Sage LL

[Gene L 0]

Picked up a new rod today, a 9' Sage LL 6wt, 3 piece.  I ran the SN number on Sage's website and it was made in 1995.  Fished very little.  I've got a 4 wt LL as well and it's a top notch also.

[Bryon Anderson 0]

Congrats on the sweet find! I've always wanted to try the Sage LL -- I've heard they're something special. 

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Take good care of that new/old rod... Sage is no longer honoring the "lifetime warranty" that they sold them with - all those years ago... Just one of the reasons I've moved away from their rods - in spite of a very substantial discount that guides can claim.... 

[Gene L 0]

I broke my 4 wt. LL about 25 years ago by slamming my tailgate on it.  I sent it to Sage and they replaced it, even though it was my fault and the LL series of rods were no longer made. So I'm pretty happy with them.  Since I'm not the original owner of the 6 wt, the warranty doesn't apply.

I think the "Lifetime Warranty no matter what" has caused a major shift in pricing.  Companies were replacing at any cost has got to figure into it. And a lot of rods are now being made in China, where cost of manufacture and the price of blanks is way low, seeing that the cost of a finished blank can only be a few bucks.  At least Sage rods are still made in America.

I recently bought a 6 wt. TFO rod at the bottom end of their rods.   It cost $300.  The rod was made in China.  Turned me off.  The rod casts fine, btw.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Nearly every fly rod on my skiff (when I'm fishing fly anglers...) is by TFO now... Their warranty is superb, and not much money for a repair/replace.  Their turnaround time is around ten days with the completed repair or replacement at my door usually in less than two weeks from the day I shipped it out to them.  We break our share of fly rods so that's why they're my first choice (and by the way - they're made in Korea...).  I make all of the spinning, plug, and/or conventional rods my anglers use - and wouldn't have it any other way.  When we break one - I can make a replacement in just a day or two, if I have the blanks on hand.  Fly rods are another matter entirely since it just takes too much time to replace one (the last fly rods i built for my skiff used blanks from Thomas and Thomas...), a 10 and a 12wt...  Used properly, fly rods, even heavy rods in hard service, will last for years.  Most of our breakage is due to angler error but that's what I've come to expect over the years.  I still have one Sage rod in service now - a 7wt RPL+ that I'm quite fond of.  It needs a new cork grip and I'll be doing the repair myself.  I will agree that "lifetime warranties" did distort the rodbuilding business over the years and that imported rods from the orient do have a major advantage in labor and materials costs.  That's why very few, if any, big outfits still make gear for the US market here... Very few... Wish it weren't so.... 

[Gene L 0]

My TFO is marked "China."  I would feel better if it was made in Korea.  It casts just fine.

[DFoster 0]

  I'm not familiar with the LL but a great fly rod is something to use an cherish. Good for you Gene!

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

Speaking about old Sage rods - here's the beginning of a cork grip removal and replace on a cherished old Sage RPL+ 7WT rod.... 

Before removal - shown with the stiff boning blade I'll use... 

the first cut - slicing down the grip while not damaging the blank underneath, once all the cork is removed will come the careful scraping of the blank itself to remove old epoxy and prep it for the new cork.. 

New grip, epoxied in place, then turned down to the right size for a 7wt (most that I know prefer a full wells shape for larger rods, a 7wt is pretty much the smallest we use most days, in the salt or brackish areas we fish...).

All that remains now is to re-wrap in place the two stripper guides that needed to be removed from this section before a new  cork grip could be slid into place, then a coat of finish, FlexCoat for this old fashioned guy... PS... I'm far from a pro at rodbuilding or repairs but I made my first rod in 1971...

 

I'll post up additional pics as the repair moves along.

[Pbass 0]

On 7/11/2024 at 7:08 PM, Gene L said:

9' Sage LL 6wt, 3 piece.

Awesome! I have never cast the old LL rods but the new ones are among my favorite rods ever. 

[flytire 0]

i have a 1980's 9 foot 3 weight LL that just sits in a dark closet waiting to be used again 😢😢

[Steeldrifter 0]

Capt Bob- that right there is the WORST job you can get when it comes to being a rod builder. Every once in a while I will get a customer that wants a rod fully restored, and removing the old grip and all the epoxy underneath it is nothing but time consuming agony. There's not much in rod building I don't like doing, but that is one thing I hate to have to do 😣 Sometimes you get lucky and there's not a ton of old epoxy on the blank. But other times it's just covered with it and is a nightmare.

 

[Mark Knapp 0]

I'm sorry, what is an "LL" rod. Why is it special?

[SilverCreek 0]

2 hours ago, Mark Knapp said:

I'm sorry, what is an "LL" rod. Why is it special?

The original Don Green designed Sage LL (Light Line) rods were renown for their castibility.

https://www.redsflyshop.com/blog/page/31/post/sage-trout-ll-fly-rod/

https://tellurideangler.com/casting-pond/articles/sage-trout-ll-fly-rods-model-by-model-review/

https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/review-sage-trout-ll-fly-rod/7714870

 

 

[Mark Knapp 0]

2 hours ago, SilverCreek said:

The original Don Green designed Sage LL (Light Line) rods were renown for their castibility.

https://www.redsflyshop.com/blog/page/31/post/sage-trout-ll-fly-rod/

https://tellurideangler.com/casting-pond/articles/sage-trout-ll-fly-rods-model-by-model-review/

https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/review-sage-trout-ll-fly-rod/7714870

 

 

Thank you very much. I'm a little smarter now.

[Capt Bob LeMay 0]

for Steel... the only rods I have anymore that even feature a cork grip are fly rods (a few I've built on Thomas and Thomas blanks, but mostly manufactured rods - either very old Sage rods or current TFO...).  The TFO rods I'll replace a guide here or there since they don't mind (for warranty purposes when we do break one...) - anything else goes the warranty route.  My old Sage rods on the other hand are no longer under warranty (they just decided they could no longer honor that "lifetime warranty" they were sold with...) so...  I'm repairing them when possible.   All of my other gear gets an EVA butt or foregrip and, unlike cork, are much much easier to deal with. Yes, cork is a PITA to remove and patiently scraping away old epoxy is no fun at all (need some solid blues music to lighten the load..) but a competent repair is very do-able for this amateur....   Years and years ago - before I learned better I considered making rods commercially -but the money was never there so it remained a hobby.  I did present a couple of proto-types to someone at FinNor years ago to complement their fly reels and did make a few for reel customers but nothing ever came of it.  Now FiinNor, like most brands, is just another brand name offshore.  Things do change over time...