5wt Sage Method vs Sage TCR. sort of review and shoot out

[Doug Gasmier]

This is going to be a sort of review but also a plug for service from our local shops.

As some of you might have heard, I lost my beloved TCR 5wt a couple of weeks ago on the field day.

I put it on the roof of the prado while packing up and forgot to put it away.... It is now resting in pieces somewhere between Waroona and Pinjarra.

The method.
Courtesy of Rohan, Mr Bell and those wonderful people at Bluewater tackle who took pity upon me and immediately had a 20% sale, I replaced the TCR with the new Sage Method.

Rohan was very helpful with recommendations and service when I purchased the rod and the reel.

It was taken to the casting day and I have now had it couple of weeks. I am starting to get an idea about how it handles.

The TCR
Then on friday, Gavin gave me the heads up that there was a TCR 5 wt sitting at Flyworld.

I called Chris and organised to check it out on the Saturday morning.

The rod was basically brand new. The reel seat and fittings have no corrosion and probably have not seen water at all. The wood of the reel seat has no scratches on it. The handle is clean and the ferrules of the rod have no scratches upon them. The rod is basically in as new condition.

The TCR was a "secondhand" rod. The original owner had bought it and used it for a while. The rod had got corrosion under the guides and it was sent back to sage.

The owner was hoping to get a newer model but sage just built him a new tcr. As he was over the TCR hype he kept it for a while then put it up for sale by Chris.

The comparison: Appearance
So now I have two brand new rods. As they are basically built for the same purpose it is interesting to do a comparison.

Firstly they are both coloured red. The TCR is a darker red and the Method is something called "magma red" I think the sage marketing department had a few "red" wines thinking that one up.

The TCR is slightly heavier at 3 3/8 ounces and the Method is 2 5/8 ounces. The TCR is still the stiffer rod. It will probably the be the most brutally stiff 5wt ever made.

The reel seat on the Method is colored black while the TCR is coloured nickel silver. The TCR does look at

The Comparison: Casting.
As both are fast action rods they are difficult to cast. It takes a while to get the timing right and you really need to practice casting on dry land.

The TCR 5wt is notorious for being very difficult to cast and you have to practice a lot to get the timing right. Then you have to fish a lot to get the timing right when you put a fly on the end of the line. Simply putting a fly on the line changes how the line casts.

The TCR is also a very picky rod for the flyline running through it. I found the line that cast best was the rio gold. But the Scientific anglers GPX fished better with the rod as it casted flies better.

My experience with my old rod was that, if you persisted using it, after a while you casting improved and you could cast effortlessly with it all day. The TCR interestingly could cast smaller clousers and bead head nymphs very easily.

My old TCR caught more bream than trout. Sage should have made the TCR as a saltwater rod. The Method has the same fault. It is set up as freshwater rod when it would be better set up as a saltwater rod.

The new Sage method is a slightly easier rod to use than the TCR. Again the best line for distance on dry land is the Rio gold. I have also tried the Rio grand but the method was casting the Rio gold with more energy. It was harder to make the Rio Grand cast long distances through both rods.

The Method appears to cast the full flyline easier than the TCR. However when you get the timing right when casting, the TCR can still beat the Method. The Method is definitely an easier rod to cast and there is an improvement in that respect over the TCR.

My only gripe is that it should be set up as a light saltwater rod.

Finally Sage has a higher end model called the Sage Method elite. This is an excuse for Sage to charge you nearly twice as much for a rod with more blingy real seat and an extra tip. I asked Rohan the price and he said it was about $1600. The prices are going up so I expect it to be more in the future.

The Price of the "normal" method is about $879. So $1600 for the Method "elite" is just taking the piss. Go with the "normal" method and use the money buy a reel and line to match it.

[Rudi]

Cheers Dougie - I have the method 9wt which took me a while to get used to but now I can't get enough Defnitly cast a bit better with a slightly heavier line like a Rio Outbound 9wt line casting is also very much with the tip of the rod compated to my Xi3 and One.

[Doug Gasmier]

I won't be upgrading the 9wt tcx anytime soon. That is such a good rod it doesn't need to be upgraded. It is supposed to be the best of the TCX range.

I would be interested in comparing how the method casts to it though.

[Rgg]

Good summary, I am glad you got a tcr back. I have a range of tcrs from 4 weight all the way through to 10 weight. The only rod I have found that goes close to matching their casting is a one piece hardy and they are quite special rods. I had Rohan replace the stripping guides on all my saltwater tcrs, a bigger stripping guide has helped. I have never understood why sage persist with those guides. Might be interesting to put the hardy one piece, the method, tcx and tcr next to each other and compare the casting.

[Doug Gasmier]

I find that really the only way to compare rods is to cast one then take the reel off and put it on the next rod then cast it. Even then that is not a perfect comparison

The unspoken secret that all rod manufacturers in their marketing don't mention is how much the line running through the rod makes a significant difference to its performance.

A good line or one that matches the rod can make a cheap rod perform like a rocket. Vice versa a bad line or poorly matching line with a expensive rod will make it perform badly.