Sage ESN -Thoughts?

[cdevine]

Anybody fish a Sage ESN (European Nymphing Rod)? I fish the Truckee pocket water and runs a lot and was looking at there 11ft 3 and 4wt? With that reach and sensitivity seems like a good option. This style seems to be picking up a lot of steam on certain streams we have.

[Bob G]

Here goes...

I have owned and fished the Sage ESN 11' 3 weight for a year now. The rod has been a pleasure to fish on the Truckee River from Reno back up to the town of Truckee, on the Provo River in Utah, and a few streams in Colorado. Personally, I like the 11' length, and for me the rod has all the fish fighting backbone and lifting power that I need. I have yet to fish dry flies with the rod. Instead, I have carried a second rod if I expect any surface activity.

I am using Rio's Euro Nymph fly line.

Since we all have our personal preferences, the best option would be if you could try a friend's rod before making a final decision.

As an aside, while I don't always use a "sighter", if you will be using one, I would suggest giving Terry Thomas' recommendation a try. Awhile ago on this Board, Terry recommended Cortland's Opaque White Mono, and I just tried this Mono on the Yuba River, and the White Mono was exceptional...the only slight negative was the lack of visibility against glare (as you know, glare is tough anyway).

I hope that this helps, and enjoy!

Bob

[bigfly]

Have been stalking trouts with the 11' 3wt....
Love it!
Used it for Czech nymphing of course....
But have fished it with a light bobber set-up, as well.
Casts a dry pretty sweetly too.
It's a good companion to my 11' 6wt switch.
They both mend better than those short (9') rods.....and the mend is key to catching fish, not the cast.
Sage doesn't make an ESN 11' 4wt, I called them to suggest they might.
The only thing it isn't good for, is fishing a streamer....

Jim

[cdevine]

Have been stalking trouts with the 11' 3wt....
Love it!
Used it for Czech nymphing of course....
But have fished it with a light bobber set-up, as well.
Casts a dry pretty sweetly too.
It's a good companion to my 11' 6wt switch.
They both mend better than those short (9') rods.....and the mend is key to catching fish, not the cast.
Sage doesn't make an ESN 11' 4wt, I called them to suggest they might.
The only thing it isn't good for, is fishing a streamer....

Jim

Guys, thx so much. Outstanding feedback. The only concern I had was with lift and pressure on some of the truckee river fish, but it doesn't sound like that is an issue. I carry a 9ft rod to throw streamers and dries. Sometime it drives me crazy looking for it back on shore!
Ok I thought they had a 4wt. Darn. I might have to bite the bullet soon.

[Dan LeCount]

Its a bit stiff in the tip for me, but man is it LIGHT! Personally I usually tend to favor a tip that's almost spongy. You can set harder and faster without either tearing the fly out, or breaking the tippet when you have 5x.(like if youre fishing the LT or whatever) Still it's a great rod, and I know some very good anglers that use them.

[amoeba]

I have the 4wt 10' ESN and use a sighter. It is perfect, plenty long and sensitive for me; I would not want longer/lighter.

[bigfly]

The 11' reach allows you to keep your elbow down and still get a decent mend.
If you should happen to raise your arm....it really mends surgically.
Many mend lazily with their elbow down like a dry-fly mend...bad.....
Great for older guys that have rotator cuff issues.....
I fish a 6wt floater line on it, so I can roll cast some, instead of always lob casting the euro line.
Greater range, more flexibility in techniques.
I like a sighter and the build multi-colored leaders for surgical depth control.
Then change leaders and fish a dry, or bobber way over there........
Czech nymphing is very effective, but a little one dimensional, for me, done all the time.
The biggest Truckee fish are better played on the switch rod.....

Jim

[Dan Harrison]

As much as I love my ESN 10ft 4wt i played around with a friends Cortland competition nymph rod and may be picking one up. Balance was better and crisp they have some good reviews. At $219 the 10ft 6 4wt would be nice.

http://info.bluequillangler.com/blog/bid/110834/Cortland-Competition-Nymph-Rods-for-Euro-Nymphing

[James W]

As much as I love my ESN 10ft 4wt i played around with a friends Cortland competition nymph rod and may be picking one up. Balance was better and crisp they have some good reviews. At $219 the 10ft 6 4wt would be nice.

http://info.bluequillangler.com/blog/bid/110834/Cortland-Competition-Nymph-Rods-for-Euro-Nymphing

Cortland Competition . . . $350 less than the Sage and very very popular among the competition crowd. Matte finish and black guides, nice touch.

[cdevine]

I know Gilligan Koles up in Truckee liked the Cortland rods. That price point is very tempting. Are they made in USA?
Thanks again everybody. This feedback has been very useful.

[Dan LeCount]

I know Gilligan Koles up in Truckee liked the Cortland rods. That price point is very tempting. Are they made in USA?
Thanks again everybody. This feedback has been very useful.

Around 200 bucks its almost guaranteed to be made in Korea or maybe China.