This rod has been on my work bench for quite some time. My customer asked me to convert this old custom-built spinning rod to a short fly rod. This 5'9'' fiberglass blank comes from the early production years of Sage. I have a soft spot for the old brown Sage rods, and have handled several of them over the years. But this little midge rod stands out as something truly unique, and I'm very happy with the outcome. The rod was finished with an offset cork seat with aluminum skeleton, and a 5.5'' straight Ritz. Light snake guides and chestnut silk with NCP beige tippings, very close to the original color scheme.

Thanks for looking,
Christian

way to cool!

Excellent!

Interesting blend of a vintage blank with modern reel seat.

Thanks everyone.

I did a line test before sending out to customer. This is a fast, tip action taper which starts to sing with a DT6/WF7. That’s a rather heavy line weight for a 5’9” blank, which makes this rod quite specialized and ”assymetrical”. Nice caster though, throwing tight loops with minor tip bounce.

That would have been a fun rod to cast!

Nicely done.

As usual, beautifully done Chris!

Beautiful!

Thanks! It’s mostly ergonomy and balance. It allows the hand to move back seamlessly, and moves the reel in a better position under the hand. I want to reduce the swing weight that comes from the weight of the reel. This gets even more important on really short rods. At least in theory.

But the most striking thing is the improved ergonomy with a seamless transition between grip and reel seat.

Love this !