| Rod |
Comments |
Lines and Comments |
| Sage 9140-4 2001 |
Excellent |
This rod is, dare I say it, even better than before. It finally has a working reel seat. The rod casts very well with both floating line and 12-15 foot tips of up to 220 grains(slow down Godzilla!). The rod has a fairly firm tip which works well in the set up and delivers a good amount of power in the delivery. A very good rod with almost a traditional Spey action. |
| Sage 9140-4 |
Excellent |
This was the first Spey rod I purchased years ago. At the time it was the best traditional Spey rod which Sage made. The handle diameter is too small and the reel seat is a piece of junk. The rod casts very well with both floating line and 12-15 foot tips of up to 220 grains. The rod has a fairly firm tip which works well in the set up and delivers a good amount of power in the delivery. A very good rod with almost a traditional Spey action. |
| Sage 9150-4 |
Terrific |
It terrifies me when a company stops production of their best rod(8150-4). For once the new one is every bit as good, or better than the original. This rod is a true 9 weight. The extra length helps with the set up and delivers casts to 120' easily utilizing either a DT floater or 12-15 feet of sink tip up to 220 grains. The tip is very firm and a slow, powerful butt section balances nicely.
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| Sage 8150-4 |
Awesome |
This rod I tried as a prototype while fishing with John Farrar on the Skagit. At the time it was very good but lacked power to deliver casts when the wind picked up. This year I bought a production version and it is terrific! The extra length helps with the set up and delivers casts to 120' easily utilizing either a DT floater or 12-15 feet of sink tip up to 220 grains. The tip is very firm and a slow, powerful butt section balances nicely. The action is awesome when fighting large fish, a 31.5 pounder on the Babine in 1999 was the test case! This is definitely one of the best sticks on the market today. |
| Sage 7136-4 |
Excellent |
Early models of this rod tended to break in the bottom section while casting. Sage seems to have figured this out and the result is a very light, responsive, traditional action rod much like the 9140. Again the reel seat is a piece of junk but the rod casts a dry line 90-100 feet easily and can handle a workout from fish up to 25 pounds. The lightness of the rod makes it excellent for greased line and dry fly work. Try this rod with a Wulff Triangle taper Spey 7/8. |
| Sage 7136-4 2001 |
Excellent |
The reel seat has been fixed and the rod casts a dry line 90-100 feet easily and can handle a workout from fish up to 25 pounds. The lightness of the rod makes it excellent for greased line and dry fly work. Try this rod with a Wulff Triangle taper Spey 7/8 or an XLT 6-7 for something completely different.. |
| Winston 13' #8 |
Excellent |
I have used this rod for dry line work for the last few years and it performs well. It delivers casts of up to 80 feet with either a floating line or 12-15 foot sink tips to 150 grains. The action is very good but the shorter length is annoying. The lightness of this rod makes it ideal for dry fly work . Even though it is short and light it does not lack fish catching power, many fish up to 26 pounds have succumbed to this rod. |
| Winston 15' #10 |
Excellent |
This is a terrific rod. If you are looking for a 10 weight give this one a try. Winston will provide you with a demo rod for two weeks through your local dealer. The rod handles floating or sink tip work very well with a slow powerful action. |
| Scott 15' #10 |
European |
This rod has the stiff, European action. Although it works well and Spey casts like a cannon, once you get enough grains in the air to load it, it is too stiff and heavy to fish with all day. It is also difficult to work a hooked fish since it is so very stiff. |
| Thomas and Thomas 15' #10 |
Good |
This rod has a lot of power. The first time I cast it I single speyed the entire 40 yards off the reel and ran into the backing when the line slipped out of my fingers. Very light rod, excellent tip, a bit stiff in the bottom half for my taste. Lots of power at the expense of being rather fast paced, this rod requires some powerful casting. |
| Winston Derek Brown Favorite 7/8 |
Excellent |
With the right line this is a great rod. With any other line it is a labor to cast. First this rod is more of an 8/9 than a 7. The line I found that works best is either the Airflo Long Delta or Airflow Traditional in 8/9 weights. These lines casts with no effort at all, tips or dry and make this rod a pleasure to fish. Of all the new Winston Rods I think this is the best one. These rods do weight more than your average Spey rod but with a slow casting stroke the wieght adds directly into the casting power. |
| Winston Derek Brown Favorite 8/9 |
Excellent |
With the right line this is a great rod. With any other line it is a labor to cast. First this rod is more of an 8/10 than an 8. The line I found that works best is either the Airflo Long Delta or Airflow Traditional in 9/10 weights. These lines casts with no effort at all, tips or dry and make this rod a pleasure to fish. These rods do weight more than your average Spey rod but with a slow casting stroke the wieght adds directly into the casting power. |
| Winston Derek Brown Favorite 9/10 |
Excellent |
With the right line this is a great rod. With any other line it is a labor to cast. First this rod is more of an 10/11 than a 9. The line I found that works best is either the Airflo Long Delta or Airflow Traditional in 10/11 weights. These lines casts with no effort at all, tips or dry and make this rod a pleasure to fish. These rods do weight more than your average Spey rod but with a slow casting stroke the wieght adds directly into the casting power. |
| Heritage 15' 9/10-4 |
Excellent |
This is not as pretty as some of the production rods. It has a functional graphite reel seat. The finish on the blank is excellent. The rod has an amazing slow powerful action, just what you want on a true Spey rod. Casts a Rio GrandSpey 7-8 like a dream. If you are looking for a deal this rod goes for $260 retail. Beat that if you can. Call me and try one of these. |
| Heritage 15' 8/9-4 |
Wow! |
This is not as pretty as some of the production rods. It has a functional graphite reel seat. The finish on the blank is excellent. The rod has an amazing, no absolutley perfect slow powerful action, just what you want on a true Spey rod. Casts a Rio GrandSpey 6-7 like a dream or try an Airflow Tradtional 8/9. If you are looking for a deal this rod goes for $260 retail. Beat that if you can. Call me and try one of these. |
| Bruce and Walker Kola #9 |
Good |
The rod works well with up to about 60 feet of line out. At that point it is too quick to wait for the rest of the line to come around. With this is mind it cast the Midspey very well with enough power to shoot most of the backing as well. 100' of XLT was a lot of work, more than was pleasant. 70' feet of XLT casts very well so a 9/10 mastery would likely work very well. |
| Bruce and Walker Norway #9 |
Poor |
I tried this rod with a 9/10 XLT and a 9/10 Midspey. I never found an amount of either of these lines which casts well on the rod. The rod was hard to load and even harder to release the trigger. I can only guess that a much heavier line is needed. |
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