SALTWATER SPECIFIC | FAST ACTION
MORE FIGHT, MORE TOUCH
Most salt rods are built for pure power and ultimate strength—that is table stakes for the venue and the discipline. With our new R8 graphite, adding 25% more strength-per-weight was the easy part—a simple function of material advancement—but one that also increased the fight in the rod even down to our six-weight. We increased the pure pulling power without the need to add more material, fillers or reinforcement. The outcome is simple, providing the ability for faster landing times and reducing fish stress and catch-and-release pressure on ever so delicate ecosystems.
More strength and fight were an obvious upgrade, yet few salt rods, especially in the heavier weights, achieve the importance of feel for fine touch shots and precise presentations. Shaping a taper that brought this increased touch into the equation took more time. Yet after a long residence in the birthplace of saltwater fly fishing, and working directly with the experienced guides there, our rod designers found the right profile and fiber alignment that delivered strength, fine touch presentation, and a more intuitive sweet spot to a class of rods that have long had a reputation as unwieldy, unforgiving and difficult. With the SALT R8, gone are the days of sacrificing the feel and touch in your saltwater rod.
SHOP SALT R8 FAMILY
Whether maximizing your limited shots for Tarpon or blocking the right moon cycle for a Permit trip—or just delivering a quick, confident cast through wind at distance—saltwater is a game where patience and urgency are equally critical to maximizing opportunity. Whether on idyllic flats, coastal beaches or backcountry mangroves, you need faith—in your cast, your reaction time and your choice of rod.
While saltwater locales often move slower, the fishing is faster, the pressure more intense and the variables more variable. From wind, weather and tides to spooky fish, seasonal migrations and salty guides, it’s a different game with a different set of rules in venues that range from tournaments and Grand Slam flats to legendary bonefish lodges and hushed redfish beaches. The shots are fewer, the stakes are higher and seconds matter in sight fishing. By the third false cast, your time—at least for that fish—has passed.
But more than just delivering a fly on demand, saltwater sight fisheries necessitate a different tool than what works for your standard trout stream. A rod that loads quickly and predictably, a sweet spot more intuitive to feel. More strength to land fish quicker and more touch for precision short shots. A more durable rod that is built to survive both long skiff runs and remote destinations - where broken rods are absolutely heartbreaking. A precisely honed taper that will ensure your fly is presented in the right place at the right time.
For Sage, having Revolution 8 technology in hand meant now was the time to shape a dramatic advancement in saltwater rods that spoke to these truths right from the heart and birthplace of the discipline. Welcome to the SALT R8 — More Fight, More Touch.
Grand Slam
SALT R8 RODS
Tailing Bonefish on the flats, a wary Permit dipping to inspect your fly, the take, fight and flight of a massive Tarpon. Solving the tides, fighting the wind, poling the flats all for a high-pressure shot with it all on the line. Doing it the right way. To many this is the pinnacle of fly fishing—a passion that was born and raised in The Keys, driven by salty guides and saltier anglers who now make their own annual migrations back to the birthplace or to remote island lodges. From legendary tournaments to guided weeks blocked out a year in advance, it’s a high stakes game, some say a gentleman’s game, that quickly becomes the only one you’ll want to play.
BONEFISH RODS
In the light that still remains of the day, one tail glints in the evening glow, one unmistakable body quaking across the flat with methodical rhythm. The valves of your heart are working double time as the bonefish tips down. The bonefish feeds like it knows it is being watched, relishing in the spotlight - turning its tail in delight with every bite. You want, more than anything, to just watch - but your line is stripped out, ready to go. So are you. Fluttering a cast within a tail kick from the wakes, the bonefish changes direction toward your fly.
Ultralight Bonefish
Rod: 690-4
Fisheries: Dead calm conditions or super skinny water and tight quarters
<>b>Lines: RIO Elite Bonefish WF6F
Flies: CXI Special, Gotcha, Crazy Charlie, Skinny Water Clouser
Light-Duty Bonefish
Rod: 790-4
Fisheries: Light winds, light flies, shallow water
Lines: RIO Elite Bonefish WF7F
Flies: CXI Special, Gotcha, Crazy Charlie, RIO's Artic Bone
ALL-AROUND BONEFISH
Rod: 890-4
Fisheries: All-around from the Bahamas, Christmas Island, Belize, Mexico, to the Florida Keys
Lines: RIO Elite Bonefish WF8F
Flies: CXI Special, Gotcha Clouser, Crazy Charlie, RIO's Christmas Mantis, Spawning Shrimp
Heavyweight Bonefish
Rod: 990-4
Fisheries: The Florida Keys & Hawaii
Lines: RIO Elite Bonefish WF9F
Flies: Gotcha Heavy, Crab Patterns, RIO's Christmas Mantis, Spawning Shirmp
PERMIT RODS
Permit will catch you slipping at every opportunity. Brimming with polarizing surprises, a permit is the final boss in flats fishing critique - when you’re ready to feel true pain, you start permit fishing. The knees get weak, the mouth becomes dry, the rod and fly become heavier than expected, and the cast gets sloppier than you thought was possible. There is often one opportunity, if you’re lucky, and taking it means running in from the bullpen in the ninth inning, game on the line. If everything in permit fishing is left to chance, then today, you’d like to consider yourself lucky.
ALL-AROUND PERMIT
Rod: 990-4
Fisheries: Florida Keys to Belize, shallower water, moderate winds, light to medium sized flies
Lines: RIO Elite Permit WF9F
Flies: Merkin Crab, Avalon, Raghead Crab
Heavyweight Permit
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Mexico, deeper water, stronger winds, heavier flies
Lines: RIO Elite Permit WF10F
Flies: Lead Eye Crabs, Avalon Heavy, Squimp, Spawning Shrimp
TARPON RODS
Running into the obsidian glow of a morning waiting to happen, your curiosity sparks. The formidable image of tarpon in formation reminds you that the only thing within your control is breathing. Inhale for six seconds, exhale for six. You can still breathe, right? Cruising under the delight of a sunny day, you know that your cast is an amalgamation of many disciplines: immaculate angles, a hungry tarpon, your perfect fly, a ripping tide, and a fish’s compromised judgment must all stand still for a moment. This is your moment, so cast like you know you can. And don’t forget to breathe.
Baby Tarpon & Snook
Rod: 990-4
Fisheries: Acsention Bay Mexico to Belize for Baby Tarpon to the backcountry waters of Florida for Snook
Line: RIO Elite Flats Pro WF9F
Flies: Tarpon Toad, Gurgler, Bait fish patterns, RIO's Truffle Shuffle
Light Caribbean Tarpon
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Belize, Mexico, or Tarpon averaging 30 - 60 lbs
Lines: RIO Elite Tarpon WF10F
Flies: Tarpon Muddlers, Cockroach, Tarpon Toad, Black Death
All-Around Tarpon
Rod: 1190-4
Fisheries: Go-to South Florida and Tarpon averaging 50 - 150 lbs + and lighter flies and presentations
Lines: RIO Elite Tarpon WF11F
Flies: Palolo Worm, Tarpon Toad, Cockroach, Black Death
Heavy & Jungle Tarpon
Rod: 1290-4
Fisheries: Costa Rica deep water Tarpon to huge Gulf Coast Tarpon of Florida
Lines: RIO Elite Tarpon WF12F or RIO Elite Leviathan
Flies: Weighted UV colored, Minnows and baitfish, Bunny Tarpon Toads
BACKYARD
For many, saltwater opportunity exists in our own backyard. From the coasts of New England to the beaches and bayous of the Gulf States—to the inland sea of Puget Sound—it’s a calling to sight fish the salt so close to home. Defined by local knowledge, seasonal migrations and tide charts, we plan our days and lives around stalking these wild, beautiful fish. It’s a riddle where some days find fish, some do not. Yet it breeds a culture where checking fly patterns at the local shop, driving relentlessly to the next secret beach or fueling up on corn dogs at the mini mart, are both ritual and routine.
REDFISH RODS
It’s been almost 24 hours since you left these fish still tailing blissfully, unaware of your presence. You hope to interrupt the feast with a delicate cast to the starboard side of a turquoise blue tail flicking in the muck. You left in a rush this morning, knowing that the intersection of time and tide would only leave the porch light on for you for so long. The motor is up, your line stripped out and stretched. This time, you’ve given yourself hours to hurry up and wait, and you can hardly wait to see those copper fish cruising.
Light-Duty Redfish
Rod: 790-4
Fisheries: Calm, light wind days inshore and on flood tides
Lines: RIO Premier Redfish WF7F
Flies: Light/unweighted shrimp, baitfish, & crabs, RIO’s Truffle Shuffle, RIO’s Shrimp Tease Light
All-Around Redfish
Rod: 890-4
Fisheries: Gulf Coast to the Atlantic Coast, oyster beds to spartina grass
Lines: RIO Premier Redfish WF8F
Flies: Core sizes of shrimp, baitfish, & crabs, RIO’s Boyles Swamp Fox, RIO’s Lagoonatic
Bull Redfish
Rod: 990-4
Fisheries: Bull Redfish of Louisiana and across the Gulf Coast
Lines: RIO Premier Redfish XP WF9F
Flies: Heavy weighted or wind resistant shrimp, baitfish, & crabs, RIO’s Boyles Gulp Shrimp, RIO’s Hopedale Crab
Heavyweight Redfish
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Windy conditions Gulf coast bull redfish
Lines: RIO Premier Redfish XP WF10F
Flies: Heavy weighted or wind resistant shrimp, baitfish, & crabs, RIO’s Boyles Gulp Shrimp, RIO’s Hopedale Crab
STRIPER RODS
Your casting arm is sore, and the space between your shoulder blades is black and blue from the business end of a clouser minnow. As there is an almost magnetic attraction to you and striped bass fishing, there is also a love affair that stripers have with nasty weather and wicked winds. Stripers are a fish that will do almost anything a fish can do. They cruise on shallow water flats like bonefish, lay in the soupy surf, plot in the boulder fields offshore, feed subtly in marshes and estuaries. They are the friend that shows up when you’ve needed them most.
Flats Fishing Striper
Rod: 890-4
Fisheries: Estuarian mud flats of coastal Maine to expansive white sand flats of Cape Cod
Lines: RIO Elite Flats Pro WF8F
Flies: Sand eels, small baitfish, shrimp, & crabs, RIO’s Slime Shady, Small Clousers, RIO’s Fiddler On The Reef
All-Around Striper
Rod: 990-4
Fisheries: Maine to Montauk, surf casting to sand flats, tidal rips to blitzing bass
Lines: RIO Striper WF9F, RIO Striper WF9I
Flies: Baitfish, poppers, Sand eels, Crabs, Shrimp
Big Flies & Sink Tips Striper
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Maine to Montauk, heavy dredging, wind resistant poppers, rocky shorelines and heavy wash
Lines: RIO Striper WF10I, RIO Striper 400 gr 8.2 ips Sink
Flies: Large Baitfish, Poppers, Squid
COASTAL CUTTHROAT RODS
Stepping into the grip of the cold Pacific, the water clings to your waders. Cast, cast,cast. There is something tugging at your absent-minded line, swinging with the current. You lift the rod and find something you never thought you would - a cutthroat mawing at your wooly bugger. You happen to glance up the beach to find the angler in your usual spot is watching you wrangle in the fish that must have swam right past them. The fish kicks its tail back into the water and your cold, wet, gloved hand is back on the rod, ready to swing again.
ALL AROUND COASTAL CUTTHROAT
Rod: 690-4
Fisheries: Beaches and Sounds of the Pacific Northwest Lines: Shooting
Lines: RIO Outbound Short WF6 Intermediate or Sink 3
Flies: Small Bait Fish Patterns, Clouser Minnows, Bead Head Wooly Buggers
ADRENALINE
Somewhere out there, adventure awaits at the edge of the sea. Half mythical quest, half lifetime addiction—the action-sport class of saltwater fly fishing draws a rare kind willing to chase adrenaline to the ends of the earth. It’s a run and gun pursuit of the holy grails—Roosterfish, Marlin, Dorado and GTs—but not a journey for the faint of heart. Rugged, remote and rarely a package deal, these missions are about breaking a few rules and figuring it out as you go. It’s a long way to get there and you’ll be far gone when you truly arrive—and also maybe a little crazy when Baja, the Seychelles or Christmas Island have landed on your bucket list.
ROOSTERFISH & GT RODS
Your rod is stuck between your armpit, and a two handed strip suits the fly as it zips through the clear water. The shadow behind it looks interested, now fully committed, and finally, flat out pissed. Suddenly, you hit a brick wall, and the rod becomes parabolic in its bend. The fly line escapes your grasp faster than you ever could have expected, the sand burning your palms. You could careless how your hands feel, because you know you’re in for a good one. It's time to fight the impenetrable, the fish of your dreams tossing in the surf.
All Around Roosterfish
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Baja Mexico
Lines: RIO Elite Tropical OutBoundShort WF10I
Flies: Gym Sock, RIO's King Kinky Muddler, RIO's Big Baitfish
Giant Trevally
Rod: 1290-4FG
Fisheries: Christmas Island and across the Pacific and Indian Oceans
Lines: RIO Elite GT WF12F
Flies: Tan or Black Brush flies, Semper, RIO’s Playbate, RIO’s Baby Bonefish, RIO’s Big Baitfish
BLUEWATER RODS
The line between success and failure is as tippy as the horizon line your eyes are locked onto. In this moment of deep despair when time is seemingly stuck, you see spraying bait in all directions. As you toss the fly from the ready position, the rod you are holding feels nothing like the one you cast in the yard. Time is not your friend, and the boat rocks in the midday buzz of adrenaline. You’d like to consider this your Michael Jordan flu game, and as the buzzer sounds, the fly hits the water and disappears, almost instantly.
Light Bluewater
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Small Tuna and Dorado
Lines: RIO Elite Leviathan, RIO Tropical Outbound Short
Flies: RIO's Big Baifish, RIO's Needlyhoo, RIO's Booze Cruise
Midweight Bluewater
Rod: 1290-4FG
Fisheries: Mid-sized Billfish and Tuna
Lines: RIO Elite Leviathan, RIO Billfish Shooting Head
Flies: Large Sardine, Ballyhoo, Mackerel, Large Billfish Poppers
Heavyweight Bluewater
Rod: 1586-4
Fisheries: Large Billfish and Tuna
Lines: RIO Elite Leviathan
Flies: Large Sardine, Ballyhoo, Mackerel, Large Billfish Poppers
BLITZ RODS
Time is completely still as the cold air creeps through your fingertips and makes your casting hand go numb. The cork on the rod feels unfamiliar, and although you are out of your comfort zone, your movements are somehow excitedly succinct. The casting motion is quick, powerful, and snappy. Laying the fly in the middle of the mosh pit, you strip it erratically, watching it slide through the storm of fish. The moment you start to pick your line up off the water, you come tight to a fish hell bent on reaching the bottom of the ocean. Hold on tight.
All-Around Blitz
Rod: 1090-4
Fisheries: Northeast Albies to Gulf Coast Jacks, Quick shots into chaotic bait balls
Lines: RIO Outbound Short WF10I
Flies: Peanut Bunker to Anchovies, RIO's Nice Glass, RIO's Booze Cruise