A sweet "old-school" Circa 7'9" #3 I have finished this week for Dan, in Utah. Dan fishes small and medium sized streams for trout, similar to what I fish here and some bigger ones. He likes rods that are very clean and understated. Dan is a fan of Dave Lewis work whom he has met personally. He has a few Dave Lewis made rods in his collection and knowing his taste on rods, it inspired me on this build. I have built another rod for Dan in the past and this Circa is pretty much built in the same style.
I had a NOS Struble D2S NS amboyna seat and it looked like the perfect touch on this fine blank. A small Mildrum stripping guide and classy Universal snakes wrapped in Pearsall light olive silk tipped green complement the green-tea blank perfectly. My finish work makes this Circa a very special rod that is not only beautiful to look at, but will last a lifetime or more. I haven't got to cast it yet but feels like a great ultralight rod with power. Even better that my 589-4 favorite or 389-4 in the series. The Circa was discontinued recently and it is the slimmest, slickest blank Sage has made so far. Many will still preffer something shorter than the current ultralight series they have now. The 7'9" length is spot on for small stream fishing.
I removed most of the factory simbols on this blank but the SAGE logo. Turned out very simple and elegant in the end. Maybe very similar to the famous Sage LL series?
Thanks for looking and Merry Christmas everyone!