Hello
all and thanks for checking in at the SAGE corner. When asked to put together a
small article on what’s new in the Sage world it took all of about second
and a half to figure out what I would write about. Before I go on, I want to
share just a little about why this product came first to mind. Being part of a
wonderful marriage and being part of the fly shop for so many years now, I have
learned to really enjoy the perks that go along with these things. Every time
one of the top end rods comes out I either get to own or at least try them out.
Now I understand that sometimes I feel like one of those high end snobs and I
wish I wasn’t that way but…… I remember several years back when an adversarial
acquaintance came into the shop and began to bad mouth the high end rods. He
spouted off at length that the $150 rods were no different than the top shelf
rods, meanwhile I smiled, said very little and after his rant watched him drive
away.
You see at the time I saw no reason
to argue with him. I was driving a Dodge Neon and used his same bit of logic in
buying my car. A few years later my “take a licking and still kept ticking”
Neon finally began to have serious issues. I replaced it and when that one gave
up on me I decided to try something fancier and purchased my Rogue, which is way
nicer and with more perks than I ever could have imagined in a car. I have
become spoiled, when I get into Cat’s X-terra I find it a little annoying that
I have to use a key instead of just pushing a button (crazy right?). Ok, so why
am I telling you about my car history? Well, the lesson I learned with my
vehicles directly relates to the differences in rods. You see, while I fully
knew all of the long list of technical differences between the Neon and the
Rogue, I didn’t really understand their impact until I FELT the difference. The
same goes with rods. Yes, both cars get you down the road, just as any rod can
aid you in getting into fish, but the ride is different.
With fly rods I see the value in
entry level gear. Not everyone has the budget to drop serious cash on a rod and
for those just starting out less expensive rods allow the sport to be accessible.
But I have always had a hard time finding great mid-priced fly rods. The $250
and under fill an important need and the $800 plus rods fill every desire a fly
fisherman could have. But the $300 - $600 rods, except for a rare few which I
sold the heck out of, leave us just slightly less than ecstatic.
So the
product that this long winded article is about is the new mid-level priced rod by SAGE
called the Pulse. As my readers know, I’m not high on stats, but I like to talk
about what a rod can or can’t do. First of all the rod is made in America and
is constructed of Generation 111e graphite. The quality of the rod can be felt
immediately as it fits into your hand, a quick shake and the rod snaps back
into place, none of that jiggling up the arm stuff. I know a “real” fly
fisherman should never think about the color but hey if it’s going to be part
of you, it better look as good as you (easier for me...hehe.) The rod has a
fast action designation but and to me it feels like a med-fast with the flex
falling deeper down the tip. The power in the lower half of the rod and the
softer tip make for the easiest of nonchalant casts and plenty of “nads” when
the conditions want to eat you up. The rod has power to spare up the shaft and
a tip that allows you to enjoy every second that you have a fish on the other
end. The rod is truly a rod that could end up as an heirloom, although you may
never want to give it away. Now I’m not going to say it’s just as good as the One, but the Pulse is certainly one of
those rare mid-priced rods which holds its own. We have a full line of the
Pulse in stock so we hope you get by and give them a test drive…..
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