Every once in a while a new fly rod comes out that stands out to me. There are many, Many great options out there, so it takes some stand out elements for a new stick to be entered into my arsenal of guide rods.
First and foremost, the rods we provide on our guided trips have very distinct applications in mind so all the rods we fish are filtered through that lense. I wanted to add another powerful 4 weight into the lineup for this Summers trout fishing so I gave the Sonic a serious look over, and ultimately, grabbed one. Now, after a few weeks of fishing it, here’s what i’ve found…
First Impressions
It’s a good looking fly rod, classic Sage. Great cork, nice color and thread wraps.
First casting impressions and Lines for the Sonic
It’s a powerful rod, classic Sage. I loaded it up with an Airflo wf 5 and it’s just about right. I could see stepping down a little to a 4.5 for more general applications or for the angler that casts longer distances with smaller dry flies. I could also see running a straight 4 for advanced casters who do not need a lot grains to get the feedback they need for good casting. With a 5 wt line on there, the rod loads up with a short amount of line out the tip and feels really good in the mid range. The 5wt line engages more of the rod to get more power from the blank but doesn’t crush the action at all.
I love this rods power. It’s got a classic Sage progressive taper, meaning the more you lean on it, the more it bends. You can really control this rod and ask it to play up while still having a really nice light rod in hand. It is fast, it is powerful, it might be a little loo much for some novice casters at first, but line it up a little and it’s really sweet. Line it up slows the rod down a bit too which will suit most anglers out there. You’ll stil get excellent recovery but with all the line speed, accuracy and crispness.
Price and Value
This rod reminds me a whole lot of the Sage ONE. Which is not a bad thing. But at nearly half the price. It features the same Konnetic Technology as the ONE and other Sage Rods I have in the quiver. I’ve found Konnetic Tech rods break less then some others which is huge plus for me. Keeping sticks on the water and out of the penalty box is super important. I think in the last 5 years I’ve only had a Konnetic rod break once.
What I’ve fished on it
Mostly dry dropper and even dry-dropper-dropper. I fished some indo rigs and have even had a chance to use it for a few dry fly sessions when our Native Redbands were sipping BWO duns. The Rod shines in all of these applications. It was super accurate for the dry fly fishing and delivered nice, snappy mends once your flys were on the water. There is plenty of power in the rod to push the boundaries of fly size and I did. I tried some Golden Stone drys with large dropper flys pre hatch and the rod had no issues what so ever. You can almost think of this rod as a 4.5 with regards to what it can do. Love it.
Conclusion
It’s a fantastic fast, powerful 4wt from Sage. I expect this rod is going to see tons of use by my clients and be a favorite this spring and summer on our local waters.
