I will admit, after my pm's with you, I called Sage and I stand corrected, they did confirm what you were saying. Green graphite vs Brown...

That in fact, the green blanks are a different modulus than that of the older brown blanks, contrary to what is being stated above by Sea Run.

i love me some brown for float rods but green is where its at for drift rods

Hi folks. I thought maybe I had better jump in here and try and clear a few things up. First of all, a bit about my history with Sage Gear. As many of you already know, I was the Product Manager for Sage Gear from 2006 through 2008. It was my job to introduce a factory built rod where only blanks had existed previously. As Sage had never entered this market before, we took a very cautious approach and only built the models that had a solid track record. That being said, it was felt that a few changes were in order. One was the screen printing that went away from the GSH.... designation and replaced it with "Sage Gear" CT..., CP..., SA..., & SP... The other major change was the color. And yes, please for the thousandth time, it was just a color change. I was physically there. For example, a brown 290 in GIII would now be a CT290F. A brown 2106 in GI would now be a CT2106. In other words, anything GIII got a "F" tagged on at the end. Anything GI just had the number. All blanks come out of the oven grey and then color is applied. The color has nothing to do whatsoever with the type of graphite. To further emphasize this point, the reason I won't have all my blanks sooner than May is because Sage needs to aquire more GI material for my order. I'm not sure who was answering calls on this at Sage but to be honest with you, there's probably only a few people there that know what I just told you. Sage is a fly rod company first and foremost (the very best in my opinion!) and this project that I have going to ressurect Gear is not on very many people's radar.

The other point I would like to clarify is just exactly what I am doing with Gear. I have entered an agreement with Sage to have them produce a large run of Gear blanks. I will be building these rods in my shop here in BC. I will be selling them through a select (around 10 so far) group of Sage retail outlets strictly on a wholesale basis. I will be handling the warranty on these going forward.It will be a similar system to that of Sage. The good part of this is going to be the ability to address different markets with different builds. I'm fully aware that a lot of anglers in WA would prefer a different guide package on the 286,386,290,390. Lighter frame, maybe Fuji, etc. I'm also aware that trying to please everyone with one centerpin configuration is impossible. With this new set-up, I will be able to work with my stores and fill a lot more niches than we could at Sage. I will also be offering complete custom work through the stores. Stay tuned for more on this. One last thing, although I am up in BC (or down for you AK anglers), I have started talking with a store in WA - Ted's - and it looks like we should be able to get something put together in the near future.

That's it for now. I really appreciate the interest in Sage Gear and am anxious to bring it back better than ever! Hopefully I have been able to clear up a few things here but I'm sure I haven't heard the last of the Brown vs Green debate. Maybe I should just get Sage to make a few brown ones. Hmmm........

Brian

Brian, great info thanks for the reply. I spoke with a product development engineer (cant recall the name) at Sage about 2 years ago and he stated that Sage has made changes going from old brown grahite II to graphite III to latest green blanks.

Hey I just spotted one of them fancy-a$$ CT 286F something or other Sage rods with a Zillionaire baitcaster in my garage. So new it looks like it's never seen flowing water.

Interesting....

Like I said, if anyone wants a particular brown GSH blank, let me know...

Shops that are selling Sage products in BC have employees there that have bought blanks off of me. It's odd that they, selling Sage, would want a brown blank if they are the same as the green.

Seems odd at any rate.

Look forward to seeing the new "gear line"

My custom rod builder Don Burgess @ (DCR) & I went over my factory Sage CR 290F with a fine tooth comb a few years ago.

I don't want to put words in his mouth but I remember him saying something like this....

"Nice build, & it has the right amount of high end guides. But I don't think the graphite in this thing is super high modulus, like in a Loomis IMX/GLX or even a Rainshadow XST. Its nice & light looks to be built to get the job done & its built tough, its a lifetime rod if you don't bang it around too much or high stick it like a madman"

Old school Gen 3 RPL fly rod material graphite w/ a green dye job, looks like you were spot-on Don.

Love my 290 as an all-around 9 footer, but for hardcore drift fishing I'll take my XST 1085c every time.



c/22

Brian,

Thanks for the info. Do you see the SP 196 coming back at any point? And if so, any hope of me obtaining a blank?

I don't have any SP196 blanks on order right now. That doesn't mean that I won't have them going forward - we'll see. I can tell you that in the 3 years I was with Sage, this blank occupied more time with R&D than anything else. We really did pour our heart and soul into that rod!! I would love to bring it back if there was sufficient demand.

Brian

C'mon everyone! Order one!

Seriously though, thanks for the insight Brian. Your answer is kinda what I expected. I gotta say your R & D paid off with that rod. Hands down, the best 9 1/2 ft light line blank I've used.....well constructed(tough), not brittle(yet light in the hand) and a perfect action for 6-8lb test lines with just oh-so-slightly more backbone than the traditional 1141 that many people use for the same type of fishing.

If the day comes where it's offered again, please post here!!!

Thanks.

Resurrection time.

Anyone buy one of the new made in USA, Babcock built in BC rods?


c/22

Lyle Pitt Froyd owner of Eagle Creek Rods is the PNW builder these days for Sage custom gear rods