Product Review: Sage BASS Series "Bluegill" Rod

I don't know what kind of bluegill these guys had in mind, but to me this is a perfect South Dakota smallmouth, largemouth, and northern rod. It is incredibly light in the hand and will cast very large air resistant flies with ease. Granted, my casting experiences with it have been out on 7th st. I have scared a few women coming out of the salon next door and have hooked the sale board out in front of the women's clothing store two doors down, but I have yet to catch a bluegill (read bass) on this rod. I can't wait to take this thing to the Missouri river or down to Angostura for South Dakota redfish (read carp).

The rod is the newest in Sage's Bass line up. At 7'11" it feels very light in the hand, making it one of the lightest eight weights I have ever held. However, you won't find 8 weight stamped above the cork on this rod. Instead you will read "230 grains". This is to indicate the grain weight of the specialty line Sage includes with the purchase of the rod. The shooting head nature of this flyline makes for easy distance without umpteen false casts.

One of the goals Sage had in mind for the BASS series was to keep the rods under 8' in length, allowing fly anglers to enter BASS tournaments. I don't think I will show up at any of the local tournaments wearing a jacket festooned with patches any time soon, but my next warmwater trip will be with this rod in tow.

Don Polovich has already had a few outings with this rod and has found it to be quite right for white bass. Don caught his first "bluegill" with this rod this past Monday over in Pierre.
Anybody interested in this rod can check it out and try scaring pedestrians on 7th street any time.