Mike nice to hear from you been some time. I had an echo classic 8wt a couple years back and sold it and have had sellers regret since. I have nothing above a 4wt now because of the fish I catch and where I fish here in NE ohio really didn't warrant anything bigger I became really disinterested in the steelhead runs, mostly because of the crowds and the inability to withstand the weather..but that is why I got the echo in the first place..the pull of getting down there this fall comes and goes in cycles for me really. I am going to look into these new echo's.