Author Topic: Sage ESN - 10' 3wt Fished and Reviewed (Read 2612 times)

Arron Varga · « **on:** August 14, 2011, 05:54:19 PM »

This weekend I was lucky enough to get my hands on the new Sage ESN 10’ 3wt rod and put it through its paces on my local river.

ESN stands for “European Style Nymphing” and this is Sage’s first rod designed specifically for French, Spanish and Czech nymphing. I am not going to bore you with all of its stats, you can go to the sage site for that but, it uses Sage’s new Konnetic technology.

First off, it is a nice looking rod with a forest green blank and dark green wraps, typical of the high-end fit and finish on a Sage rod. My first impression of the rod was just how light it is. It actually took me by surprise and I had to do a quick check to make sure I was not missing a piece of the rod. Compared to my other euro rods this is a feather. Balance was also near perfect.

A good start but how does it cast and fish….

I pulled out one of my mid-length French leaders and tied on two little nymphs and hit the river.

For French nymphing this rod performed amazingly well. Casts were crisp and precise with the nymphs going every time where I wanted them. The rod handled short casts with the leader in my hand or the entire leader out the rod tip, which was 22’, with no problems.

I quickly had my first take and set the hook. It was a small brown, only about 8”, but the rod handled the fish beautifully with no risk of the dreaded bounce. The soft tip kept the fish under control and it was quickly landed and released.

Working up stream I quickly brought another dozen fish to hand with the largest being about 14”. This rod was a blast to fish, handling all of the fish with no problems. The lightness and ease of casting meant my arm was not as tired as it would be going through that stretch of river my other Euro nymphing rods.

Next on the list was Czech nymphing. Tracking on this rod was excellent and again casting, or should I say lobbing, accuracy was great. The soft tip would load under the weight of my nymphs helping with strike detection. Again hooking fish was easy with the soft tip protecting my 6x tippet.

So far this is a top notch nymphing rod but I was in for a surprise when the fish started to rise.

I switched over to an 18’ dry leader with 7x tippet and a size 18 f-fly to see what this rod could do on the top.

The Sage ESN might be a better dry fly rod than a nymphing rod. I was throwing laser tight casts across the river delivering the f-fly with pin point accuracy. What a rod!

To have a rod that can multi-task like this might just make it worth the money.

I spent the rest of the evening popping fish on dries and this rod could handle every type of cast I tried with it, whether it was casting just the leader or 50’ of fly line. My home river is not a big river so no need for casts longer than 50’, but I have a feeling this rod can easily handle longer casts. There is lots of power in the butt section.

After fishing the rod for the weekend the words I would use to describe it are light, crisp, precise, fun.

It was hard to find anything wrong with this rod and my only complaint was when spending this kind of money on a rod it would be nice to have the alignment dots. It’s a small thing but something that bugs me, if other rod manufacturers can do it on a $300 rod then why can’t Sage on a $700 rod?

If I have to rate the rod out of 5 for the various techniques I used:

French Nymphing – 5
Czech Nymphing – 4
Spanish Nymphing – 4
Wet – 4
Dry – 5
Streamer – 4; It can handle small micro streamers but this is a 3 wt rod.
Price – 4

This is a great rod and definitely worth the money as it is one of the lightest and most precise euro nymphing rods I have used and I have been privileged to have access to fish most that are on the market. The Sage ESN compares to, if not beats, the other high end rods on the market and is a class above the current mid range rods that I have tried.

While many of the other rods Euro rods compromise on casting for improved nymphing characteristics, the Sage ESN seems to have found that balance and is as at home presenting dries with a 50’ cast as it is presenting nymphs on a tight line. So not only are you getting a phenomenal nymphing rod, you are also getting exceptional dry fly rod.

I just hope Sage considers adding to its ESN line up an 11’ 3wt.

Bob Lux · « **Reply #1 on:** August 14, 2011, 06:55:13 PM »

Thanks for the review Arron. I was just discussing that rod with somebody yesterday, but we both were concerned with the price tag. Not to say I won't buy it, I already have a few high dollar rods. I think I'll wait to see how the word spreads on this rod before I commit.

Chris Smith · « **Reply #2 on:** August 14, 2011, 07:15:55 PM »

Bill Strickland gave it similar high marks. Looks like another winner for Sage.9

Kalvin Kaloz · « **Reply #3 on:** August 15, 2011, 05:08:24 PM »

Great review! I am excited to give it a try on some European grayling in less than a month!!!

Arron Varga · « **Reply #4 on:** August 15, 2011, 08:53:50 PM »

It is packed and ready for the worlds and our trip to Slovenia and the czech republic.

I might let try it

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #5 on:** March 31, 2012, 06:48:05 PM »

Fished a new (5 times out) ESN this morning on the Farmington after a two inch snowfall last night. With my newly acquired Euro skills (took a class with George Daniel on the 17th) got very lucky today. The ESN easily and in total control handled 5 fish 17 - 20 inches. A great, sensitive rod with a tremendous amount of flex when playing the big fish. Very happy with the rod.

Lance Egan · « **Reply #6 on:** April 01, 2012, 02:14:11 AM »

Arron and Steve,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the Sage ESN. Arron, I couldn't agree more about the ESN as a dry fly rod. As I'm sure most have found out as they try long rods, the extra length helps with many techniques, dries being one of the most affected (positively) by the extra length. I tell people in the shop almost daily about the dry fly fishing application of the ESN's.

Arron, as far as alignment dots go, I don't think it is a cost issue, rather an aesthetic preference. Personally I'm glad they don't add alignment dots as I think they look tacky and I've yet to have any trouble lining up the guides. Alignment dots are for China/Korea made rods

Also of note, as I've held and assembled lots of rods in my working carreer (nearly 18 years of retail fishing experience) often times the provided "alignment dots" aren't straight, so they can do more harm than good. Add to that the fact that there can be advantages to having your guides offset and you can see why I don't see the point. But that is just one man's opinion

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #7 on:** April 01, 2012, 06:17:25 AM »

Follow up to Lance and Steve:

I fished the Farmington yesterday too, but much later in the day. It was a raw day, with a mix of rain/sleet/snow, as Steve said. Perfect day for an olive hatch and boy did they come off in quantity. I nymphed a bunch a fish with my ESN 2-weight, but stepped back and switched to dries (with same rod) during the hatch for a change of pace. I am consistently amazed at how well the ESN casts dry flies, and does so using the same long leader arrangement I use for nymphing. I have a 2mm tippet ring on this leader and simply knotted about 4ft of 5X Stroft ABR to that for a leader. I then attached a size 19 or 21 BWO emerger I tie. This was a killing rig for the heavily-pressured Farmington trout. I even caught fish in completely still water where the dry was static for a long time. I always degrease and "dull" my tippet.

As I always say, the long mono leader pretty much acts like a mono fly line in this situation. I used no standard fly line yesterday, as I didn't need to. I simply waded to within about 30ft and fished the leader. Your dry fly presentations really benefit from this rig.

Thanks again to Lance for recommending this rod to me; he was right on the mark!

PS I caught the same skinny 2011 Survivor Strain 18in brown (left green) yesterday, twice, about 20ft apart, and about 2 hours apart, on the same fly. These fish have a clipped adipose fin.

A few fish (likely wild residents) from the stream, from last week:

20in female (dry dropper with my 496-4 Z-Axis)

21in male (2wt ESN, note the size of the fins)

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #8 on:** April 01, 2012, 02:02:56 PM »

Alain, thanks for the dry fly tips for the ESN. Cannot wait to fish dries with it. It really is a superior rod.

Alex Argyros · « **Reply #9 on:** April 01, 2012, 07:09:51 PM »

Alain,

How does the ESN rod compare to the JMC rod you spoke of in previous posts?

Dave Wiese · « **Reply #10 on:** April 02, 2012, 07:32:46 AM »

I have the 2 and 3wt ESNs and I think they're really great rods. I saved a bunch of $$$ by building my own. The only difficulty I experienced was getting good (not warped) blanks from Sage. It took three tries before they sent a good one to Angler's Workshop so they could ship it to me. In the end I'm more than stisfied at how well these rods perform.

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #11 on:** April 07, 2012, 03:49:47 PM »

Alain, if you don't mind my asking what leader formula do you use with your 3 wt? I am going to the Farmington this Sunday with a curly cue rig. Cannot seem to decide what type off long leader to fish with. Can you help?

I saw the different formula's in George's book however don't know which one to use.

Thanks

Craig Baker · « **Reply #12 on:** April 08, 2012, 11:22:25 PM »

I love my 3wt esn, but I'm not sure how critical balancing the rod is. I have a lamson litespeed 2.0 on it and it balances about an inch or so above the cork. I'm wondering if a slightly heavier reel would be better. Thoughts?

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #13 on:** April 09, 2012, 07:27:28 AM »

Rod balance is a personal preference, to each his own. If your rod balances that far above the cork, you are constantly fighting to keep the tip high when you nymph. This can be quite tiring. You want to try a heavier reel for comparison, or artificially weight the Litespeed. Some people don't mind the tip heavy feeling at all.

If you look at George Anderson's recent four weight shoot out, you will see that swing weight (synonymous with tip heaviness) is the most desirable characteristic they score. If that case, however, they are rating casting rods and not necessarily extended arm tight line methods, although there is some overlap.

I was pleased to see the shoot out rated my TXL-F so high. If you ever cast this rod, you will enjoy the feeling of incredible lightness. This translates to extraordinary feel in the rod. You bet you can dry dropper well with this rod in small streams, in spite of its less than 8ft length.

Regarding leaders, almost any one will do. It is far easier to cast a small dry fly than a weighted nymph, but it is a true cast not a lob. My preference is for a leader with a real taper and there are many options. Lately I am using the Umpqua Power Taper leaders more and more for all around performance. For pure dry fly, I like the Orvis Super Strong and really like the Greys Co-polymer. The Greys material is similar (and might be identical) to Kamoufil. The copolymer stays straighter than any mono I have ever used and does so after only one good stretch.

Hope this helps you with your own applications of the Sage ESN.

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #14 on:** April 09, 2012, 07:20:51 PM »

Thanks Alain,

Always appreciate your insight. The Hendrickson's came off Sunday on the Farmington, the wind was a problem but still managed to hook a half dozen fish. Only two to the net though.

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #15 on:** April 09, 2012, 08:24:47 PM »

Alain, just one more question. I also use the Umpqua Power Taper but what size do you recommend for the ESN 3 wt? I have used the 0x but am looking for alternatives. Appreciate your help.

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #16 on:** April 10, 2012, 06:45:28 AM »

Regarding leaders, it depends on application, but if I could only have one, a 9ft 2X would do nicely. This will nymph or turn over a bushy dry dropper fly, and you could add two feet of 4X for larger dries in fast water. To fish small stuff, add a little more 6X to that. I prefer to buy heavy tippet leaders, since it is easy to make them lighter. These leaders are more versatile.

Steve Rudolf · « **Reply #17 on:** April 10, 2012, 03:23:24 PM »

Thank you, Alain. I appreciate your help. Maybe will bump into you on the Farmington some day.

Derrick Ogilvie · « **Reply #18 on:** April 17, 2012, 01:55:46 AM »

I have a question to toss to you all... I somehow found enough money under the cushions of my couch to get my hands on an ESN rod. Very excited. Just not sure what size to get... Your reviews are based on the 3wt and the 2wt... I do not fish comps, I do Euro Nymph and will ultimately get longer with my leaders – my current rod, 8'6" Winston IM6 4wt could only handle about a 7' leader and then 3-5 ft of tippet – However, I do, at times, throw an indicator, streamers, and 3-splitshot rigs to the pellet-fed pigs here in Georgia. Oh, and drys too. From what I've read, the ESN is as close to a do-it-all Euro Nymph rod as you can find. I know there's not one rod that excels at all of the above, but honestly, I'm just not gonna be a multi-rod guy for a while. (i'll have this and the Winston) I need a rod I can use in a lot of situations.

So my question is this: What size? My gut says a 4wt will do streamers and split shot and big water/ big fish, yet still be supple enough for Euro Nymphing and long leader flipping. And my gut also says "Why bother?" if I'm getting a 5wt... I should maybe consider another rod at that point. Is that true? Is the 5wt just too big to be delicate enough to load long leaders/detect subtle takes? Would I be buying a Euro Broomstick?

I don't want to buy this sweet Euro Nymphing rod at a weight that's not suited for what it was made for, and I do want to really get my tight-line game better... Just need something beefy enough to do the other stuff too for now.

Thanks in advance,

Derrick

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #19 on:** April 17, 2012, 06:22:32 AM »

Derrick:

The Sage ESN 10' 3wt is the most do-it-all size, similar to a Sage Z-Axis 10ft 4wt.

Remember that for the specialty nymph rods like the ESN, the rod weighting means a little something different. This is a highly subjective topic, but I can tell you that I can cast dries pretty effectively with my ESN 2wt using a Sci-Anglers GPX WF-4-F. That's how I got this one:

I don't have the ESN 3, but I suspect it fishes more like a fast action rod in a 4 or 5wt.

With all this said, I have a hard time recommending anything except a Z-Axis 9.5ft 4wt. This is the best do-it-all rod I have ever used.

Alain

Derrick Ogilvie · « **Reply #20 on:** April 18, 2012, 12:46:13 AM »

Thanks Alain... It makes total sense that the rod weighting is a little funky with the soft tips on these things, yet the butts are more like 4's and 5's. I also completely forgot about the Z-Axis 4wt. Everyone seems to love theirs, making them tricky to find. I see a lot of Echo's for sale, but the fact that people are holding on tight to their Z's tells you something.

So your WF 4wt line on your 2wt... Are you intentionally overlining for better casting, or is that a typical match (one-two weights heavier than the rod weight) for Euro Sticks? I've also read that a size bigger reel helps balance the long rod better. Although the ESN is probably light enough to live with it's corresponding-sized reel. Anyway, that's another hurdle. Gotta get the rod first, then I'll most likely get the reel in a shop so I can put it on and see for myself. Leaning towards a Lamson Velocity or Guru...

Now if I'm holding a brown like that in the near future, I'll have you to thank for it.

Thanks again, Alain.

Derrick

Lance Egan · « **Reply #21 on:** April 18, 2012, 02:50:34 AM »

Derrick,

Alain is a very analytical fly fisher and his thoughts definitely have merit. I respect his opinion and enjoy some of the "techy" conversations we have had via email. That said I'd offer a second opinion if you will. I think you'll find the 4 weight ESN to be closer to the Z-axis. In my experience the 3 weight ESN is significantly softer than a Z-axis 4 weight. For an all around rod for the purposes you described I'd suggest the 4 weight ESN. I think you'd enjoy the 3 or 4 ESN but feel you'd find the 4 more capable with indicator rigs and streamers while retaining the delicacy and touch needed for euro style. The 4 also handles large fish in heavy water better and casts (lobs) heavy flies easier as well as sets the hook with more power when fishing deep nymphs euro style.

Chris Smith · « **Reply #22 on:** April 18, 2012, 12:06:33 PM »

Derrick,

Let me start by saying I'm far less of an reputable source than Alain or Lance. I'd consider them both consumate researchers and product testers.

Having fished the 10ft 4 wt Z-axis almost exclusively the past 2 years, I purchased a 10ft 4 wt ESN. It didn't take me long ( 3 months ?) to decide I preferred the Z-axis as an all-around rod.

Dry dropper on the ESN, in particular, proved troublesome (for me). I'm not entirely sure why.

All I know is that I found myself working harder when fishing the ESN. Had I given it more time, I may have felt differently.

Fred Dewees purchased my ESN. I'd be curious to hear his thoughts...

Derrick Ogilvie · « **Reply #23 on:** April 19, 2012, 01:26:21 AM »

Lance, Chris, and Alain... Thanks so much for the "virtual test drives." With the Z-Axis being only available in the far reaches of the Internet, I'd have to buy that one on faith... But honestly, after fishing my 8'6" IM-6 noodle for so long, I'm just gonna be really happy with a 10' stick with some stiffness. I'm really tired of throwing my arm out of socket trying to keep a WB with split shot in the air with that thing. As long as the Z can flick a long leader (sounds like it can) then I can have the semi-best of all worlds with it.

I'm not remotely near fishing on the level you guys are, so a little loss in sensitivity that true EN rods have is the least of my problems.

Jeez, I've been Czech nymphing with my shortie Winston for the past six months and have already doubled my catch rate.

So my heart says to find the Z and don't get another rod that's super soft... I've already got one of those.

That's what I needed to hear. Thanks guys.

Derrick

Alain Barthelemy · « **Reply #24 on:** April 19, 2012, 04:29:08 PM »

I really enjoy the ESN, but there is just something magic about the Z-Axis. The Z is really fast, but doesn't feel stiff. The 9.5ft 4wt really does all the methods well, whether using long leaders or traditional fly line. By the way, this is nothing new, the Team USA guys have recommended the Zs for years. I think one of the early magazine articles (Pete Erickson I think) espoused the rod's many virtues. I sold my 10-4 a while ago, and never really enjoyed it the same as the shorter one. I am certain that every member of this board would find something to like in this rod. Better hurry though, they are hard to find. MRFC has one right now, new for $450.

Finally, if you are looking for one rod with which to Euro nymph, then switch to dry dropper look no further. This past weekend I hammered many nice fish in fast pocket water by using a Hendrickson emerger and nymph combo. My long leader easily turned over the rig out to about 20ft. You don't even need to remove the sighter for this application, and you can actually mend the leader. It helps if you apply paste floatant to the leader in this application.

My early nymphing instructors taught me the value of these rods and I've never looked back. Thanks guys.

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Author Topic: Sage ESN - 10' 3wt Fished and Reviewed (Read 2612 times)

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