Sage POWER R8 Fly Rod Review / Model-by-Model Comparison - Maybe Sage Dies a Slow Death for the Sake of Private Equity Profits
First, a quick overview of these rods (leaked by The Fly Fishing Forum and apparently a few fly shops too) then I will explain why I don't encourage anyone to buy Sage products anymore. This is coming from one of the top Sage dealers in the entire Southeast region for 2023-2024. My father sold Sage at his fly shop long before I started my own. I am not a Sage dealer anymore, you can probably figure out why. This main photo above is from a recent Bloomberg business article about Simms getting dropped by many customers and fly shops but it provides a glimpse into the future of Sage and other private equity-owned brands as well.
The Sage Igniter series was in the lineup for a long time and overdue for an update, which is where the new Power R8 fits in. The lineage of this rod series is likely more derived from the R8 generation than it is a descendant of the Igniter. Probably why they didn't call it the "Igniter 2" or what I had suggested to them a long time ago, an "Igniter Salt" rod series which would offer much more power than the standard all-around saltwater offering of the Salt R8. That would address some customer complaints that the Salt R8 is too soft (although I don't think so, it's a very good rod). With powerful rods from brands such as G. Loomis, the Winston Air 2 MAX, and now the new Thomas & Thomas Exocett 88 (my favorite), we can see what strong competition the Power R8 is up against. How will it stack up? The more important question is should you even buy it at all? There are lots of great options from friendlier fly rod brands.
Did you know that as of 2025, no fly shop is allowed to sell RIO or SAGE products on Amazon or ebay anymore? Yep. Not even a pack of leaders. Only they are allowed to sell there (direct to consumers). No fly shops allowed. And if you do it, they'll just remove you as a dealer. Does that sound fair? Does it sound like they support fly shops? Nah. Not anymore.
Sadly the Sage POWER R8 Review really comes down to the questionable direction of that company and their parent company Far Bank, and also that company's parent company, a private equity firm. Following all that? I write my opinions in reviews so customers can make a buying decision with as much information or feedback as possible, often it's information they can't find elsewhere online but which many fly shops might be willing to tell you in person.
When you buy a fly rod, you want to know that the company has integrity and is still going to be the same one you heard so many great things about, later on when you need a warranty repair or some product help in a few years. Sadly it doesn't look like that's the direction Sage is going now. Their new management has made a lot of questionable decisions, in my opinion, which negatively impact fly shops and also customers.
For example: Kicking all fly shops (authorized dealers) off of Amazon earlier this year. Only Far Bank (Sage, RIO, Redington brands) can sell direct to consumers via Amazon now, cutting out a very valuable source of income for fly shops everywhere. Line, leader, and tippet are very important. "Fly shop friendly?" Nope. Not at all. And that's only one small example. *Just for reference, Scientific Anglers doesn't even sell directly to consumers at all, only through fly shops, and they do allow any authorized dealer to sell where they please. Scott rods? No direct sales to customers. Only sold via serious fly shops like ours. Why? I suspect two main reasons: 1.) Support fly shops and that community of experts 2.) Make sure customers are getting excellent help and advice with their products. Professional advice, experience, and other things you would never get from buying on Amazon, or from some "big box" stores like Backcountry dot com (where Sage is happy to sell you a rod even though they know nobody there could possibly support the product for a customer who had technical questions).
If you want to know what's likely going on at Sage, just look into what happened to Simms or similar companies when private equity took over. Look on Facebook or wherever you like, search around for customer feedback on all that mess. Watch some of the most popular fly shop Instagram pages as they publicly drop Simms in favor of brands that are more "fly shop friendly" for many, many reasons. Do your own research here, I am not telling you what to believe. Then do the same for RIO fly line issues this past year (also part of Far Bank like Sage). This could very well be Sage within the next few years. Why? Well, the guy now in charge at Sage is from... Simms.
Welcome to fly rods. I've been selling them a long time. If you want to be an asshole in this community, customers and fly shops will know about it. Customer loyalty to a brand matters so much more than it does when you're selling hats and t-shirts. It's not about the product as much anymore when the competition offers similar or equally great options but with much friendlier treatment of both customers and fly shops.
Another example: I just heard directly from a customer the other day that it took 6 months for Far Bank to repair his R8 Core rod. For reference, Orvis takes about a week for their Helios series which is comparable. Scott and Winston are probably 3-4 weeks on average (estimating here based on lots of customer feedback over the years). Customers rarely seem to break Thomas & Thomas rods so I have very little repair time feedback. I can call the nice people there and ask if anyone is curious. For me as a dealer, they get whatever I need done very fast and they are incredibly nice to work with. That has always been my experience. Wonderful people.
As for me, do you know what happens when a customer breaks any rod that I sold them? They can call me and I'll send them a loaner rod until their rod gets repaired. Every single thing I do is about my customers and I think most of them know that. It would certainly explain why they keep coming back year after year.
I normally would never miss reviewing a Sage rod launch and I have reviewed every other R8 in that rod family (except the Classic R8, because Sage refused to ship me the rods I had ordered from them). This time, as you may expect, Sage's business-challenged management have decided not to cooperate and to be outright shitty to me - The guy writing for one of the most popular saltwater fly fishing blogs on the planet. Yes, really. Hmmm. "Fly shop friendly" they most certainly are not. Hope they enjoy my honest reviews. I think they read this blog more than my customers do. Hello to the muppet in marketing as well. You miss me? 😘
Mr. Bean says Hello!
I think it's worth considering which shops and rod brands you give your money to, and if you feel the same then keep all this in mind. I was not even permitted to have the new RIO Gold fly lines at all either, why not? I tell the truth and I'm independent of the usual sponsored reviews - I am not paid by any company to review anything so I am able to be much more honest.
If you'd like my suggestion for a great powerful fly rod from a much better, nicer fly rod company, I highly recommend you try the Thomas & Thomas Exocett 88
I sincerely appreciate all the support from my customers as we move on to better brands that actually care about small, independent fly shops rather than those companies just trying to squeeze every drop of profit away from dealers. They will continue to pretend they care about fly shops. Now you know better.
*Source link of the Simms article from Bloomberg:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2025-12-18/fly-fishing-brand-simms-faces-retail-boycott-after-private-equity-takeover
Leaked image of the new rods via The Fly Fishing Forum: https://www.theflyfishingforum.com/threads/sage-power-r8-and-arrow.967003/
