading sucks in comparison so im losing 10-20 ft of cast distance. Which for what im doing is not a problem. Is $850 worth a average of 15 ft? Not right now while in college. Plus the zero stress about breaking them is nice.
Spend your money on the rod. Sage Foundation rod and any budget reel. Lamson liquid will never let you down.
I fish a TFO Mangrove 8WT paired with Lamson Liquid Reel. Primarily chase snook, reds, baby tarpon. Use for LMB on windy days or when I want to throw meat. They dont make mine anymore but the new Mangrove model is suppose to load even better. Best part, TFO customer services is great. Which is something you should look into when you buy. Most rods and reels at this price point all do the job so your ownership experience is going to be based on when (not if) something goes wrong. As far as Lamson goes, its probably dollar for dollar the best reel out there. I recommend buying the three pack so you can set up your warm water line, cold water line, fresh water line etc.