Older sage
- Thread starter Cougarbaby
- Start date
BrookieChaser
Well-known member
- Joined
- Aug 6, 2013
- Messages
- 2,520
I'd say early 1980's is correct. It being pre-1984 I'm fairly certain. Hopefully someone that knows more than I do will respond.
Cougarbaby
Active member
Anyway I like it , I like full flexing rods I also have an older Orvis silver label 7-1/2 ft 5 wt full flex and am currently getting back into fiberglass rods , I don’t know but it just seems these newer carbon rods don’t have much personality, stiff as a board etc etc , fast they are but I’m not in that big of a hurry I even bought a new Cheeky reel for my old Fenwick glass rod purchased an older Battenkill off Wbranch for my new superfine Maybe I’m just old fashioned
Cougarbaby
Active member
By the way I picked up 2 of these brand new in the original packing for 150.00$ including the 1 year warranty card that came with them which I sent in to Sage as kind of a joke never heard anything back Lol
How would you describe the action of these early 1980s Sages?
How would it compare to rods like the Orvis Far n Fine 7 ft 9 inch 5 wt?
Or to the Sage RPL+ rods of the early 1990s?
shortrod
Member
Sorry for being being pendantic, but that does not sound right. did you mean 7-1/2 ft 4 wt or maybe 3 wt or maybe 7-3/4 (7' 9") 5 wt? Or maybe your rod had the tip broken?
There was certainly a period when I would say this was true, but some the new rods I have tried seemed to have fixed that. You just have to use at least one line size greater than what is marked on the rod. Or even more insane, use a line that claimes to be the size marked on the rod but is really a line size greater in weight.
Cougarbaby
Active member
Man I wished I could answer these questions,this early Sage is what I would call medium action, not nearly as fast as my Clearwaters as that’s the only modern rods I have but it’s not nearly as slow as my Fenwick Glass rod from 1982 , that thing when you cast it you have time for a quick beer, shortly after the 80 s I got out of fishing for some time just recently got back into say 5 years ago so I really can’t compare it but I do like it ,
mt_flyfisher
Well-known member
Here is a history of Sage rods. https://www.scottishtrout.com/sage-trout-rods-history/
I’m no expert on Sage rods, but I’ve owned a number of Sage rods dating from their first generation graphite fly rods. My memory is that that my earliest Sage rods showed the model designation on the blank, like G1 or G11 (or something similar) and were brown color blanks. Is yours brown colored? I can’t tell for sure from your picture, nor does it say GI or GII from what I can see.
Not sure when I bought my first Sage rod, maybe in the early to mid 1980’s, but yours could have been produced even before my first one. My first one, which might have been a 6 or 7wt was like a broom stick, as I recall, and the graphite was rather brittle, and fragile. I thought their second generation rods were a big improvement.
I also had/have Sage Graphite III, SP and XP rods, each of which were better than those that preceded them IMO. I’ve never owned an LL rod though which I’m sure I would like. I also have a Sage One, 9 1/2’ 7 wt that I use for larger trout, fishing larger rivers or streamers, but like you, I don’t enjoy fishing it nearly as much as I do (say) the softer action of the XPs for example.
I’m no expert on Sage rods, but I’ve owned a number of Sage rods dating from their first generation graphite fly rods. My memory is that that my earliest Sage rods showed the model designation on the blank, like G1 or G11 (or something similar) and were brown color blanks. Is yours brown colored? I can’t tell for sure from your picture, nor does it say GI or GII from what I can see.
Not sure when I bought my first Sage rod, maybe in the early to mid 1980’s, but yours could have been produced even before my first one. My first one, which might have been a 6 or 7wt was like a broom stick, as I recall, and the graphite was rather brittle, and fragile. I thought their second generation rods were a big improvement.
I also had/have Sage Graphite III, SP and XP rods, each of which were better than those that preceded them IMO. I’ve never owned an LL rod though which I’m sure I would like. I also have a Sage One, 9 1/2’ 7 wt that I use for larger trout, fishing larger rivers or streamers, but like you, I don’t enjoy fishing it nearly as much as I do (say) the softer action of the XPs for example.
Cougarbaby
Active member
Went to bed on you last night no it’s not brown it’s an unsanded black blank no other markings anywhere not on the but under the reel seat nothing
