Sage Vantage Review

[stlfisher]

I recently bought a 9ft 7wt Sage Vantage from Craig at Hargroves and I am very happy with the rod. It cast nice has enough backbone to through some weight and handle some bigger fish. Doubling hauling is a breeze. After using this rod I have to say I much prefer the medium fast action as opposed to the fast action on my 5 weight. It is not one of the higher priced models, but for $225 it seems like a good value to me.

The only dissapoint is the reel I bought was crap. It was a cheapy, so I am gonna need to upgrade that, but overall the setup has performed really well and it is very easy to feel the rod load.

I would certianly recommend the Vantage for anyone looking in that price range.

[Geoff]

I will second this. I bought a 9' 8wt about a month ago from Hargrove's and its a wonderful rod. i have broke it in on a couple of big carp already this year too and Im very pleased with its big fish fighting ability ( multiple 26" carp ). Its not nearly as beastly as the TCX rod I have from them but it sure will throw some line. For the price , $255 for 9ft 4 piece, its a great rod. I am a firm believer of the Sage rods now.

Tell you what, if Cabelas still has it in the bargin cave, go buy the Sage Freshwater line they are clearancing out for 29 bucks. I have some on mine and its will shoot 50-60ft of line out no problem. I almost wish I would have gone to the 9wt instead of the 8 but oh well, a 10 will be my next rod.

What reel did you buy? I have a Sage 1680 and the only thing I dont like about it with this rod is that the reel is black and the reel seat is a nice pretty titanium anodized finish, so the reel is going to go off to my paint booth and get a silver finish to better match.

[stlfisher]

I bought a Grey's reel...I will have to check and see what model, but it was a real cheapy....$40 buck maybe...so i got what i paid for. I will need to upgrade that shortly. Thanks for the info regarding the Sage freshwarter line. Heading to the Cabela's site to see if it is still in the bargain cave.