Fly Fishing Reviews

About the brand: R.L. Winston Fly Rods

river_t — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:34:02 +0000

This is the second installment in our series that looks at different fly fishing brands (you can read the first about Sage). In this post we’ll look at the venerable R.L. Winston company. Known for their high tech boron/graphite composite rods as well as their high end bamboo fly rods, Winston rods has been making fly fishing rods for over 75 years.

Winston fly rods is based in Twin Bridges, Montana with the Beaverhead, Big Hole, Jefferson, Ruby, and Madison Rivers at their backdoor - ideal research and development grounds for their craft. Roughly forty craftsmen work at Winston to create some of the highest quality and visually appealing fly rods on the market. With graphite rods starting at $200 and incredible bamboo fly rods up to $3,000, their selection of rods cover the full spectrum.

A Winston is not just a fly rod. It is a commitment to doing something the right way. Without compromise.
-R.L. Winston Rods

First look at the new Sage ZXL fly rod…start saving!

river_t — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:04:56 +0000

This past week I had a chance to take a look at the new Sage ZXL fly rod at the local fly shop. My feelings are that, despite it being a new fly fishing rod on the market, it may be one to save your pennies for.

According to Sage, the ZXL is what you get when you match their G5 technology with the “silk-smooth” action of their SLT Series. The translation of this is that Sage has removed all the unnecessary weight in the rod while still maintaining its strength and improving its casting and fishability. One interesting detail we noticed is that they’ve made the grips a little narrower. This change will probably be welcomed by 95% of the anglers out there since it makes the fly rod more comfortable to hold. What about the other 5%? They’re the ones with freakishly large hands that prefer to fly fish with broomsticks.

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Sage VT2 Fly Rod Review

river_t — Sat, 29 Sep 2007 21:43:07 +0000

The fly fishing rods from Sage’s VT2 series are typically known for their versatility. Often considered to be great rods for beginners, these rods fit into Sage’s lineup between their Z-Axis rods and their traditional style rods. The Sage VT2 rods have a sensitive, light feel with a smooth power curve. The combination of these attributes give it a fast line speed and make for easier casting.

In the Sage VT2 series, there are rods ranging in length from 7′ 9″ to 9′ 6″ designed for line weights 3 to 10. All of these come in four sections.

Looking for more info about the Sage VT2 fly rods? Look here

These three reputable fly shops all carry the Sage VT2:


Price: $410-440 FREE Shipping	Price: $410-440 FREE Shipping	Price: $410-440 FREE Shipping

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2008 Line of Sage Fly Rods

river_t — Fri, 28 Sep 2007 20:56:23 +0000

For the upcoming year, there will be several new Sage fly rods on the market. Here’s a quick breakdown of the additions to their already strong line-up of fly fishing rods:

Bass Series Fly Rods - they have two new rods intended for bass anglers. There is a new 7′ 11″ big mouth and small mouth models. Both come with their own Sage fly line, also tailored to bass anglers.
Sage ZXL Series Fly Rods - built using Sage’s G5 technology, they are boasting that this rod has “silk-smooth” action.
A few new models have been added to the Z-Axis series.
A few new models have also been added to the TXL Series models.

Read some of our other posts for more info about the current line of fly rods from Sage.

Visitor Story: Choosing a Sage fly rod

river_t — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 05:12:12 +0000

Recently I decided to purchase a new fly rod for myself as a special end of summer gift. I spent countless hours searching the dozens or even hundreds of fly fishing sites and stores online. It was time I would have much rather spent out practicing my fly cast or catching the afternoon hatch. Maybe my story can help you.

I was looking for a medium weight fly rod with good action. I didn’t want another cheap, mass produced one that would leave me feeling like I was casting with an old wooden broomstick.

In my search, I first looked for a brand that met my needs. I wanted a brand of fly rod that would stand by their rods, has a strong reputation for making great rods, and one whose rods just plain felt right. For me, Sage fly rods seemed to fit my requirements nicely.

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Review of the Sage Z-Axis Fly Rod

admin — Sun, 16 Sep 2007 18:20:18 +0000

The Sage Z-Axis is one of the newest Sage fly rods. As a replacement for Sage’s XP rod, it was designed to be lighter, stronger, and faster than their previous model. How did they do? Excellent. The Z-Axis has a noticeably improved feel when casting compared to the XP and even more expensive fly rods from other manufacturers. There are several main traits of the Sage Z-Axis that make it stand out from the competition: (more…)

Sage fly rods and the Sage brand, are they the best for you?

admin — Tue, 04 Sep 2007 22:58:29 +0000

One of the biggest quality brands on the market, Sage is known for their use of the latest technology and their lifetime warranty on fly rods and reels. Their products are built with the goal of maximum fishability in mind and are hand crafted to perfection. In addition to Sage fly rods and reels, they also make fly rod blanks for anglers who want to make their own rods, fly lines, as well as rod, reel and wader cases. Although it’s a little difficult to find on their site, they even make a spinning rod, “for when conditions make it physically impossible to fly fish.”

Sage fly rods
As I mentioned before, all of the fly rods are backed by a lifetime warranty- which is comforting. In addition, all of their fly rods are hand crafted with very strict quality control. These aren’t the $99 specials from Wal-Mart or Big 5. Sage’s rods come in nine different series and a variety of lengths and weights for all fishing conditions. The rods are broken down into three series.

Premium Fly Rod Series: Z-Axis, TXL, TCR, SLT
Specialty Fly Rod Series: Xi2, Two-Handed
Value Fly Rod Series: VT2, FLi, Launch

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