Sage Method Skeena Country Test Drive

Sage is one of the biggest brands in the fly fishing industry. They are known for producing high quality innovative fly fishing products. The most recent release from Sage is the “Method” series of fly/spey/switch rods. The Method is made with Sage’s Konnetic technology, the same you’ve seen used on the “One” series.

The colour of the blank comes in a glossy magma red, red threads to hold the guides, comfortable high quality cork handle, black and copper laces bordering Sage’s specification label. Sage was bold, choosing the color red for the blank on the Method and it stands out in the crowd; some may not agree with the color choice but I believe it works just fine.

Thanks to Sea-Run Fly & Tackle and Sage, I was fortunate enough to take the Method 9140-4 two handed spey rod to the beautiful Skeena River up in the northern region of BC.

The first impression I got from looking at the rod was “this thing is dangerous”. I didn’t know what to make of the colour, the rod looked like an edible piece of candy. When you have it in your hands long enough, it grows on you and you see how beautiful the rod actually is. You can’t judge a rod by its colour.

Picking up the rod will surprise you with its unbelievable light weight at only 8.4 ounces, which means a 9wt 14′ is as light as an average 7wt 12′ 6″ spey rod. The rod balances out well with most spey reels on the market.

On the water, I ran 2 different lines on the Sage Method 9140. A Skagit head to punch through the toughest fishing conditions and a long belly for top surface action. The Skagit head performed very well, the rod is ultra fast, loaded up easily and very quickly; Sage recommends a 600gr head for the rod. I did not have to try at all to make perfect cast every time, tight loops and high line speed with the least amount of effort put into the casting strokes. It seemed like every cast wanted more shooting line.

My long belly line choice for the rod was a NextCast WinterAuthority 70 9/10. The way I had setup for fishing was a 68 ft head connected to a 15 ft floating tip and a 12 ft tapered leader. The rod picked up all of the 95 ft of line and smoothly turned it over.

The line delivery for both lines was very smooth, all of my casts were laid out straight and the rod put the fly in the zone. I fished 10 hours straight without feeling the slightest bit of casting fatigue, this was a huge plus in my opinion.

Close, medium and long casts, the Sage Method is a great all around spey rod that will fulfill your needs and exceed your expectations. With the Sage Method ranging from $650-$1050 there is no disappointment on how the rod performs.

The Sage Method 9140 is very user friendly and will help you make the cast that counts no matter what situation you are in. I really enjoyed fishing this rod.

– Written by Jack Yoo, www.fishingreviews.tv