Sage ONE Trout Spey 2109-4 Review

Winter Bow

The highly anticipated player in my multi year trout spey obsession is now in hand! The acclaimed Sage ONE Trout Spey 2109-4. I've been dreaming of the tug on a tight line swing with this pint size trout spey for longer than this rod has even existed. The anticipation is maddening!

Sage One 2109-4

Light, balanced, smooth, without hesitation the power exhibited from the 2109 would go unnoticed if it weren't for your fly landing on the other side of the river. Effortless is an understatement!

It's closing in on 4 years since I've landed my first two hand trout. In that time I have fished some amazing water with some great rods. Those rods have helped me learn and refine my casts and tactics in the pursuit of trout on the swing, especially winter trout.

I've always felt a yearning to downsize my gear. The fives, fours and three weights in progression have always led me to seeking smaller, lighter sticks. I have even spent a considerable amount of time throwing one hand spey on single hand rods and that experience has further increased my desire for less.

A peek at my one hand spey game

I've noticed in many two hand trout conversations that it's generally assumed the smaller trout speys cannot do as much as their big brethren. Proceed with caution in these conversations. Many factors play a part in this discussion including fly size, river size, line weights and wind. In thinking about a trout spey rod consider them to be just longer than average fly rods but with a ton of serious power hiding down deep in the butt section. To be a spey rod and trouty at the same time the rod must have reasonably limber deep loading tip sections for light tippet fish-ability but still harness power to move skagit, sink tip and fly. Trout spey rods, just like fly rods, as conditions increase in difficulty be it such as wind or fly size so does the nature of casting difficulty increase.

My point to all this chatter is to express the idea not to assume the little 2109 is incapable of skagit head, sink tip and weighted flies. This stick possesses a serious amount of trout soul while still having a strong backbone. While not the rod I reach for in the most demanding conditions it has become the rod I grab in all but the toughest conditions.

My experience with trout spey is we are just now realizing the full potential of abilities with the smaller rod offerings. New lines today from RIO, OPST and Airflo have been key in helping us to extract the deeper potential in these small rods. I have witnessed a combined effort of trout speys and short skagits that has taken us to where we have arrived today. Without these ultra short skagits I believe we'd still be unclear in the validity of such small spey rod offerings.

2109 - Not a wimpy noodle!

I gave 2109 a RIO Skagit Trout Max in 225gr and looped on 10' of T-8 and one of my cone head tube flies and went to work! Snap T, swing into the D-loop and gave a pull on the lower hand and away it went as if it was in autopilot. It felt right from the first cast!

Shown with the New RIO Powerflex Max .024"
What's that hiding in the background!

For this rig I chose a Sage 4650 fly reel. I loaded it with 100yds of gel spun backing, spooled on a RIO Gripshooter line in 25# and looped that to the Skagit Max Trout 225gr head. The 4650 five weight reel had plenty of room for the trout size spey lines and with it's lightweight feel, precision sealed disc drag and a audible clicker is a great compliment to the overall trout spey outfit.

RIO Skagit Max Trout Head measuring at eleven foot is the shortest of any skagits I know. When I first tested these heads I had some trouble holding anchor points. I found them more useful on single hand rods for one handed spey cast. Figuring the short length of 2109 I felt that I should give the little skagit a try. I am a bit surprised at how well a 225gr matched up. I really like the shortness of these heads because they allow you to strip in closer. Yes, I swing flies but I also do a lot of swing/strip and many days that's the method the fish want.

Line It Up

I tested OPST Commando Heads in 225gr and the new Airflo Skagit Scout in 210gr. Both heads performed very well. I feel the 2109 just has a great progressive load that allows it to work well over a wide range of skagits. I see on the internet some guys really like this rod all the way down to OPST Commando 175gr. I haven't tried that yet but no reason why I won't in the future. Point is this rod is not picky so choose your preference but a great starting point would be the OPST 225gr.

Soon I will be testing some scandi's on 2109 as well as 3110. As of writing this I am in winter mode and that means staying active, swinging streamers and hunting for aggressive trout. The anticipation is what keeps me warm on cold winter days.

Some will question my sanity claiming I have found the ultimate Trout Spey and it happens to be this little guy 2109. Truth is the entire Sage ONE Trout Series is incredible and if your water calls for bigger, more powerful and longer sticks then by all means step up. The 3110 sibling is super sweet a very capable player of all things trout. The 4116 feels a tad faster and while it handles a skagit with authority it is also "and" still my personal favorite scandi stick for bug sipping season.

If trout are in your perimeter reach and you haven't pick up a two hand trout spey yet then all I got to ask is "Why Not?" The gear is so good, we have all the lines we need, and the TUG CAN"T BE BEAT!

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Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Winter Troutin' 2016

Ice on my rod guides and Trout in my hand, Priceless!

Why do I do it? I can give a dozen reasons not to do it like frozen guides, icy cold water, lethargic fish, frozen reels, numb hands, frozen snot and the list goes on. Now clear your mind for a minute and focus on the fishing. You're in a stream with no one else around. The air is crisp and clean. The sounds you hear other than your own can only be of nature. The fish that eat are the strongest in their environment. Just like you, they're not lying around being lazy. Just like you, winter trout have learn to embraced the cold and strive to live a life of solitude and peace even when it would just be easier to rest back in deep holes and sip on midge larvae all winter.

Those words are as much to encourage myself as they are to encourage others. You see I don't need another excuse to not go winter troutin' but when I put it all aside and finally get to release a strong beautiful fish like the one in the picture all of the excuses to not do it are erased.

How to do it

coffee break

I set out on this cold winters day to float about 5 miles of river in my Outcast Stealth Pro. I especially like to float this time of year. It's so much easier to cover water this way instead of trying to access everything on foot. Snow, mud and ice on foot makes trekking very treacherous. It's much easier to float plus I get to cover a lot of water. I'm only looking for the most active eager fish and I find them in current on seams where the water is alive and oxygenated.

On this day I had three rods with me. That's another advantage of floating, you can carry multiple rods.  My tried and true Winston BIIIX 4110-4 Microspey with a Bauer CFX #4 Trout spey reel. I loaded it with the Airflo Switch Streamer line of 330gr and 10 foot of T-7 Sink Tip. I must confess I modified the Airflo line. Everything is perfect about this line except the abnormally large running line part of it. I couldn't take no more so I chopped it at the back side of the head and applied a RIO Braided loop so I could connect it to RIO SlickShooter mono shooting line. I'm not suggesting everyone should do this. Try it first and you might be fine with it. I made it through last year fishing it but winter freezing temps finally made me give up on it. Too thick to work in icy guides and shooting lines such as mono are much better for this cold weather fishing.

Peregrine Falcon

My next outfit is the new Sage ONE 3110-4 Trout Spey coupled with a Lamson Litespeed #3 reel and the RIO Intouch Switch Chucker #3. The Sage rod feels great! I'll be doing a full review on it in the near future once I've had a chance to fish it some more with some different lines and heads. Right away this grip on the Sage feels so great...It just fits me and the rod balances perfect. What I didn't like on this day was the Switch Chucker. I just don't get this line. It just doesn't turn over for me easy. Maybe it's me or maybe I expect too much from it. I started out with 8 foot of T-7 sink tip but backed off to a 10 foot fast sinking polyleader. It still seamed difficult to turn over.  Maybe it needs a 5 foot polyleader or just a regular leader. I will fish the Sage rod again soon with the RIO Skagit Trout Max heads and also try my favorite scandi the RIO Scandi Short VersiTip. I wished I had the VersiTip with me this day. It would have been ideal for some of the slower riffles that were holding fish. The sink tips I was fishing were too much for them.

Mr Brown hammered a streamer in icy cold water

My third outfit was a 9' 7wt unnamed rod let's consider it a prototype coupled with a Bauer CFX #4 Trout Spey reel. For lines I had a RIO 0.024" Powerflex shooting line looped to a OPST 225gr. Commando head and 8 foot of T-7 Sink tip. I can't begin to describe how fun this setup is. Just think about what you want to achieve and do it. Roll cast like a dream, overheads easy and spey is just too fun. Set you anchor and let it rip or perform a touch and go cast. These super short commando heads bring life to single hand rods in ways that one should not overlook. I found myself fishing small micro seams that I used to pass over because my two hand rods were just to much for these little pockets. With OPST Commando heads or the RIO Skagit Trout Max heads I am now seeing new water to fish and it's paying off. The trout on the top of the page came on this outfit on a micro seam.

Towards the end of my float is a long great swing run. Another advantage of floating is I was able to set up on the opposite side of the river of were it could be foot accessed. A nymph angler was across the way so I stayed clear of him. I was backed up tight to the bank and needed to Snap T cast to set up my swing. A minute later the nymph guy yelled down and said "Nice Snap T!" I yelled back and said you are the first person on this river to know what that is. I went on and caught a couple and he also caught a couple. When I left I rowed my boat across river and up the back eddy to the guy. Got out and chatted. Yep he lived in the NW and had been spey fishing for 20 years on the peninsula and BC. He continued to fish as we chatted and I couldn't help noticing the double spey he was doing with his single hand nymph rod setup. The only reason I bring this up is that it doesn't matter what technique you're doing out there anyone can benefit from some two hand techniques. After watching him perform endless double speys I had no reason to doubt any word he spoke of his steelhead experiences. He wasn't thinking about what he was doing, he was just doing it.

So back to the question "Why do I do it?"
 I think the answer to that is somewhere in this article

More articles like this one in Trout Spey Chronicles

Greg Darling 

Gorge Fly Shop Internet Sales Manager | Product Specialist

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

Fishing Big Alaska Bows with Sage ONE Trout Speys

LEFT: Scott O donnell - the "O" in MOW...mccune odonnell ward = MOW4
RIGHT: Ted Larsen - AZ Cards

A week at Royal Wolf Lodge
All spring I looked forward to a return to Royal Wolf Lodge in Alaska—fly fishing for rainbows, char and grayling with dries, streamers and mice. With a lower snow pack this year and the weather gods smiling, June 26 to July 3 was shaping up to be epic. Flying out to a different river each day and fishing like a rock star would be fun and engaging.

Sage has two new “Baby Speys” a 2 and 3 weight. Both are in the Sage ONE series of Switch rods at 10’6” and 11’. They relate to singlehanded rods in the 4-6 line weight range. It was my good fortune to fish with the 3 wt prototype this week, along with my ONE 4116-4 and 5116-4. Fishing with “live ammo” like cone headed leeches, sculpins, and mice for wild trout is the best way to learn what these three rods were about.

All three rods were fished with the Rio Skagit Short heads with sinking and floating tips. The running line was the OPST Lazer line, which is made in smaller diameters that match up well with the lighter heads. (I did not have access to the new Rio Skagit Trout Max 11’ heads.) Guidelines for head weights are #3, 275-300; #4, 325-350; and #5, 375-400 grains.

Fun, Fun Fun!

Reward

These are not toys or rods for kids. They are very efficient fly rods that make effortless, precise casts. One afternoon we floated and fished mice mostly from the boat. I fished the 4 wt with ridiculous ease. With a larger trout on, like the size of summer steelhead, it was BENT, but not overpowered. To cast any of these rods, you do not need to change your casting stroke, but just listen to that little voice that says “sloooow the %&#! down”. The sheer number of fishing casts made in a broad range of water, various flies, wind, along with near constant action made for relaxed fishing with no conscious thoughts about the mechanics or the tools. After awhile I forgot what rod I was fishing. You look at a spot and it goes there.

The typical single-handed line up for Alaska trout fishing is 5, 6 and 7 weights, fished with a floater and a sink tip or two. The two types of rods complemented each other well. The Sage Circa 589-4 was by far the best and most fun dry fly rod.


Royal Wolf is one of the top fly-out lodges in Alaska. Their staff of very experienced guides, pilots and chefs make for an extraordinary week.

Jerry Swanson

Fish Head Expeditions

"Fly Fish the World with Us"

New from Sage - ONE Trout Spey

ONE Trout Spey = Ultra Light Two Hand Rods specifically for trout chasers

Sage ONE Trout Spey

The ONE Trout Spey rods are designed specifically for two-handed casting and swinging flies for trout. These ultra-light Spey rods are delicate enough to protect small flies on light tippets yet are powerful enough to cast modestly weighted streamers on light sink tips. The Super Plus cork mini-Spey fore and rear grip complete these two models. These ONE models will retail for $1050 and will be available August 2015. 

“Anglers looking for ultra-light rods and rods made specifically for chasing trout with a Spey rod, now have the just that in the world-class design of the ONE rod family,” says Sage chief rod designer, Jerry Siem.

Sage builds on its successful ONE family of fly rods with the addition of the LITTLE ONE and the ONE Trout Spey. Both new rod families utilize Konnetic Technology®, Sage’s exclusive rod technology that allows for slimmer blank profiles with maximized strength and energy transfer without sacrificing line speed, responsiveness, and accuracy.

Notes From George Cook

The new One Trout Spey features the One Rod Story-line bringing premium performance through the Konnetic platform to the Small Spey World (2109-4, 3110-4).  We recently had the good fortune to put the 3110-4 to the test on Alaska’s Kenai River taking rainbows to 22”.  These rods are perfectly matched with RIO’s Skagit MAX Short (Swing Game), small sized Switch Chucker’s, along with the brand new specialized Skagit Trout Max (Some Swing Mostly Streamer Strip), and Small Scandi Tapers.  Whether you find yourself swinging a soft hackle on the Deschutes or Madison, a fall quest for Sea run Cutthroat in the Pacific Northwest or swinging streamers for Trout both near and far you have your tool in the ONE Trout Spey.

New from Sage - "LITTLE ONE"

Sage LITTLE ONE  = Ultra Light Rods specifically for trout chasers

The LITTLE ONE couples the light blank with an ultra-light, custom anodized, up-locking reel seat and compact snub-nose, half-wells cork handle. This attention to detail offers anglers an ultra-light feel and ultra-light action from tip to butt. This family will retail for $850 and will be available in August 2015.

Sage builds on its successful ONE family of fly rods with the addition of the LITTLE ONE and the ONE Trout Spey. Both new rod families utilize Konnetic Technology®, Sage’s exclusive rod technology that allows for slimmer blank profiles with maximized strength and energy transfer without sacrificing line speed, responsiveness, and accuracy.

Sage LITTLE ONE

Notes from George Cook
The SAGE TXL-f series has come to a close, with this end comes a new beginning here in the form of, “The New Little Ones” with 5 models featuring an 8’2” length in 0-4 weight.  The big news here is that this small ball collection is built on the Konnetic technology platform and like its big brother, the ONE series provides un-paralleled accuracy and line control.  That feeling found in the world’s most accurate fly rod now is found in the delightful “Little Ones.”-