Sage won a lot of awards and lot of fans with its ONE series of fly rods, successor to their long running and wildly popular Z-Axis line of rods. Countless owners have remarked on the accuracy and power of the remarkably light ONE series. Not among those countless owners excited by the punch and power of the ONE series, however, were lovers of rods that speak more in terms of their finesse and feel than their power. Today, Sage has announced an all-new series of graphite rods designed to offer significantly slower action, load down into the butt and handle and a increased feel.

Whatever praise Sage received for their ONE series, the ability of those rods to toss a size 26 dry fly with elegance and grace wasn't part of it. That said, Sage hasn't been alone in their trend toward more powerful, faster action, stiffer tipped rods. The premier lines of fly rod manufacturers such as G. Loomis, Scott, Orvis and Hardy (just to name a few) have also followed a similar trend. As a result, most dry fly aficionados and other slow-action rod lovers have turned to other materials such as bamboo and fiberglass when acquiring new rods or have simply stuck with older models of graphite rods.

With the CIRCA series, Sage aims to capture the action and tempo provided by bamboo and glass, but with the advantages that come with modern materials, bringing a new option to the world of the slow action fly rod. According to Sage, these advantages come mostly in the accuracy department. Fiberglass and bamboo ofter a soft touch and tempo, but lack torsional stability. In other words, as the rod loads and bends backwards and forwards, it also bends side-to-side. This side-to-side movement reduces accuracy. According to Jerry Siem, designer of the CIRCA series, using Sage's Konnetic technology (the same technology used in Sage's ONE series) Sage was able to develop a rod with the action and feel of glass and bamboo, but with incredible torsional stability and thus significantly higher accuracy.

Sage has put together a beautifully filmed video featuring Jerry Siem introducing and explaining the concept behind the CIRCA series. Be sure to check it out below.

Sage is offering the CIRCA series in six different four-piece models from 2-weight through 5 weight. The rods feature a shaft color Sage calls "green tea", with Olive and Slate color trim wraps. The CIRCA rod collection will be available through Sage specialty dealers in August and September for a retail price ranging from $745 to $775.