Sage Graphite III 14ft #9 - a question?

[John Keane]

Sage Graphite III 14ft #9 4-piece - a question?

Is this one of the family of rods known affectionately as “brownies”?

I have a soft spot for Sage Graphite 3 as it was the first Sage trout rod I ever owned and I’d like to ask if this 14ft 4-piece model is a good match for lines like Rio Scandi Versitip #9 and Short Head Spey #9/10?

At the moment my main rod is a 14ft #9 Greys X-Flite which works well with these lines so would the Sage be a step-up in performance, as well as quality?


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[longchuck]

Traditional action rod the graphite 111,well suited to most lines but likes short or mid spey

 

[longchuck]

Should have mentioned the sage graphite 111 will throw heads as well.the rod likes the casting tempo slowed down to get the best from it

 

[John Keane]

I am veering toward the Sage (from Jet Sintrix & Opti Power Spey) as I mainly fish the Welsh Dee in Summer and the Spey, at Pitchroy, in May. I believe it may only weigh in at less than 8oz too?

I believe these brown rods have something of a cult status (or is that the older 3-piece jobbies?)

 

[skyhook]

I've a Sage European Fast Action IV green blank 12 6" 8 #, which was the same tapers as the Sage Brownies. I believe the blank was designed by Gorran Anderson and does have a cult following in the states who love it for the Skagit style casting. Great rods IMHO and way ahead of their times.

 

[John Keane]

I've a Sage European Fast Action IV green blank 12 6" 8 #, which was the same tapers as the Sage Brownies. I believe the blank was designed by Gorran Anderson and does have a cult following in the states who love it for the Skagit style casting. Great rods IMHO and way ahead of their times.

I’ve looked at the 14’1” European but posters on here said it feels heavy in the hand (despite being a great rod) and at 9oz+ is 2oz heavier than the Graphite III. As the only one I’ve seen is listed at £380 I think I’ll pass. However the rod you describe sounds like a good option for Skagit lines. I fished with a mate’s 12’9” Oracle Skagit and #8 Switch Chucker last week and found that a good outfit.

 

[wetwader]

Hi John,
the Sage doublehanders G III in 3—piece were designed by Göran Andersson, respectively he was involved into rod design. Only those brown colored 3—piece models had a relationship to GA, called „Brownies“.
They were very very good doublehanders — those days — and even a long time for Sage ...

The cult following was not caused only by one reason. One of the main reasons was the combination of one of those days best available material and the influences of GA to build a rod for his casting style. Many people those days in Scandinavia and USA were casting mainly overhead.
A rod for Scandinavian style, built by those times biggest company was highly welcomed.
Later on, more companies were founded and built great rods.
The times of confusions in choosing a rod simply came much later. The Brownies were first.
For Sage it needed a little time after them, to do a real step, for me at least to the TCX series.
But what to do, if you are a ”Sage boy”? You keep the Brownies up, even when there are better rods out there.
After all a cult was born.
And of course, it’s amazing, how Sage is managing to keep spare parts in stock or is willing to produce spare parts over this long time ! Fully respected !
Of course the cult could go on and grow over a very long time with those rods and the owners being served by Sage...
No more spare parts for good rods of other labels, no cult or short cult...

So in the end, there are always some reasons for a cult.

I owned the Brownies. But time went on and there came a lot of better rods with the years, for my taste. The tastes are different and I have some friends still using their Brownies.
If you want to experience, how different Göran Andersson himself is designing his newest series of rods nowadays, cast a Brownie and one of his newer GASS rods side by side.
The preference of some people using the Brownies for Skagit use now is also self explaining.
It depends on what we want.

Good luck!

 

[skyhook]

I’ve looked at the 14’1” European but posters on here said it feels heavy in the hand (despite being a great rod) and at 9oz+ is 2oz heavier than the Graphite III. As the only one I’ve seen is listed at £380 I think I’ll pass. However the rod you describe sounds like a good option for Skagit lines. I fished with a mate’s 12’9” Oracle Skagit and #8 Switch Chucker last week and found that a good outfit.

Go on to Spey Pages there is loads of topics on the brownies and European version. They have the same tapers that's for sure. I have the TCX in the same size and have the switch roof too. The TCX is more tippy with a stiffer butt section, but wouldn't say it's ultra fast action. The TCX 12 6" 8# was labelled the "Death Star" and it has grown a cult following by the steel headers. The 2nd hand rods sell like hot cakes. The Sage warranty is the best out there.

 

[Findhorn Conehead]

Sage tcx

Go on to Spey Pages there is loads of topics on the brownies and European version. They have the same tapers that's for sure. I have the TCX in the same size and have the switch roof too. The TCX is more tippy with a stiffer butt section, but wouldn't say it's ultra fast action. The TCX 12 6" 8# was labelled the "Death Star" and it has grown a cult following by the steel headers. The 2nd hand rods sell like hot cakes. The Sage warranty is the best out there.

The TCX 12ft 6" rod called the death star is a 7# weight and I agree entirely that it is not ultra fast. It's a lovely rod, I still have mine and very different from the x series which I also rate highly.

Conehead

 

[skyhook]

The TCX 12ft 6" rod called the death star is a 7# weight and I agree entirely that it is not ultra fast. It's a lovely rod, I still have mine and very different from the x series which I also rate highly.

Conehead

Yes I stand corrected it is a 7# indeed, altnough it's more an 8# in my eyes. What x series have you got?

 

[Findhorn Conehead]

Yes I stand corrected it is a 7# indeed, altnough it's more an 8# in my eyes. What x series have you got?

That's something I've heard before about the tcx being more of an eight than a seven. My view is that it's a seven that has no problems with heavier lines. My favourite line is a 6/7 Rio short head Spey.

With regards to the X series, I have two 13 footers..the 7&8 and the 15ft 10#. Very light and with a stiff tips these rods are lovely to cast as they flex much further down the blank. The Sage ONE series, again really nice seem to fit somewhere between the X and the tcx.
Sorry to the O.P if I appear to be dragging this thread of track.
Conehead

 

[fishpond]

The three piece Glll rods were game changers at the time being very light but also quite a few got broken as folk were still using DT lines and brass tubes and they were quite fragile compared to hardy and b&w rods then and sage rods now. I fished with 14' #10 and 14'#9 which were both good but the Scandinavians were very keen on the 12'6" #9 I think.
Not sure if you can still get spares for any of them any more

Tight lines

Richard

 

[wetwader]

The TCX 7126 was very good. A real Scandi rod for my taste, like some others out of this series, but not all out of the TCX series. And not at all ultra fast as described by Sage. Progressive action, lively but reliable tip, strong butt section. It is more a medium #8 than a #7. The best Scandi rod built by Sage in my opinion and also some of the best switch rods.
Very different to the singlehanded rods.
Only to be compared to the Brownie 9126 in 3-piece, which was really very popular in Scandinavia as mentioned by fishpond:
The original Brownie was not Graphite III material. But it had a very nice and easy casting taper. Easy loading and very forgiving for limited backroom on many rivers and places.
I kept this as last one after I gave all other Brownies away.
It was casting the same weights as the TCX 7126 and was less powerful, only to see the differences and uselessness in rod classification.
One also had to like the old shapes and geometry of the handles of the Brownies, after the much more suitable ones of modern rods. Some took them off or built them custom made for better comfort.
After only some casts with the first LPXe 3-piece I didn’t give it much use.
So after many years I gave it to a cult follower, a friend of mine who is still using it. He already had my 9140 Brownie and my Loomis GLX classic 13’. A real cult follower?... fishing for salmons only on short trips...