Sage fly rod durability question
- This topic has 21 replies, 13 voices, and was last updated Oct 24, 2007 at 1:34 pm by
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Durability is hard to rate on rods that have been so new out but knowing Sage it is doubtful they’d release a rod without most of the “kinks” worked out. I have a couple of Z-Axis here which I think are awesome rods and just recieved a #4 TXL… what a little beauty! Ton of grunt for a softer rod. I doubt this is a sound indicator to durability but if
You can judge a man by the size of things which annoy him.
Have had no problems with my 691 and 8110 Z. I have tortured the 691 rod too. Haven’t had any problem with any of the Sage rods that I have for a matter of fact. I really don’t baby my rods when I’m fighting a fish either, I have some wicked bends in my 691 on some huge carp. Need to get a pic of that almost looks like those Ugly Stik commericals.
sage rods cast great but there is one reason and one reason only I will never buy a sage rod (even with pro deals) I have seen more sages break on fish than any other make of rod.
I have a Sage SLT which is my current favorite rod and I have wondered the same thing about the newer rods with the glass “scrim” replaced with graphite – if it effects the durability.
I’ve never heard that about Sage rods not being durable? I’ve got a friend that owns a fly shop and he has told me just the opposite. When I was thinking about buying an SLT – he in fact told me that he’s never had a customer break one of those except by accident (car door, etc).
Greg
I’ve used Sage since about 1985 and have not had one break on a fish either for myself or anyone I have fished with. Of course, we all have our own experiences.
However, when playing fish… anglers break rods, it is extremely rare that a rod simply breaks for no reason.
You can judge a man by the size of things which annoy him.
sage rods cast great but there is one reason and one reason only I will never buy a sage rod (even with pro deals) I have seen more sages break on fish than any other make of rod.
That’s sort of why I drive a Toyota; I’ve seen way too many drunk rednecks wrap a Chevy around a tree.
sage rods cast great but there is one reason and one reason only I will never buy a sage rod (even with pro deals) I have seen more sages break on fish than any other make of rod.
I absolutely see more Sage rods break than any other brand. But then again, nine of ten fishermen with me are using Sage rods.
Think that might have something to do with it?
Clark – I can’t believe you haven’t had a kingfish blow up a rod yet.
The lodge I work for provides Sage rods for client use. Hence the 9 of 10. That being said, outside of work, I still see far more Sage rods than any other brand.
Don’t get me wrong Sages are very nice casting rods, they are very light and such but they are so light that they sustain damage very easy and the graphite structure is such that if you scratch them at all the structure is compromised and thus they break on fish, which IMO a rod should never do.
I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard Sage rods being singled out as prone to breakage. Any break I’ve ever seen was due to operator error (clousered, loose ferrule, stepped on, candy caned, etc.).
I’m told one of the two shops in the Keys stopped carrying Scott rods because tarpon kept blowing them up, but that’s one of the few times I’ve ever heard any particular brand singled out. Then again, everyone seems to think that if you’re not breaking rods every once in a while, you’re not pulling hard enough. Go figure.
Either way, I doubt that the average Z-Axis/ZXL user is ever going to have problems with breakage that could be attributed to poor design.
When a 10 wt can’t handle 20-30 pound kings that my 8 wt. does fine on I don’t care how nice the rod casts, if you can’t put up a good fight whats the use of hooking them?
Very interesting considering I’m using a 6wt. Z-axis to land 20+ carp and not to mention the nice 10lb. skamania strain of steelhead. My 8wt. Xi2 beat the snot out of some kings with no problem, not to mention I have landed 30lb jack crevalles on it with ease. In my opinion the jacks and steelie put up a harder fight then any king. I also do not baby the rod. As soon as I set the hook, I put the hurt on them. If you really want to go into what a rod can handle, I landed a nice 15lb carp on my 4wt. VT2. Everything comes down to angles.
Back to the topic at hand. The only rods that I have ever witness break were a couple of Scott, Orvis, and Winston. The only time I have seen a broken Sage was when a Scott rep. stepped on this guys SLT, complete accident though. The Winstons broke straight out of the tube, they were Vapors though. I have seen about 10 Orvis rods break, mostly to angler error. The Scotts that I have seen break have all been manufacturing errors. My brother has had the same spey rod break on two occasions and it was in the butt section. Sent it back to Scott got it fixed, first time out with it broke again in the same spot. I have also seen a Scott S3S broken straight out of the tube. Those damn ugly ferrules it has was broken and slide all the way into the blank itself. Almost everytime a rod breaks its due to angler error.
I’m not knocking sage, just saying that I’ve never seen a fly rod that wasn’t a sage break on a fish, and the only time I’ve ever seen rods break on fish were about 6 sages in one week of guiding (the peak of king season).
Hmm interesting
All rods break… don’t they?. I havn’t seen a rod yet that can manage a car door or some dude stepping on it.
Mike, anecdotally I havn’t heard of any of the newer graphite sages busting for any fishing reasons than normal. Clousering, high sticking, angler error. The Nti redington on the other hand was one that I have had some first hand and plenty of second hand experience of “unusual?” and “regular” breakages. It was really thin and made with graphite I believe for lightness but a bit fragile. I don’t think the 5th generation sages have that issue. Perhaps they solved it? ::) 😉One of my guide friends in Alaska has returned all of his “other brand” rods due to what he believed was a design fault with that model. Every rod broke in the same place and he had a tough time getting them fixed. he broke 6 this last season.
I suppose luckily sage rods come with a really good guarantee eh? 🙂
Mike, I could be wrong however I recall that a carbon scrim was what set GLoomis’s GLX rods from the others who were using a glass scrim
Clark – I can’t believe you haven’t had a kingfish blow up a rod yet.
No mate, keep the fight in the butt and it would take a lot of angler error and a very wild fish to bust the rod before the tippet.
They try their best though… This guy had my Xi2 under the boat for a while as he headed for the anchor line… but still would have had to have come into contact with the hull or something to break it.
You can judge a man by the size of things which annoy him.
I’m usually not one to defend the big guys but I will here since this thread has gone astray. I catch large hard fighting fish with some regularity and I use Sage almost exclusively. Yes I’ve broken them and seen them broken. Once when a big Hybrid took a friends Xi2 under the boat and around the motor guess what,, the rod broke. Once when I had a Sage stowed in the boats rod holder and fell on it,,,, it broke. Bottom line is all rods break when misused.
sage rods cast great but there is one reason and one reason only I will never buy a sage rod (even with pro deals) I have seen more sages break on fish than any other make of rod.
That’s sort of why I drive a Toyota; I’ve seen way too many drunk rednecks wrap a Chevy around a tree.
That is very funny.
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