15' # 10 Sage Z Axis

[rennie]

Got one of the much loved by some Sage 10ft 7# sp rods and its adequate, use it for Sea Trout and would much rather cast with play and land a Sea Trout on my beloved Amorphous 10ft 3" 7/9#.I got the Sage as a blank (£150 then pukka Sage fixtures+fittings on top) otherwise at £560 at the time,I don't think so. Have paid almost £700 for a double hander in my Hardy 15ft 6ins Sovereign which will show any Sage the way home,floater+tiny flies,very fast sinker and 3" copper tube no probs. low summer flows and Grilse or heavy autumn flows and Salmon both just as enjoyable.Seen too many Sage double handers explode,wrecked a Diawa or two myself but never seen a Hardy Sovereign go west.
Any manufacturer can come up with the odd bad un from time to time they all do but I do feel the UK based manufacturers have their collective fingers on the pulse more than the Stateside ones do I feel they are more in touch with season through all methods rods as opposed to fair weather and floating line jobbies.
Of course I have no experience of Stateside fishing but I have fished in February in heavy water with a fast sink line and big tube in awful weather, caught and walked away with my rod intact(ooh er madam).As far as I am concerned you shouldn't have to be a total expert to fish with a rod,if its a good un it should help you more than a cheap un would and at some prices theses days we should all be experts.End of the day its down to marketing,do we need a rod 2/8th of an ounce lighter than the last model or made of a grade of carbon with only a discernible difference to a tournament caster? perhaps,but have owned my Hardy Sovereign and Favorite, B+W Speycasters,Merlin's,Norway's and Hexographs for several years without feeling the need to change them within their own fields of course,now thats a thing some manufacturers don't want.
Any road up if it suits you sir use it,those with a vested interest shout loudest I find listen to the brass paying masses they are never wrong. Pedro.

[windy]

Sadly I wasn't there on the Saturday to try the Z-Axis but a few comments I need to make;

Most rods that break don't break directly from poor casting but from being damaged either through a knock or getting hit by a tube/fly weakening the rod and then breaking it when put under stress. The modern expensive rods have thinner blanks and are more susceptable to this, the make doesn't matter it is just the risk with modern thin walls. Buying a more expensive rod does not mean you will get a bullet proof rod that will last for life, usually expensive things are actually more delicate and require better looking after. If you want a rod that you can abuse and will last forever then get an Ugly Stick or depend upon the lifetime guarantee which makes up a good proportion of the cost of the top end rods anyway.

Have to agree with Rennie regarding the 10/7 xp, I hate using mine at night sea trout fishing, but worship it for other stuff.

I'd encourage others to post reviews of their rods or ones they have tried. As someone who fishes most of the time with the same group of people it is too easy to get drawn into a very selective view of tackle and get no experience of other manufacturers. For the money we spend each year on Salmon fishing I dont mind spending good money on a rod, the more information I can get the better so I can get a shortlist of rods to try before I buy. Already from my short time as a member of these boards I have changed my opinion that the replacement, when it comes, for my Altmore S will be a sage and now it may be a sage but I have to try the guideline rods and some others before.

So please more reviews and productive comments, good or bad regarding the rods.

Thanks for the review

Windy

[castlikeaghille]

rennie said:

UK based manufacturers have their collective fingers on the pulse more than the Stateside ones do I feel they are more in touch with season through all methods rods as opposed to fair weather and floating line jobbies.
Of course I have no experience of Stateside fishing.....

That's an interesting perspective, but it seems to imply R&D is something confined to the US and the UK. Where do you stand on developments in tackle by the Scandinavians (Loop, LTS (originally a joint venture with Loomis), Guide etc)?

On the Yanks generally, if you look at their ranges they tend to have one lot for the PNW (17' # 3 type things ) and one set built specifically for the European market, usually designed in conjunction with Brits and Nordics in standard specs.

Regards

CLaG

[rennie]

Wot Ho CLaG,my perspective for this thread was towards UK and US rod makers.As yet I cant draw on any experience towards Scandinavian tackle manufacturers in any depth its something I am looking towards at the moment and wont be afraid to ask for advice. I do feel that someone who designs and fishes with a rod year round in all conditions produces a rod that I feel comfortable in owning and using, my point being that in the UK that happens but thats just my take on rods.
One thing I can fault US gear on is price(painful or what) thats one thing I cant throw at Scandinavian gear to the same extent,like I said earlier the brass paying masses are usually pretty close.Will say one thing tho. since buying my Sovereign I haven't found another Hardy rod that I would want to change to thats the one for me(and lots of other folk I know too).One thing with the current trend towards weight surely now these new lighter rods can only be of serious relevance towards the infirm/disabled/elderly,(of whom I don't want to offend) but for the average sort of fit(ish) bloke/girl,well don't you think its now getting to an irrelevance?.Also don't you think the current "trend"plays a part,if you have the cash to splash its easier to follow the trend, if you can get close you will and if cash is tight you look for the best value?

[rennie]

One thought at after,whats the biggest selling rod in the UK, say 15ft?that might tell us all summat. Pedro.

[colliedog]

Drifting a bit (down thel Lower Bow in my dreams) from the original thread but to follow up on the comments on the Sage XP 10'#7 - great rod for competition trout fishing but doesn't have the guts for single handed salmon and sea-trout fishing. The 10' #8 is a much better rod for this purpose but for equivelant performance and value for money the Reddington CPS 10#8 is streets ahead at about £260

CD

[al44]

I have to say I really like my 15'1" European with a Lee Wulff #10 80' head. This combination works really well for me and in spite of the somewhat fine tip of the line the intermediate seems to handle brass tubes up to 1" very well.

On the other hand my B&W 15' Powerlite Speycaster is also an excellent rod. I tend to use it more for sunk line fishing with either a #9-11 windcutter intermediate, Michael Evans fast sinker or Sportfish Wetcell 2 #10/11.

The two rods are very different and a lot of the time it is very much a matter of taste. I've tried the 15' Oracle but found it too slow in action for me, in spite of the fact that it does cast a very good line.

With respect to rod breakages thankfully the Sage is still a four piece, for the moment. However after about 3-4 seasons with the B&W it unexpectedly snapped on me right at the top of the corks. The rod had always been stored and carried in a tube, never dropped or hit against anything so the breakage was a mystery. The disappointing thing was that I had to pay £100+ to get the section replaced, which would not have been the case with the Sage.

To give B&W their due though, over the years I have found their customer service to be excellent.

Oh and by the way the old carbon Cordon Bleu 14' that I bought about 22 years ago is probably the best rod I've ever had!