Heard A Dirty Rumor About The Sage One...

Two handers will be available in July.

They'll have a 4wt switch in the line up along with the other typical configurations.

I guess I can begin drooling now and thinking up some damn good reasons why I need another rod?

Bring money.

Hermaphrodite those switch rods are....hermaphrodites

The marketing folks salivate over guys like you

I'm thrilled to think we may have more choices for light weight switches in the near future. I had a blast fishing switch rods for coho and chum last year, a light but fast action switch for sea runs and resident coho is on my wish list.

Hey Jess..

You better prepare to shell out a thousand buck for one.. I doubt you going to do that. You probably wait till five years later for their close out..lol

There isn't much call for Spey rods or Switch rods here in Montana. They don't seem to push them in any of the fly shops I go to. I have even asked about them here. No need for one I was told.

Not sure there's that much call for them here either Jim. Seems like guys prefer to spend money on new bling rather than casting lessons. It's great for the shops though and I'm thankful for that. Our streams are brushier so I know an argument can be made there. I've pretty much gone back to SH because I favor the simplicity and giving the fish a break.
Killjoy

We are taking deposits for the new Sage One two handed rods right now!! Don't be left out of the greatest innovation in casting tools.
Cash, check pay pay or credit cards accepted.. We have open phone lines and operators on hand to accept your reservation.
jesse

For those of you skeptical of switch rods…
Short of nymphing from a boat (and an argument can be made here as well). There is no stream or river application that a switch rod doesn’t perform better at than a 10’ single hander used to. Easily our two most popular rods are a 9’ 5 weight (for trout) and a 7 weight switch rod (for Steelhead and Salmon). For anadromous fish, switch rods outsell the traditional 10’ 8 weight by about 10-1 in our store.
I can’t think of a type of rod that is more suited for the fishing that we do in our area. With a 6 or 7 weight switch rod, you can have what I believe to be the best tool for nymphing Salmon/Steelhead, an excellent rod for swinging all but the largest of flies and a fantastic beach option. You will have to use different lines to do each of these very different techniques well, but the rod is incredibly versatile.
I generally have my choice of rods. If you look at the first 8 fish in my gallery: http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=1577
ALL were caught on a switch rod.
Like all tools, they have application and limitation. I still vastly prefer saltwater fishing from a boat or flats fishing with a 9’ rod. Or dry fly fishing for trout, likewise, I would prefer a shorter rod but, they are far from a marketing gimmick.
By the way, the ONE is 11'6" and extremely light.

Switch rods are straight up "the shit". That's my poetry for the day.

There's nothing better than nymphing from a boat with a switch rod. You have much more of an ability to set the hook, mend much easier, and also roll cast about 4 feet further out than a SH. Also - if you line up a switch with a speydicator or rio switch line (both are great IMO) then you have a tool that can also spey cast an indicator rig into seams that were unreacheable beforehand. Both of those switch lines will out float a rio gold any day. I've used both extensively.

Now - I know there is an entire demographic of puckered purist a-holes that are squirming in their seats as I'm describing this. But, unless you're throwing a silk lined bamboo rod, I just don't want to hear it! "I don't use bobbers, I only high stick nymph 4 feet out for 5 foot drifts". Awwwwesome buddy. Are you also riding to the river on an english saddle and tying your flies with the use of your granpappy's monocle? Or, did you swallow your pride and secretly use one of those fancy ass combustion engines to get there? </rant>

Switch rods are also magical wands of mystery for dry flies. I was using a buddy's echo 4wt tossing skwalas on the yakima last weekend. A reach cast with a light switch rod is an almost unfair advantage. I was blown away by the accuracy, consistently hitting that magic 3" from the grass mark with perfect J mends that the fish found irresistible.

The exciting thing about the ONE series is that they are incredibly light and responsive rods. It's a beautiful marriage between a deep flex and fast accuracy in my opinion. The 8wt single hander feels like my 5wt zaxis. It's a joke. If you don't believe me then swing into a shop and compare them side by side. That type of performance in that light of a rod is going to be amazing.

All that being said I wont buy one until they show up used on the classifieds. (sorry mumbles). I don't buy new cars or new fly rods. I can't stomach depreciation just to be the first on the river with a new rod. My 611 zaxis will be just fine until I find someone with a meth addiction and a new ONE to sell.

Pacific Fly Fishers has the complete lineup with prices on their web site and a June 19th release. I already have my 6wt spey coming.

Surely you're talking about Jim here. I'm just the pompous asshole in the peanut gallery lobbing gas on the fire.

Having never tried a switch, I should have kept my ill advised opinion to myself. I'm sure the switch rod has many applications and I might enjoy using it someday. Even curmudgeons Arnie and Jack have abandoned persimmon for fat headed plutonium drivers. But I do believe many would be better served learning technique rather than constantly chasing the next best thing, trying to buy prowess. And, I like simple. That's enough.

my ranting wasn't directed at anyone in particular if it was - I would've called it out.

In many places, like the Deschutes, in order to bobber fish from a boat you need a handicapped placard. Same with using a casting bubble (i.e. bobber) in fly fish only waters. So go ahead and think about that. Switch rods are great but I'm not sure any rod makes bobber fishing from a boat easier than it already it is.

That's because you can't fish from a boat period on that river. I actually think that's one of the reasons it's such a great fishery. That being said. It would be pretty damn difficult for a handicapped guy to get in and out and in and out of a drift boat all day.

Nothing wrong with simple. I'll only say that out of pure necessity, I spent years learning to spey cast with a single hander in order to deal with the brushy and crowded conditions here in SWW. A backcast on the Kalama mid-july is likely to earn you a fist from any number of drunken trailer-park tourists or egg-lobbing chew-dribblers. The first time I grabbed a switch rod, the technique I'd spent years struggling to learn suddenly had the right tool. So for a lot of us, the technique is very important, and the rods are the culmination that technique.