Sage One 8136-4 Review

Seems like, for the most part, I have written the product reviews over the last while. Here's a little change, recieved this from Terry Antoniuk regarding his brande new Sage One 8136-4 Two handed Rod.....

Sustat Hen on the 8136
Terry Antoniuk Photo

Had an opportunity to fish the Sage One 8136-4 two hand rod on several Skeena tributaries over 3 weeks in October. Also talked with others who were fishing the same rod, and have decided that this is now my go-to rod for rivers with chances at larger fish. Why? Well the rod has a huge sweet spot and is very forgiving of caster error - it added over 10 feet to my casts with no additional effort and was a pleasure to fish with all day because its much lighter than my Sage Z Axis and other equivalents. When compared to the Z Axis, it has a more progressive action, is better at pulling sinking tips from the water, and allows both bottom hand and top hand power application (although as with all spey rods, bottom hand dominant is the better way to go with Skagit lines). The butt's not as powerful as the Sage TCX series, but I personally prefer the way that this rod casts and fights fish. The new handle style was comfortable and the downlocking reel seat really balanced the rod with my old school Van Staal reel.


I tend to like heavier Skagit heads, but found that it fished well with the recommended 550 gr Rio Skagit Flight head when throwing Type 3, 6, and 8 tips and lightly to heavily weighted flies. It easily handled 15 feet of T-14 and 12 feet of T-17 when dredging deep winter holding waters, but I'd probably use a 575 gr Skagit head if doing this exclusively. I'm really looking forward to trying other spey models in the Sage One line.

Terry Antoniuk
November 2012

New One on the Bulkley
Terry Antoniuk Photo