Sage Method & Motive 2014 Fly Rod Preview

"Is your next rod going to be red?" (tweet this) Some of you may have heard - the IFTD (International Fly Tackle Dealer) Show and iCast (International Convention of Allied Sportfishing Trades) have been combined. IFTD was traditionally held in the middle of August, and marked the coming out of new lines for our industry. iCast, however, is held in early July. This change has left brands scrambling to get new products ready in time for the show. Some manufacturers aren't going. Others have only limited releases. As you would expect, Sage has risen to the occasion. They have a new lineup ready to go. We don't have any "spy shots" for you just yet, but, we do have some great information:

Sage Method

By now most of you TCX has been discontinued. Personally, I wasn't too broken-hearted. The TCX was always a little too fast for the rivers that I typically fish. Needless to say, there's no rod that is more in touch with Sage's heritage of never running out of horsepower. So what will the new "Method" be like? F-A-S-T. And Powerful. The Method is loaded with Sage's Konnetic Technology that's made great rods like the Circa and ONE. I'd also expect it to be a little smoother and less stiff, but with a faster recovery. The price should also be going up. I'm betting on an $800+ price range. Is your next rod going to be Magenta...? . Buy the Sage Method Fly Rod on Trident Fly Fishing.

Sage Motive

Working at a fly shop means giving lots of (hopefully good) advice to customers. One question we get asked all the time is to recommend a fly rod for a given budget. For the last several years, fly rods have largely fallen into two categories: Top-of-the-line (~$700) and Performance on a budget (~$300), with not many rods in the middle. This has been especially true for saltwater rods... until now. The new Motive will be Sage's (and really the industry as a whole's) first foray into a "mid-priced" saltwater fly rod. Is it going to be a copy of the Xi3, in preparation for the Xi4? Maybe (It sure looks like the Xi3...). Either way, it's got oversized saltwater guides and lots of power in the butt section for fighting big fish. If it doesn't use the same blank, guessing that it will be a little less powerful then the Xi3, just like the VXP is to the ONE. It's priced reasonably at $425 and made in the USA! Buy the Sage Motive fly rod on Trident Fly Fishing.

Sage is also coming out with a few new reels. Check out our reel preview here. We'll be casting these rods at iCast. Stay tuned for full reviews.