It would be impossible to find a fly-fisherman these days not familiar with Sage Fly Rods. Known for the quality construction and innovative designs, Sage's head rod designer Jerry Siem is always at the drawing board figuring out how to make fly rods better. Sage debuted their Konnetic Technology several years ago with the introduction of the One. These rods are still as popular today as they were several years ago and for good reason- they cast like a dream, are super light in hand, and perform flawlessly in a wide range of conditions. Sage has continue to incorporate their Konnetic Technology into more recent offerings as well with the Circa, Method and most recently, the Salt. The latter two- much like the ONE- falling into the fast action category of rods. We get a lot of customers in the shop looking for a high end, fast action fly rod and this sometimes leads to an interesting question amongst them- "Which one do I need?" They all cost about the same, all say "Konnetic Technology" on the side, and are all fast action fly rods. The most glaring difference is really just the color. With that in mind, we reached out to the mastermind himself behind these rods to get the straight and narrow right from the source. Here are Jerry Siem's thoughts on the difference between the One, Method and Salt. Enjoy!

Sage Konnetic Technology® is a remarkable story, yet largely invisible to the consumer as all technologies are these days. The obvious benefits of Konnetic Technology proprietary resin, fibers and manufacturing are stronger, lighter fly rod shafts. By any measurement we have been able to detect in our laboratory, Konnetic Technology delivers a high performance/high definition material group from which any action of fly rod design can be created.

Sage ONE exploded on the scene in a 2 year roll out with single hand rods, following with double handers/switch and the additions of heavier line single handers, and some 6 piece spey. The ONE collection, then, is Sage’s most broad based rod family and across the model spread, as the utility of a particular rod requires design features that give it application to do the task correctly, be that finessing little flies, or handling tarpon, you will see and feel these benefits in the ONE. Specific to the question, ONE’s were not designed as a saltwater fly rod family, but within the family and action framework, there are rods which are created to do this work.

Sage METHOD arrived on the scene shortly after the introduction of the ONE and again, while not the depth of model selection of the ONE, METHOD was aimed toward the angler either capable of or believing they had the skill to drive a rod harder than would be of benefit to the ONE, in terms of performance. Performance in my language is the rod shaft recovering back to its straight form from the loaded or bent position. METHOD rods recover from a fast casting tempo or stroke, or handling or casting very long lines. They are built for high line speed, some would argue, ultra-high line speed.

Sage SALT rods were designed from tip to butt as saltwater fly fishing rods. Calling them big game rods is a distraction. Most saltwater fishing is for anything but big game. This opens the door for an angler looking for a multi-purpose 5, 6, or 7 weight (or 8 or 9) to also consider the SALT. Unlike the fast action of the ONE and METHOD tapers, the SALT shaft, being more robust to handle the oversize snake guides and tip top, allows for more control when picking line and fly out of the water, the shaft “staying straighter, longer” and the feeling of using more power of the rod through more of the casting stroke is something we often hear. (Certainly, the heavier weight MEHOD’S and ONE’s also have large tip top and snake guides, as noted above.)

ONE-a rod for all occasions, lots of choices. Fast, yet smooth comfortable fly fishing rod.

METHOD-the modern ultra-fast action Sage. Faster than ONE, type A caster, if you are going out all day and want a rod to handle all conditions, wind, big flies, want fastest action.

SALT-if you are going to fish the rod most of the time in the SALT, it is the go-to-rod. Casts short with ease, handles large range of fly sizes for given line weight, narrow yet powerful profile for all open water conditions. Family includes big game rods.

An aside:
There is no substitute for casting and selecting the rods. While the ONE and METHOD rods are optimum feeling casting rods, even on dry land, the SALT rods are designed and tested as fishing rods first and foremost, and feel and perform best when fished. All rods feel fast when store wiggled. The family comparisons above are good guidelines. We are working to tell our technologies ladder in a couple months and this should help everyone.

Thanks,
Jerry