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Breaking your rod has to be one of the worst feelings to have while fishing. Especially when its such a high end rod. This Sage Method retails for $850 and is an absolute amazing fly rod, especially for fishing streamers. Luckily Sage, along with some other high end rod makers offer a no questions asked lifetime warranty for the original owner. It still costs about $70 because you have to pay the shipping back and fourth, however they will fix your rod no matter what for that cost, which is a lot better than $850. The turn around time though is a little slow, and it can take 3 weeks to a month.

Really, the fact that this rod broke doesn't speak to bad quality of this rod. Its really a fantastic fly rod, but it is made of high modulus graphite. While that allows for a light, and fast action blank, the rod can be a bit fragile when it comes to impacts. And that is what happened here. If you never hit a rock with your rod, then this rod will not break, not on any fish. Its almost impossible to break it when its used the way it properly should.
This was an interesting day. The weather could not figure out what it wanted to do. It rained, then got sunny, then snowed, then got sunny again. It kept doing this multiple times. I was able to get one brown at least, however I could not get any more after breaking the only rod I brought on this trip.
These little lakes are great for fishing big browns. Last time I came here I ended up with a 27" brown trout, and 2 other browns right around 20". Also, you don't really need waders and you are not getting in the water. With a really good cast, you can almost reach the center of each of these little lakes, and there are lots of fish everywhere. Not just browns, but rainbows as well.

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If you had bought your Sage at Bass Pro and opted for the 2 year warranty, you could have returned the broken rod to any Bass Pro and walked out with a new rod (assuming it was in stock). It sure beats waiting around for Sage (or another manufacturer) especially if you are away on a vacation!!!!!!

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I hear ya. Problem is the nearest Bass Pro from me is like 7 hours... LOL I used to love to shop there though when I lived close to one in TX.

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I've never had a problem with Sage as a company. I still have a rod that is under lifetime warranty, course they do get you for a handling fee. The most a repair has cost is $50 and I've heard of $70. You can go to Sage online and set it up there, they will give you a printable return shipping mailer to put in your packaging, so shipping is a one way cost.. You can get a shipping tube from the post office. Turn around depends on the time of year and their departments volume of rod repairs, average has been two weeks. We have had two Graphite II rods repaired, they built new tip sections to fit the rods. My son sent in his RPL for a tip secton repair, got it back then went to Maine and the rod fell off the roof of the car before ever being fished and broke the tip again LOL !! He since went and bought a cheap backup 6 wt. to have around. These things happen is all I can say.

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i broke a sage rod on a 4-5 pound largemouth bass trying to lift to shore.

 

no crying as it was actually my fault.

 

i put it in the back of the car and took out the spare rod and went back to fishing.

 

the next day i shipped it off to sage and a couple of weeks later a new rod was delivered.

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That's what I did when I broke my 6 wt, switched the reel over to my St Croix 6 wt. which is a pretty nice rod in it's own right. I also own an Echo 6 wt with two tip sections. 6 Wt used to be my most used wt rod, these days I use a 5 about as much, of which I own two. An 8'6" Sage RPL and and the 9 ft Revelation I build..

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I broke my Sage LL by slamming the tailgate on it. The LL series has been out of production for a long time. I sent it back and they returned it with a new tip section. They've got my loyalty forever.

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We broke two Sage Graphite II rods the same way, SUV tail gate. One happened twice. The Graphite II has been out of production as well, they literally build a new tip section now ( so they said anyway).

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So you're saying you hit a rock with your rod?

I've broken a few tips due to collisions with lead eyed flies and learned to never fish them with an on shoulder breeze.

Most of my rods are Redington and TFO. Great warranty no questions asked get a new rod.

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I've never had a problem with Sage as a company. I still have a rod that is under lifetime warranty, course they do get you for a handling fee. The most a repair has cost is $50 and I've heard of $70. You can go to Sage online and set it up there, they will give you a printable return shipping mailer to put in your packaging, so shipping is a one way cost.. You can get a shipping tube from the post office. Turn around depends on the time of year and their departments volume of rod repairs, average has been two weeks. We have had two Graphite II rods repaired, they built new tip sections to fit the rods. My son sent in his RPL for a tip secton repair, got it back then went to Maine and the rod fell off the roof of the car before ever being fished and broke the tip again LOL !! He since went and bought a cheap backup 6 wt. to have around. These things happen is all I can say.

Yeah, they did seem to do well with the repair, its actually on its way back. I filmed this about 1.5 weeks ago, and well, they weren't a fun 3 weeks like they said on the phone.

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i broke a sage rod on a 4-5 pound largemouth bass trying to lift to shore.

 

no crying as it was actually my fault.

 

i put it in the back of the car and took out the spare rod and went back to fishing.

 

the next day i shipped it off to sage and a couple of weeks later a new rod was delivered.

Yep, no crying on my part either... LOL Just was a bit bummed thats all.

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So you're saying you hit a rock with your rod?

I've broken a few tips due to collisions with lead eyed flies and learned to never fish them with an on shoulder breeze.

Most of my rods are Redington and TFO. Great warranty no questions asked get a new rod.

Yeah, when I fell (as you can see in the video) the tip did hit the ground and there were rocks everywhere. I am pretty sure thats where I broke it. I told them that as I try to be honest as possible with everything. They were very gracious and said that it happens all the time. Not to worry and they will fix it. The fly didnt hit the tip all that day, and I have only had it happen once. But I've caught some monster fish on that rod since. No problems, and luckily it wasn't a heavy fly. Im pretty sure it was a rock, since I broke it right after falling. LOL

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"This Sage Method retails for $850 ..."

 

Just like Snap-On tools. The original purchase price is double what it's actually worth, so your replacements don't cost Sage anything.

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"This Sage Method retails for $850 ..."

 

Just like Snap-On tools. The original purchase price is double what it's actually worth, so your replacements don't cost Sage anything.

 

Actually about 4 times the actual value. Not putting them down by any means, but it's pretty well known in the industry that the big name companies like Sage / Winston /T&T and such factor in about 4x for replacement into their retail prices.

 

Hell maybe I should start charging $900 for my rods and giving unlimited replacements on them lol

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You need a 6 wt back up for those big browns anyway. I own 3 6 wts just because that's how it's gone down over a few decades..

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