Posts tagged: sage fly rods

Our Astonishing, Augmented, Fluid, Unparalleled Friday Fly Fishing Industry Rant

June 24, 2011, by 26 comments

Sage makes great fly rods and all — they didn’t get to where they are by pumping out a stream of losers — but frankly, they could use a little help in the corporatespeak department (this from their just-released ONE fly rod announcement):

The ONE rod is the first precision casting instrument to take advantage of Sage’s groundbreaking Konneticâ„¢ technology. The ONE offers exceptional tracking with virtually no lateral or torsional movement, resulting in astonishing casting accuracy that is unparalleled in the marketplace.

The inherent strength of Konnetic technology allows ONE rods to have a smaller diameter and are 25% lighter than comparable Sage rods. These attributes combine to provide augmented aerodynamic efficiency. Further innovations are the 70% lighter, low profile ferrules that help direct and carry energy through the rod without sacrificing strength, critical action and feel.

“The ONE rod becomes a true extension of the angler’s arm,” notes Sage Chief Rod Designer, Jerry Siem. “It offers a more fluid transmission of energy from the arm to the fly. The eye sees the cast it wants to make and is translated to the hand through the rod instantaneously.”

Astonishing? Unparalleled? Augmented aerodynamic efficiency?

Do people still cast these things, or are the rods doing it all themselves? Oh wait:

“The eye sees the cast it wants to make and is translated to the hand through the rod instantaneously”

Really??

Isn’t it more likely that “the mind reels at the onslaught of the mega-hypish copy which is translated to a deep, nauseous feeling instantaneously?”

And I’ll let the Undergrounders debate the wisdom of naming your latest fly rod the “ONE” (makes you wonder what’s coming next).

C’mon Sage. By every measure, you build really, really nice fly rods.

Why can’t you talk to us like we’re all, you know… people.

Dr. Tom’s prescription? I suggest Sage undergo an emergency corporatespeak-ectomy. Maybe take a lesson in folksy brand marketing from Scott Rods.

Relax a little. Maybe have a beer. Record yourselves explaining the good stuff behind the ONE rod to some young guy with that fever in his eyes, then send that text out to the world — most of which already knows you make good fly rods even before you bury us in suffocating superlatives.

See you further befriending the industry, Tom Chandler.

More on the Fly Fishing Industry’s Woes: Sage Fly Rod Gets “Big Boxified”

February 20, 2009, by 27 comments

We’ve commented before on the fly fishing industry’s woes – both those due to the economic situation and  those that appear to be self-inflicted.

Now, an article from a Mount Washington publication lets slip the information that Sage rods have also suffered layoffs (as we suspected), and that the industry’s less capable of putting the screws to small, independent dealers (judging by the emails I’ve received, small dealers aren’t exactly enamored of the treatment they’ve received at the hands of a couple big fly fishing companies).

For example:

Companies that once demanded large yearly orders to maintain a dealer ship are begging small shops to take on their lines at greatly reduced entry fees. I spoke to a sales representative from a reel company the other day who was promoting a new reel. When I asked how much it was to open a dealership he said it was normally a $1,000, but at present they would only ask that you buy three reels.

Even more interesting is the continuing “Big Boxification” of upper-crust brand Sage:

One of the most shocking renovations announced a few weeks ago was that the Sage rod company would market a rod exclusively for Cabalas. Any shop that has been one of their dealers for any length of time and has maintained the inventories that Sage has required over that time period must be mortified. In my opinion the company sold out their dealers and sold their soul to Cabalas.

Sage fly rods is a business after all, and they go where the money is, but it’s interesting to see this change occur, which – like telling someone their baby is ugly – is pretty hard to take back. For that matter, I’m counting Sage among the companies that have been slow to recognize the tectonic shift occurring in the marketing world, though you’ll soon see that one of the Sage family of companies is making some noise on the Internet.

In fact, it appears that several companies are suddenly (desperately?) acquiring Internet religion, and I’ve been contacted a couple times with what I’ll label as somewhat dubious propositions.

Singlebarbed and I are huddling in an attempt to develop an editorial policy that’s fair to us and our readers, and we’re on the verge of announcing something that should provoke a little discussion from the brownliners and Undergrounders alike.

For that matter, it’s clear to me the Trout Underground probably won’t continue in its present form forever; I can safely say the Underground won’t end 2009 the same way it began it.

Change is inevitable, but until then, see you on the river, Tom Chandler.