Had a chance to fish the Sage ONE last night for the first time. WOW. This thing is a rocket. the 8 wt was 3.5 oz and a dream to cast. Cant wait to hit some steelhead and bigger cohos on it. If you have a chance, check it out. It is SWEET.

I would expect nothing less than a superb casting tool from a top-of-the-line Sage rod. With very few exceptions, I have been amazed at the casting performance of all their recent high-end offerings.

I'll be interested to hear how it handles those salmon and steelhead when you tangle with them. The one knock I have heard on the Z-Axis series (very little personal experience, as priorities usually dictate that can't make an $800 fly rod purchase) was that they didn't flex deeply enough when fighting big fish to hold them as well as most would like. I get that those were fast action rods, which would explain why they might be stiffer, but people who know have told me there are other fast action rods out there that flex better during the fight (although most seem to agree the Z-Axis was about tops for casting). If the ONE addresses that issue with any satisfaction, based on what you have to say about its casting capabilities, it would be a tough act to follow. With a name like "ONE", I suppose it had better be - the Sage marketing folks are going to have a tall order ahead of them when they have to come up for a name for their next top-end series.

Either way, since most of us do a lot more casting than fighting fish, and because you can't hook many fish if you can't make consistent casts, casting capability would seem to be a good area to place heavy emphasis. Sage has been as good as anybody for a while now in that regard (IMO). Congrats on what should prove to be a great purchase!

Are you going to make it to SolFly? I could probably arrange to bring one down for you to check it out.

Ahh hell. Just tell Mark to bring one.

hahaha of course. To be fair Redington is making some killer rods right now too, but when was it ever about settling for just one rod.

This rod is a lot faster and stiffer than the XP or the Z axis.

I have been using the 896-4 with the GPX taper and it launches the line effortlessly.

The One does not flex deeply like the Z. It took a while for me to get used to how much faster this rod is.. I have had the pleasure of hooking in to several kings and a few pinks with this and I had no trouble landing the kings.

The One is also a bit light er than my 2 piece XP coming in at 3 11/16oz for the 9'6" 8Wt 4pc.

Hmmm. This ONE thing sounds interesting indeed.

I have to admit, my Z-axis (11' 7wt) is among my most treasured possessions and the more I use it, the more I love it. Re: the flex issues, I was at first surprised how it loaded to the cork even with moderate sized fish, fish well below what I would expect the upper range of that rod to be capable of moving. At first I was apprehensive about putting a big bend in it, but it seems to be up to the task, even if it does look and feel overloaded when you are yarding in a big 'un.

I think my next fairy wand will be some sort of switch rod in the 9wt category, probably 12' or so? Is there a ONE that fits this bill? I am too lazy to look right now.

As for the evolution of rods and what to call the next best...the rod(s) will have no name, only a symbol.

Classic...watching the chase the name scene. ur all gonna get a bigger one with the Sage...rods being built from scratch now, throw as good as any loomy sagey thingy mebob but at less than $100 per rigged w rim control pluggys makes me laugh at the fancy flingers. Cheers

Sooooo have you cast one?

I am all about function over form my man. The less I can spend the better. In some cases, it does come down to "you get what you pay for," and I agree with you in that those instances are becoming increasingly more rare these days.

dont do the G7 waders, dont do the Hardy 46 perfects, dont do $1000 sageys...dont care, cause they really dont do [censored] that my gear doesnt. been around the fly scene for 30 years, its really gone to hell or maybe i have, not sure...cheers bro

I can pound a nail pretty good with a rock, but that doesn't mean there isn't a better tool for the job.

Comes down to a cost vs. benefit thing I guess.



The whole world is going to hell man.

You are probably right.
I have seen guys with cheaper gear land just as many if not more fish and they enjoyed doing it with the gear they have.

It's a sickness, and I probably should join a 12 step program.

I only have a few hobbies that I really enjoy so, I decided to spend the money on my fishing and Dive gear.

I have learned along time ago, you get what you pay for most of the time. I like Sage, been a fan for a long time and I like supporting a NW company. They have a great customer service and I have only had to use the warranty once but it just confirmed they are a top notch company.

D3 & Stam,
Please ask your buddies at Redington to introduce a rod with the same action of the now discontinued CPS.
The newer CPX just doesn't compare to the good old CPS models.....
Thanks,
SF

I think I'm still too much of a novice to benefit from a really high end rod. Just like a 18 year old bimbo, it sounds like a good idea but I probably wouldn't know what to do with it...or I would break it in the process...

I'm pretty sure Joe hacked into Keith's account.

I'm too much of a flailer to appreciate most of this stuff but I will say that Coley's Z-axis is one of the nicer rods I've cast. I can see both sides. Performance is often worth paying for and, like ANY manufactured good, getting improvements past a certain point tends to take time, skill, experience, and money to accomplish. All that leads to the end retail cost. At the same time, where is the end of this? For anyone that has been around for a while, there was once a day where a $300 fly rod seemed absolutelyfookingcrazy for almost everyone.

-AP

+1,000,000. And, if it's not too much trouble, please ask them to tell their next door neighbors (Sage) to bring back the SP series as well. If necessary, they can wrap the blanks with different colors and call it the "TWO." Now there is a rod I might scratch together funds to buy.

Despite the general insanity of today's fly rod market, I would echo the sentiments of those who stomach the annoying marketing drivel and high prices that come with Sage rods for the sake of owning outstanding fly rods that are built by an AMERICAN company with a high standard of customer service. Same goes for Redington, but more on the basis of their outstanding service, as I understand most or all of their blanks are being manufactured in China these days. Sage/Redington are the same company anyway, aren't they? Last time I sent a rod in for repair, the invoice was from a company of an entirely different name, which I suspect would be the parent corporation? If so, now that they are a conglomerate, does that mean I have to start villainizing them?

I have yet to cast a "One." Last night a friend gave me his review and deemed it a very good rod. At $800 I won't be buying a One, for a couple simple reasons. For me to spend $800 on a plastic fly rod I want it to perform four times better than a $200 rod, although I might sucker for it if it were only twice as good a performer. The other reason I don't buy $800 plastic rods is that I'd rather up the ante and for $1100 or $1200 buy an heirloom bamboo fly rod that will retain its value and likely appreciate in value over time, whereas all plastic rods, including the "One" begin depreciating in worth even before your Visa bill arrives in the mail, even before you pay for the damn thing. Used plastic rods generally sell for 50% of their original cost, which might not be so bad if its performance was truly two or four times better than the lower cost counter part. But it isn't. Any good caster knows that.

However, I'm really glad that companies like Sage and others that produce high end products keep moving the cutting edge of product technology. That is the energy that causes the lower end rods in the marketplace to constantly become better and better. All but the very worst graphite fly rods available today, and there aren't very many of those, are vastly superior to the very best fly rods that were available at any price 40 years ago. Trickle down technology really does work, unlike trickle down economics, but that's a lesson for another day.

Sg

Why? You need another goat whip, or something?

Or, does the One come tied up in a gear rod configuration?

If you want to be a fairy wand flinger, start with an ascot and a bottle of 18 year old McCallan scotch. Seems to work for most. You don't actually need to fish at all, but you'll look good with that classy ascot and that fine scotch in your hand around the campfire, as you scoff and scowl at the gear guys as well as anyone who doesn't skate dry flies across the water for your 1 steelhead for the year.

Besides, don't you have that fancy/pancy Loomis Spey Rod/reel that you stole off a small crippled, wheel-chair bound kid up North last year.

To each his own,
Never ever bought any fishing equipment hoping it would go up in value. I buy equipment because I want to use it and have fun with it. Cars, boats and gear all drop in value the minute it leaves the store / lot.

I have an Orvis bamboo rod that was a gift, everyone told me not to use it because it will go up in value….. Not, took it out the first week and got it all scuffed up. Now it sits in the closet because I don’t enjoy fishing with it, at the same time I don’t want to sell it because it was a gift.

Divers,

I agree with the "to each his own" philosophy. I don't buy bamboo rods to hang them on the wall and wait for their value to appreciate. I buy them because I appreciate casting and fishing them. That they appreciate rather than depreciate is a happy coincidence. Don't blame you on the Orvis; mine sits unused in the closet as well. Orvis bamboo really ain't that good IMO. Back on topic, I was expressing that I don't see the value in high end single hand graphite fly rods because the incremental increase in cost is way disproportionately high relative to the incremental increase in performance. It's just a personal frugality thing. In the case of two-handed rods, the good performers were all high end, and so I sprung for the ones I wanted. In the last few years, however, good performance is trickling down the price points with these rods as well, but has a ways to go, again IMO.

Parker,

Don't worry. Ascot or no, no matter how much you dress yourself up we'll still recognize you for the bait thug you are. However if you wander by the campfire with a bottle of 18 yr McCallam, I'll happily share a wee dram with you should you offer. As for the scoffing and scowling, around here what I see are a couple of bait and gearheads like you and Stam never passing up an opportunity to denigrate fly fishing. Ironic, eh, coming from the guy who can't fish without the services of a guide. Et tu, Brute.

Sg