Are you ready for the Summer of SAGE? We are.
While we like lots of different fly rods form many different manufacturers…we love our SAGE Rods the most.
The Missouri River can be a demanding arena with as many differing conditions as you can dream up. Or are those nightmares.
Wind, distance, sitting, off shoulder. All circumstances we endure, encourage, and expect here fishing Montana’s Missouri River.
SAGE Method | The Red Rod
Mark has fallen in love with this rod. Yep, me the soggy rod fan of the recent past. “Take all those softies and give ’em to those who like niche casting tools.” That is what I say. Yes, a time and a place for them, but not in my boat. I know guys will complain saying…blah, blah, blah. Well to you I state…“You use them, I’m sticking with a tool that will give me the best performance all the time.” All the time. Not part of the time.
It has not taken over as the #1 seller here at Headhunters Fly Shop, but it is making ground on the SAGE One. Most like the One for all around fishing situations. I like the Method.
A rod that all anglers can throw from the never ever to the long timer who has cast and owned rods across the board. Check out the SAGE Blog a couple months ago by Mark here.
A hyper fast tip flexing rod that as I mentioned above all anglers can throw well. The Konnetic Technology has been extended here withe the Red Rod making everybody better. The dampening effect of the Konnetic science allows the angler to cast the line with ease. Taking out the wows in the back and fore casts lets you pull line sooner. Pulling line is all the fly rod can do. The fly rod, a long highly priced stick, cannot push fly line as I have can tell. Physics does not allow it to happen ever. Although we as men try to change that piece of science, physics, every time we put a fly rod in hand.
SAGE One | The Black Rod
The most popular rod with not only the crack staff at Headhunters but our guests too. A forgiving fast action rod that mates well with most peoples casting stroke. Almost everybody loves this rod. While the red rod has some haters, the black rod only has those in love with it. Some have stated that it feels and casts like a better SAGE XP. A better XP? Yes, true story.
For the Missouri the 4wt thru the 7wt make perfect sense. The 4wt for those who like to use the lighter stick for not only their own streams and the Missouri. The 5wt for an all around dry fly pea shooter. The 6wt for a nymphing stick that beats most with efficiency and power. And finally the 7wt for those who like to chuck and duck. Why not get them all!
Come by and cast the SAGE One for yourself and see what all the chatter is about.
SAGE Circa | The Olive Rod
This is not a rod for everyone. Just for those who like to stalk fish the old fashioned way. By sneaking up on them.
The Circa is a rod that those who enjoy the slower action of a classic and enjoy the flexible fight of a more traditional fly rod.
Available in weights 2 thru 5 beginning with a 2wt. @ 7’9″ all the way to up to the heavyweight 8’9″ 5wt. We love the latter for the Mo.
Jerry Siem love this rod and so do many of us. A rod you take fishing when you are on your own time. A rod when fishing by yourself is important. A rod for trout fishing when numbers do not take center stage.
A rod for those who enjoy the journey, not the destination.
Come by and take a SAGE Circa for a long walk.
SAGE Approach | The Entry Level SAGE
This is a great fly rod from SAGE. The Grey Rod will make a fan of this Washington based company overnight. Or in a day on the river. Gifts for the beginner angler often include the SAGE Approach. We fish it in the 5wt and 6wts. here on the Missouri daily. Many of the Headhunters Guides rock these in their boats. In fact the SAGE line is represented well in our Team Headhunters boats. You will see a ton of One rods, many Method rods, and SAGE rods represented like RPL’s, SP’s, XP’s, Z Axis, TCX’s, TCR’s, SLT’s, and more!
If you need to feed your SAGE demon, see us here at Headhunters in Craig Montana. We got the rods you do need for our famous river. We have DEMO SAGE Rods for use daily. Come and cast one on the only Casting Range in Craig sponsored by SAGE and RIO.
I’m with you all the way on the Method…Give me the horsepower but in this rod also comes flex and feel. Isn’t this what we’ve been looking for!
Fast with flex sounds great to me.
I hate when it’s only fast like the TCR or the old SP+…
With such a fast rod like the Sage Method I would think the ability to carry large amounts of line would be a key advantage. With that said what line do you like on that rod? With old XP I used to throw the XXD taper and loved the ability to carry 70 feet in the air! Have you guys tried any really long belly lines like say the old XXD or Airflo’s Distance line?
Yes the Airflo distance with the newer longer head. A real heavyweight Chris. Certainly a big boys line on that rod. Nut up and cast!!!
Would love to try out all the rods, talk about them and plain enjoy the ambiance!
How about wade fishing vs drift boat fishing?
When wading fishing you don’t need those 50+ feet casts (all the time).
With those ultra fast rods, casting up to 30-40 feet doesn’t give the caster that feed back as when casting a longer line, Probably using one weight up (5 weight line on a 4 weight Method for example) will probably do the job for shorter casts.
Nice Jay. Good thought.
For me the best all around do everything from small olives to streamers is the Sage One 690!
Mark, just picked up the 690 Method at the shop (tried a 5 weight on the day I bought it) and just cast it; this is one of the few advances that actually seems to be a real step forward and not just marketing. I too fished the Winston IM 6 and Sage LightLine rods, and they were good. Also the Sage SP and Winston B2x. This is in a different category. Hope it protects tippets as well as the softer rods, but this is becoming less important as the tippet strength increases (e.g. Trouthunter). Going to be a great Madison River stonefly rod. Thanks for the review.