A noteworthy development out of Bainbridge Island this week: Sage just dropped a new fly rod, and it’s not a rocket-fast stick that can send a lead-eye Clouser at you so quickly that it might leave an exit wound. The company just introduced its new Sage CLASSIC R8, a throwback fly rod that’s intentionally slower and designed to be cast by anglers who fish deliberately. Sage says the new rod is “a culmination of our most advanced materials, componentry, and application-specific tapers to date,” while paying homage to Sage’s long and illustrious history as a premium rod builder. Its aesthetics are noticeably “old school” Sage, with the chocolate brown finish and light beige thread accents. But, despite the ability to conjure up images of the fly-fishing heyday right around the time “the movie” hit the big screen, the rod’s performance, the company says, is as intentional as it is nostalgic.
Using the motto, “fish slow, feel more,” Sage is tipping its hat to anglers who might spend a bit more time watching and walking, and perhaps a bit less time casting and methodically “covering water.” The rod, Sage says, is noticeably slower than what’s been churning off the mandrels at the Washington shop of late. Instead, the company has produced a rod with a more “classic” feel — a rod that “likes to bend.”
The rod is officially a “moderate action” implement that loads deeper and requires casters to exercise a bit of patience. For those of us who matriculated through the craft starting with a heavy dose of creek fishing thrown in, the CLASSIC R8 might feel wonderfully familiar. And, given what premium rod-makers are offering up of late — fast-action rods that implement the latest in tech to give us thin tapers and “must-see-to-believe strength” — Sage, in this instance, is using its rod-building powers for good.
While it may fish slower and more deliberately, the company says it hasn’t skimped on its proprietary R8 technology. Throw in premium hardware, purported fast recovery and the smooth transfer of energy to achieve better-than-you-might expect line speed, and Sage might have produced the next perfect fly rod for fly fishers, not just fly casters. Or, as the company’s promotional video proclaims, the rod is built for anglers who want to remember what it was like “when a fish story didn’t have to be backed up by an Instagram post.”
Ah, the good old days, indeed.
The Sage CLASSIC R8 is clearly a rod built primarily for the trout angler. And, dare I suggest, it’s built for the walk-and-wade angler … somebody who fishes with a purpose and not necessarily for a purpose. It’s available in line weights 3 through 6, with various lengths meant for different fishing circumstances. If the company’s marketing materials are accurate, it’s a dry-fly rod that ought to put smiles on the faces of every angler who cringes every time they hear the phrase, “Buster here wants to fish.”
“If you’ve spent a lot of time watching the slower pace of how the environment changes, that’s really inspiring, and I have felt that in the rod,” says Sage rod designer Peter Knox. “These materials are so potent, you use just a little bit, and you get so much line speed. This process of dialing it down a little bit, just chilling out, it’s been a process of matching the rod to the environment, the speed, and the pace that I want to go, and that’s necessary for success. It’s that methodical feeling. It’s playing on the fish’s terms. It’s all of that condensed, collated, and then exhibited in graphite form.”
The CLASSIC R8 retails for $975 — sadly, we don’t get a throwback price tag — and is available now at fly shops and other retailers.
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