Roomy, submersible pocket, easy to access. We first got a look at the new Sage lineup of Typhoon bags at Fly Fishing Retailer in Denver this year. They looked pretty darned interesting so we decided to test them out in the field and let you know what we think!We’ve had a few sessions so far…
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Sage Xi3 – 890-4 Field Test
The new Xi3, in the flesh. We had a chance to fish the production version of the new Sage Xi3 on Puget Sound this week with Captain Keith Robbins. In addition to the many other rods in our quiver, we fished the 890-4 Xi3 for a good bit of the day. Here’s what we thought…
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Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis – Why We Like It
You can cast it overhead too, but we almost never do. If you haven’t noticed, we really like spey fishing for trout, and for swung trout flies in smaller water, we think switch rods are pretty cool too. One of our favorite trout switch rods so far is the Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis. Here’s why. The…
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Fly Fishing Retailer Wrap-up – Ross and More
A bunch o’ reels. The next few reviews wrap up our coverage from the 2009 Fly Fishing Retailer show. Thanks for checking it out! Over the next few months we’ll be putting a lot of the gear we’ve seen to work, and we’ll follow up with some more detailed reviews. Bruce Chard does a really…
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Fly Fishing Retailer Day 2 – Sage and Rio Highlights
Guys casting rods inside. Our coverage of the new gear at the Fly Fishing Retailer show continues this afternoon. If you’re getting tired of the ‘new gear’ posts, don’t worry – we’ll be back to our normal posting schedule on Sunday. This morning we got our detailed walkthrough of the new lineup from Sage, Rio…
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Sage Xi3 Rods
We couldn’t take pictures of the prototypes…so here’s a tarpon! Since 2004, the Sage Xi2 series has been the go-to rod lineup for many anglers fishing in saltwater. Powerful, versatile and fun to cast, these rods had a really successful run, for good reason. But the torch has been passed on! Sage has just announced…
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Sage 5126-4 Z-Axis
This is a really good little spey rod. If you haven’t noticed, we’re pretty fired up these days about fishing lightweight spey rods for trout and smaller steelhead. In our minds, if a fish likes a swung fly, it’s a lot more enjoyable to give it to ’em with a two handed rod. The Sage…
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Sage 6000 Series Reels – 3 Things to Like
A not-broken thing that didn’t get fixed. We’ve been big fans of the last-generation Sage 3000 series reels for years. Our loaner gear gets worked really hard, and in particular we’ve always said that “South Andros is where reels go to die”. At Andros South, our old 3000 series reels have held up incredibly well….
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Sage 690-4 Z-Axis – 5 Things to Like
Don’t use a 4-weight on me. Photo: Cameron Miller We like the Sage 690-4 Z-Axis. Why? It’s got the backbone to land giant Kanektok River leopard rainbows. If you can only bring one trout rod to Alaska West, we’re going to recommend a 6 weight. We fish big flies on heavy tippet for big fish…
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Sage 8134-4 Z-Axis
Similar but different. Last year Sage released the 8129-4 Z-Axis spey rod, and it quickly became a popular choice for anglers looking for a powerful, versatile rod in a somewhat shorter format. In case you’re not familiar with Sage’s nomenclature, 8129-4 translates to “8 weight, 12 feet 9 inches, 4 piece”. This year Sage released…
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