The XP line of rod blanks are Sage's fastest action blanks. Though they are not excessively powerful for a given line size, they do have a good reserve of power enabling a great range of casting distances. I find the XP blanks will cast about 10% farther than the SLT series blanks, yet have soft enough tips to perform quite well in close. The blanks are a deep olive color and I complement that with deep green wraps and tan trim. Of course I use my finest components and cork with all my Sage blank rods. As you can see above, I've used a Bob Venneri nickel silver up locking reel seat with birds eye maple insert on this particular rod. I love the maple that Bob sends me. It ranges from birds eye to curly and spaulted to deep burls. Every insert is different. I use the large diameter uplock on five and six weight rods and the small diameter uplock on lighter rods. On heavy XP rods I use the Struble U6 seat shown on the Saltwater Rods page.

Bob machines knurled winding checks for me from the same nickel silver he uses with his reel seats. The knurl is of the same form as on the seats. I always use hook keepers with my rods unless customers ask me to leave them off. I like the double butt wrap that a winding check requires.

Mary Lu does the writing on the rods. She mixes her inks to match the trim wrap color. You can see that my epoxy work is always uniform and smooth.

I use only Pacific Bay snake guides and ceramic insert strippers. I feel they have the best guides available and can guarantee they will last for the life of the rod. I prefer standard chrome plated snakes. I don't much like the fancy colored plating currently used by some companies. The plating doesn't last well and can become quite unattractive where the line wears it off. Industrial chrome plating over stainless steel is state of the industry and is regarded as the most durable guide material available. On Sage blank rods up through six weights, I use fine wire snakes. They are quite light and very slick, allowing the line to shoot through like nothing else. I'm not much in favor of single foot snakes. They are quite fragile and the hole sizes are not as large as I would like. If a customer wants them I will use them but regard them as a rather poor choice.

Mary Lu sews the rod bags. We think they are the finest bags in the industry. The material is velour, a tough, velvet like material that sews wonderfully and provides good protection for the rod inside its aluminum case. I sell all my rods in aluminum cases. No cordura covered plastic tubes for my rods. Here you can see the rod and bag combination. Note the nice embroidery stitching at the top. Our bags are fold over bags that are made a couple inches longer than the rod. The foldover top keeps the rod sections from working out of the bag and rubbing against the inside of the aluminum case. Just another little detail that makes our rods very special.

I hope you will give my rods some thought. I think you will be very impressed with the quality and the performance. Just remember that Mary Lu and I have lived several days with each of our rods. They are really an extension of us.