Ahhh...the Echo 2 is a dandy rod for big fish. It is primarily designed for saltwater and big fish where a lot of serious lifting is expected. They lay extra carbon fibers in the bottom of the rod to increase strength for lifting.
It weighs a little extra because of the fibers. They do not make any light rods in this model that I remember and several of the models are over 9'.
I took one to Patagonia last year at this time for Jurassic Lake. The trout were huge and the wind fierce... It is not a beginner's rod. Overlining by two weights would not be too much for newer casters and it will handle it.
Ross reels of old were pretty decent... then they got cute and started "engineering" some "reel" winners. Now they are basically a click and pawl with minimal drag capacity and short lives.
Lamson, by way of comparison, has identical guts in every model and they work without wearing out. We do brutal things to reels on a regular basis, and the Lamsons just keep ticking along. I have and use at least a dozen different makes and models of reels from Hatch, Hardy, Lamson, Ross, SA, TFO, Fin-Nor, Sage, Loop, Orvis, Abel, and more I have forgotten right now... new Ross reels would not rate consideration even at the bargain prices you can find them at lately.
I have smoked a number of Ross reels in a day.
