Traded in a Sage for a B3X. Just spent a week and a half in Montana, and I have to say it is the most responsive and forgiving 6 wt. I have ever thrown. Just my 2 cents.
"God grant me the serenity to accept the size of fish that I catch, the courage not to fib about it, and the wisdom to know that no one would believe me any way".
I wouldnt say anyone is "number one"
Its like saying someone makes "the best" food. Purely a matter of taste. Is McDonalds the best since they sell the most? Probably not. (btw Sage is above and beyond Mickie Dees for quality, just making a comparison of quality vs quantity)
Most of these big brands made their names when they were wrapped by Fisher. A golden era for graphite, much like the san fran era of fiberglass, and the payne/leonard/etc era in bamboo, a while after the turn of the last century. I dont think Ive cast many "bad" fly rods, well, not in a good long while at least. Most of the times, you just had to figure out what it was made for, throw a different line on it, etc. Sage was/is definitely one of the best at one time or another, although I dont like their new rods as much as their old ones, but theyre not bad. Im worried about their obsession with lightness (much like Orvis with their Helios/Zero Gravity and other high end rods). Less fiberglass makes them lighter, but often times in real life applications they become more brittle/prone to breakage. Well see.
Some good rods Ive thrown/owned in the past;
8' 4wt Lamiglass and Scott fiberglass, the old Scott G series and Winstons IM6 for dry fly work. I have a 489 Sage SPL center axis that is also killer for the aforementioned activities. I had a 5 weight Fisher I snagged off the bottom of Martis Lake long ago that was a great big dry/hopper/misc trout rod. I also have some 7wt Sages (RP and RPLxi) for chuckin streamers/bass/carp fishing, etc that I like a lot. I have a 7 and a half foot 4 weight Leonard that is a pretty sweet piece of bamboo. Ive been playing with the Hardy/Greys 10 and 11 footers in 3 and 4 weight for high sticking, and theyre pretty much the perfect tool for the job. (I even like them better then the ESNs, especially for half the price) Burkheimer makes some killer spey rods. Buelahs platinum switch is pretty sweet.
Basically, theres lots of rods out there with lots of uses. A few dogs, some are classics that will always be good for their role and most are plenty good enough to fish with. Were spoiled with what is available in rods these days.
Last edited by Dan LeCount; 10-08-2012 at 05:48 PM.
There are many great fly rod manufactures out there. Depending on personal preferences and casting styles some brands resonate more with certain people. For a while I have not liked some of the Sage rods over from the past few years, most have felt too fast/stiff for me, but I have to say that the Sage ONE is one of the most responsive an easily controlled fly rods that I have ever had the pleasure to cast.
My own two favorite rods that I own are both Scotts: 884-3 G Series, 1287-3 ARC
Generally I prefer soft-medium action rods for their "feel" but the Sage ONE has a faster action but they transfer a great "feel" when the rod loads, the line speed is very easy to generate and accuracy is very easy to achieve.
If you haven't tried a Sage ONE you should come by the shop and experience the Sage ONE for yourself, no joke they have impressed me that much!
Limit Your Kill - Don't Kill Your limit
Adam Grace
Past Kiene's Staff Member
For throwing heavy lines and big fly's for Striped bass in the Delta or on our many NorCal rivers there is only one choice for me.
SAGE
HATCH
I feel like the way they do those rods is fantastic. The quality is amazing the price might be higher then most but still the fact that they can withstand practically anything is amazing. I am actually really impressed with the quality of these things. I have a large collection of them 9I think around a dozen). I actually noticed that there are a lot of things that repeat in my life that are connected with the number 12. I decided to find out more about that number and I googled it. I came across this cool article: https://www.sunsigns.org/angel-number-1212-meaning/ I found a lot of useful info there. I hope you guys will like it too.
Last edited by jcgrey87; 06-23-2020 at 12:14 PM.
Sage, Scott, Winston, GLoomis, T&T, Orvis all make high end fly rods that are amazing and light.
Most all the big companies have their affordable lower end imported rod series as well.
TFO and Echo have some great low priced rod.
I think that it is hard to buy a "bad" fly rod today, if you cast them first.
These imported fly rods allow people to get into the sport without having to mortgage their home.
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For around $150 you can buy a brand name rod, reel, backing and fly line in a rod & reel case.
These actually cast better and are lighter than the high end rods we had 30 years ago.
This is what I get for most all my grand kids.
Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)
567 Barber Street
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
Certified FFF Casting Instructor
Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
Cell: 530/753-5267
Web: www.billkiene.com
Contact me for any reason........
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Swift/Epic fly rods are quite amazing...
Yes, today there are many fly rod brands out there.
If you have the money, anyone can get rods made overseas with their name/logo on them.
You go to one of these companies who made fly rods for the big boys and cast some rods.
You pick the ones you like and then pick all the cosmetics and then they build them for you.
Only a handful of companies (~12?) actually roll their own blanks and build their own fly rods.
Same thing goes for fly reels.....it just takes money to prepay these large orders.
Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)
567 Barber Street
Sebastian, Florida 32958
Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
Certified FFF Casting Instructor
Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
Cell: 530/753-5267
Web: www.billkiene.com
Contact me for any reason........
______________________________________
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