Official Beach Rod Thread
- Thread starter MarshRat
- Start date
I had a buddy that worked for Sage/Redington back in the day and he told me that the Vice was the sleeper of the Redington lineup. I had the Predator 696 and it felt stiff, heavy, and tiring to cast. I haven't tried the Vice but I'd give a 690 a go if one came up on Sierra.
Speaking of Sierra - I noticed the TFO Axiom II-x has bumped up to $219 instead of $199 a month ago.
Speaking of Sierra - I noticed the TFO Axiom II-x has bumped up to $219 instead of $199 a month ago.
I’ve got @adamcu280 ’s Predator now and would agree it’s a bit stiff and more tiring than some my other rods. (I bought it as a backup so I’m not complaining Adam
). I’ve never tried the Vice. I did like the CPX 9664 S that predates them.The Sage TCX, now that’s a workout.
Right now I’m really liking the Beulah 6wt but
would love to find a salty XP 6101 or 6961 someday.
It's all relative! I really liked the 696 Predator until I got my hands on the Boost Blue. I recently re-strung my first ever fly rod (St. Croix Legend 9056 bought in 1993) and gave it a whirl again. The action is still fine but overall it felt quite heavy compared to the Boost Blue and the 84b.I’ve got @adamcu280 ’s Predator now and would agree it’s a bit stiff and more tiring than some my other rods. (I bought it as a backup so I’m not complaining Adam
The Sage TCX, now that’s a workout.
Right now I’m really liking the Beulah 6wt but
would love to find a salty XP 6101 or 6961 someday.
Another Blitz fan - I have the 6wt for SeaRuns and the 8wt for Coho/boat. My fave saltwater rod right now.
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For beach salmon my lineup now is:
7wt 12'6" Echo Beach Boost - This is the 2h overhand rod echo makes. I have a love hate with this one, great casting distance with not a lot of effort, annoying as shit to strip in and fight fish with.
7wt 9' Echo Boost Blue - Just got this and it replaced the Sage Foundation for single hand beach work, its a great rod, no complaints.
For the rest of the year I have a 6wt 9' Nam Ren, and it is quite possibly my favorite single hand rod. I tried out some other rods that were cheaper at the same time (Sage Sonic, something else I don't recall) and it was so much better that I just handed over my credit card and dealt with the extra $300.
7wt 12'6" Echo Beach Boost - This is the 2h overhand rod echo makes. I have a love hate with this one, great casting distance with not a lot of effort, annoying as shit to strip in and fight fish with.
7wt 9' Echo Boost Blue - Just got this and it replaced the Sage Foundation for single hand beach work, its a great rod, no complaints.
For the rest of the year I have a 6wt 9' Nam Ren, and it is quite possibly my favorite single hand rod. I tried out some other rods that were cheaper at the same time (Sage Sonic, something else I don't recall) and it was so much better that I just handed over my credit card and dealt with the extra $300.
I’ve been happy with Loomis IMX-Pro since I made the move to Loomis from Sage.
I have 6’s in both 9’ and 9’6”, but fish the 9’ the most.
If a failure occurs, pay the $150 using their Expeditor service and get a completely new rod in a week. Much better than waiting 10 weeks which was the repair time on my last two Sage repairs.
SF
I have 6’s in both 9’ and 9’6”, but fish the 9’ the most.
If a failure occurs, pay the $150 using their Expeditor service and get a completely new rod in a week. Much better than waiting 10 weeks which was the repair time on my last two Sage repairs.
SF
Do you find fishing close in ( < 15’) more difficult with the long rod, or have you found ways to mitigate that?
Asking because I tried a spey rod on a beach a few times when my shoulder didn’t feel great, and found myself missing out on fishing the water “right in front” of me.
No, fishing in close does kind of suck. I've found that rather than strip into the guides (really don't do that on a 12' rod, it is a pain to get it back out), I do some sort of Jedi lightsaber move and pull the rod really far to the side and behind me till the fly is close enough that I can see the fly and any followers
downriver79
Steelhead
There's one of those in a 2 piece available on the auction site rite now and the current high bid is $50.
Mine is a two piece as well. It was the first or second rod I built myself, probably around 1992 or so. And my first "nice" fly rod ever. I'll go check that one out. For $50 it might be worth getting just to "have". Like I need another rod...
Edit: it's up to $85 now. It looks like a nice factory rod. If it were a 4 piece I'd be all over it.
I just saw an XP 691 on the auction site for a cool $588 plus $35 shipping. It's one of the ones in Japan, so I don't know if one would have to pay a tariff in addition.I still use a 691 XP as my beach rod...the fish done seem to care.
I bought mine on closeout in like 2002 or 2003 for about half that price as I remember.
Here’s my list of 6 and 7wt for the beach:
796 xp
790 xi2
790 crosscurrant glx
690 stream dance glx
7100 nrx
793 guideline coastal
899 guideline chrome
7wt echo 84b
Sonic 796
790 accel
796 NFC classic
6100 NFC
780 BAG
890 boost blue
699 stillmaniac
It may seem like a lot. But I don’t often sell gear(I’m a gear hoarder). And it works out to buying a rod every 2.3 years. I fish mainly for coho not many good cutthroat beaches near me.
796 xp
790 xi2
790 crosscurrant glx
690 stream dance glx
7100 nrx
793 guideline coastal
899 guideline chrome
7wt echo 84b
Sonic 796
790 accel
796 NFC classic
6100 NFC
780 BAG
890 boost blue
699 stillmaniac
It may seem like a lot. But I don’t often sell gear(I’m a gear hoarder). And it works out to buying a rod every 2.3 years. I fish mainly for coho not many good cutthroat beaches near me.
MarshRat
Steelhead
That’s some serious firepower, have any preferences?
G_Smolt
Legend
I used to fish my ECHO Boost Beach 8126 pretty exclusively for salty beach coho, but it always felt like I was having to think about how I applied power to the rod...I don't like thinking about a fishpole while fishing, I like to focus more on the fish.
To that end, I switched things up this fall and couldn't be happier with the combo I landed on. ECHO Compact Spey 7120 with a 9wt Outbound Short has a much wider "sweet spot" in terms of casting, and the progressive taper of the 7120 - as opposed to the regressed BB7216 - is waaaay more fun to fight fish.
To that end, I switched things up this fall and couldn't be happier with the combo I landed on. ECHO Compact Spey 7120 with a 9wt Outbound Short has a much wider "sweet spot" in terms of casting, and the progressive taper of the 7120 - as opposed to the regressed BB7216 - is waaaay more fun to fight fish.
I found the same problem with a two-hander.
I built a 9'9" 8 wt sh beach rod, using the top 3 sections of a 4 pce 13' 7/8 wt two hand (imported) blank, paired with a 350 gr Snowbee XS switch line.
A few of us are now using the same combo, which has proven to be a smooth/long-casting setup.
fatbillybob
Steelhead
Did you find the eho beach boost too soft? I was surprised at how soft this rod felt to me and I just could not get performance out of it. But some say I'm not letting the rod do the work. I tend to fish the way I race cars. I tell my car where I want it to go. For me that's a faster rod with backbone I can put the hammer down.
G_Smolt
Legend
It's a little "smooshy" (technical term, y'know) for my taste, but it sure throws a fine flystring loop when you focus on letting the rod do the work...
Problem is, some days are breezy, and some days the fish want huge, heavy flies, and the BB starts to fall apart for me in those moments. It'll still throw a full-sized dolly lama 50' in a crosswind hurricane, but when the fish are 75' away, that doesn't do me much good. The 7120 compact spey doesnt have that same problem...