Sage Gear Rods

Heard rumors for awhile, but this is the first published information I've seen thus far.

A FB post from:

Sea-Run Fly & Tackle

Sage gear is back!

New Sage Gear Rods are back and there will be lots of models available in stages throughout the 2012 season.

Sage Gear will be available in blanks, custom built, and classic factory built.
The models available are:
CT: 290, 2106, 3106, 3113M, 4110, 4120
SA: 3106, 3113M, 4100, 4110, 4120
CP: 3106L, 3113M

Brian Babcock has taken full control of the Sage Gear Line. Sage will be building Brian the blanks and Brian will tie them in classic factory built style or your own custom style.

Blanks will also be available for purchase.

All warranties will be handled locally by Brian Babcock.

Please contact the store for more info or to put your order in.

Pricing and rod delivery times to follow in the New Year… Please stay tuned.

Good news and loooong overdue if true.

Good news! Where is Sea-Run Fly & Tackle located?

Coquitlam, BC.

The 2106 blank makes a fine light steelhead rod.

On one hand...
because they're back (about damn time!)


on the other hand.....
Because I don't see the SP196 on the list.....hands down, the best blank I've used for my light line summer run drift fishing.Hoping maybe they changed the model number???

Did you see this on "fishingwithrod" ?

Nice. I'm looking forward to some SA models.

And some back ups of my CT's.



Thanks for the heads up.

I've always wanted a sage gear rod, mabey this year it the year I finally get one

Do they make any float/centerpin blanks?

I didn't see a CT296 on the list.

Here you go

http://www.piscatorialpursuits.com/forum...html#Post724065

No experiance with sages model numbers, do they got any 11'6"-13' 6-10 or 8-12 blanks?

Thanx, do you know the specs on the 2 cp models?

I'm guessin a 10'6" 6-10 and 11'3" 8-14

awesome news but where the heck are 286 and 296? The 290 is a great standard rod but the 286 is more fun and the 296 is more balls

Teds sporting goods still has the models info on there site.


Sage gear rods

That list are completed rods. If blanks are available, 2106LB would also make a excellent light CP rod. Conspicuously missing however is the 3113LB.

Two things about this announcement to consider before any one drawing quick conclusions however:
1. These are canadian centric wraps.
2. Nothing has been delivered.
I wouldn't rule out the CT286 or 296 yet, but they just aren't going to generate the same buzz up yonder. And let's face it, Sage sure can't look to PNW for support needed to bring back these great rods.

Picked up a CT 286 from Ted's not long ago at a great price. Who knows how long those will last though.

I got 4 blanks from Teds too. 286, 296, 390, & 490. Good price.

Can't wait to wrap them.

These are canadian centric wraps.

Translation ?

What is the price range on the blanks?

These were a special deal on the last they had. I got them for $100 a piece. I feel lucky to get em. I should of bought a second set.

That appears to be true but let's face it, at nearly $500 a pop for a finished rod they kinda priced themselves out of contention. A lot of fishermen struggle with Loomis, Lamiglas, St. Croix prices. For Sage to go above and beyond by $100+ .....well, many just drew a line in the sand.

I still love the 2 I wrapped though(290F & SP196) and have no regrets with the purchase of the blanks. Customizing and doing my own saved me quite a bit off the finished product price.

There is a brand new CT 290 on Craigslist:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/spo/2821691303.html

Hey Joe, your ol' CT 3106 has gotten a pretty good workout this season. Hope you're doing well too.

If anyone is interested in the older original brown GSH blanks, GSH3106LB, GSH3113LB, GSH2106LB, etc...pm me...I have many...

What CT3106? I never owned one

Oops. Wrong Joe.
Sorry on both counts.

the original guy (Brian) that designed these rods has cooked up a deal to use the Sage Gear name from Sage and is going to produce them himself. Sage is doing a special run of blanks for him in the models that sold best in Canada and he is building these up to the original spec's to sell to 10 or dealers in Canada and so far there will be no product available in the U.S. At present pace stock will not hit dealer shelves until early summer.

Wow, how did you get this kind of information?

rin is hooked up.



c/22

Hey guys,

Sea-Run Fly & Tackle here.

Sage Gear Blanks will be coming out sometime in the late spring. Sage will not be building the rods as factory rods, but just producing the BLANKS. From there, you have the option to either buy the blanks, or have them built either factory or custom style through Brian Babcock. There will be many models available at that time, although the exact models and price are yet to be known. Once we know the exact blanks and the price of them, we will keep you updated.

***All CT blanks will be green, All SA Blanks will be blue***

ALTHOUGH, here is a list of blanks that are available to be built custom NOW: (Won't be sold as just blanks)

- CT: 490, 386, 390, 2106
- SA: 4110




Sea-Run Staff

Will the blanks have the same modulous as the originals, or are they a special blend spun up just for you folks?

The rods coming out through Brian Babcock are the newer modulous green blanks.

Any idea on how much the 2106 cost?

Just to clarify things for everybody on the forum, the new run of Sage Gear Blanks and custom rods that Brian Babcock will be selling through Sea-Run Fly & Tackle are EXACTLY the same as all previous Gear Blanks that have been produced before. The only difference is the "New" Sage Gear Blanks are dipped in a green or blue die, instead of the original brown.

If anyone has any questions about these rods, feel free to message back on the forum, e-mail us searuntackle@telus.net , or give us a call 1-(604)-931-5044.

Thanks,
Sea-Run Fly & Tackle

- $600 built, w/ top of the line components

There was only one of the 2106 available, and there is a sale pending on it at the moment.

You can contact us at the store at 1-(604)-931-5044 if you would like to leave your name and number in case something falls through.

Once again, that is the BUILT rod, not just the blank.

Thanks,
Sea-Run Fly & Tackle

In talking to Sage, there seems to be some discrepancy. They are claiming that the rods that Brian is building are the newer modulus graphite as opposed to the previous run of the browns. According to the rep I spoke with, the older brown blanks vs the newer green ones is more than just a dye. The graphite is different as well.

The mandrels may be the same, however, the graphite is different according to the information they have passed along.

graphite III vs graphite IIIe (green). Green is higher modulus and faster action.

Is it ?




c/22

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