Once a year and always seemingly the wettest day possible,
George Cook (Northwest Representative for
Sage,
Redington and
Rio) organizes a one day event set aside just for dealers to come and cast the entire arsenal of two hand equipment. Sort of a mini
spey clave. The idea evolves around getting the rods in the hands of the guys that actually sell the equipment and taking them for a test drive. It also allows us to test the different lines available from
Rio.
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| Sweet Reels! |
I can't begin to describe how educational this event is to northwest dealers. While most of us that attend this event are proficient with
two hand rods nowhere else can we go and have the opportunity to cast the entire series of
Sage and
Redington rods and do it on a real river setting...not a casting pool in a convention center.
John Garrett, Andrew Perrault and myself attended this year. We almost didn't make it! A storm in the Gorge had dumped about 8 inches of snow in
Hood River, Oregon. Our drive in took a little longer than usual but it was the drive home that was real crazy...many miles of bumper to bumper traffic and slow go across chunky ice.
The Sandy area was just rainy, wet and downright pouring at times.
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| Bring your Gore-Tex |
We cast every rod George had from little switch rods suited for trout to full size 15' 10 weights with long belly lines. Too many good rods to describe them all but I'll try to highlight a few I remember. The
Sage One 4116 is of course one of my favorites and I'm already well acquainted with this rod in my trout fishing adventures this winter. The
Sage One 7116 really left an impression on me as a possible awesome summer steelhead dry line rod. Top Gun for a King Stick would have to go to the
Sage One 10130 for its incredible ability to huck a skagit head and tip across the river but I also have to mention the
Sage Method 9119 switch in this same sentence for its prowess as a possible
Chinook stick. The
Sage Method 6126 could be a new favorite versatile steelhead weapon. I liked it for the light in hand but powerful feel. For being an ultra-fast series of rods the Method's really impresses with the amount of feel and feedback they provide. Fast rods are not new to the scene, the former TCX is proof of that, but what is unique with the
Method and the
One is the advancement in the way they provide feel and feedback when loading. Technical fast yes, but easier than ever to learn and tune into. A real sleeper in the bunch is the
Sage VXP and especially the
7133 for its smooth graceful skagit-ability. This could be your
all around Northwest steelhead rod and it would not disappoint.
The Redington Dually series of spey and switch rods are quite impressive for the price. Light, responsive and not overly fast make them a joy to cast. The smaller switch sizes will delight
trout anglers. Also from
Redington are the
Prospectors. The Prospectors cast smooth with a little faster feel than the
Dually.
We stayed until all rods were cast. Only five of us remained including
George and his wing-man
Erik Johnson. Each of us grabbed a handful of rods to carry up the hill back to the truck. We spent some time cuttin' up while
George and Erik sorted out the warehouse of goods. I almost forgot to mention the impressive array of
fly fishing reels. A sampling of
all Sage reels including a new
Evoke. The
Saracione stands out in a crowd. Also on board were several
Tibor reels. I really like the
Tibor Spey reels especially in black.
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| How many reels can you name? |
A note to end on. I'd like to take this space and throw out a big "
Thank You" to George and Erik for taking the time out of their busy lives and providing us with the opportunity to experience all of the
Two-Hand arsenal coming from Bainbridge Island, Washington.
Gorge Fly Shop
Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist
"Fly Fish the World with Us"
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