10163 Sage
I too was at Derek Brown's initial spey class about 5 years ago at Maupin(Kauffman's Streamborn lodge), OR, and also attended his course the next year. My first rod was the Sage 10163 which I remember Derek referring to as the "cannon". By the way, Derek's video I believe is the best nut 'n bolts type instruction out there and that includes Vincent's International video with Gawesworthy. I have never fished this rod, but only practice with it on a lagoon. It seemed very heavy and I would rarely practice my casting with it for longer than 1/2 hour. I found that with the Abel 4 and the Rio Windcutter 10/11 belly end at the rod tip, the rod balanced about 3-4 inches above the top of the cork. By balancing the rod (with the belly out the top of the rod) on the back of a chair, I found by putting sock after wollen sock on the butt end of the rod, the rod would balance at the top of the upper cork with about 7 oz of socks on the butt end. I went to the hardware store and bought an 8 oz roll of lead/tin solder wire(saw this hint somewhere on this site). I put the entire 8 oz. on the butt-end of the rod, spiraling up the butt for about 4 inches and then back down to the butt end and just anterior to the rubber plug at the butt end of the handle. I picked up the rod/reel and IT FELT AWFUL! Not discouraged I went to my lagoon, gradually played out more and more belly , and things began to change--for the better. I also began to take some wire off until with the entire belly out the tip(?80 feet) it really began to feel GREAT. The rod seemed to come alive and more powerful. Also it felt that my stroke was slowing down and rather the feel heavier in my hands it felt lighter(I weighed the wire left on the handle when I got home and it weighed 7.5 oz.) I also found that I was casting the single spey as well or better with my left hand up(I am right-handed) as with my right hand up. Rembering a point made in Vincent's International spey video by the Scandinavian that in using the spey rod in over-head casts one uses the upper hand primarily as a FULCRUM and the bottom hand with its greater leverage is the real force in the forward cast. Hence when I single-speyed with my left hand up and my dominant right hand down I was casting better. With this in mind rather than using each hand with about 50% force each, I was using my lower hand as the more dominant and the upper hand more as a fulcrum. From a leverage standpoint, more force with the lower hand makes perfect "physics' sense. I was having such fun at this new level of casting I had reached that my usual half hour session with this rod had extended to more than an hour! A rod I had considered selling, now is off the trading block! Eventually I plan to have a rod smith put a lead plug in the butt end for better esthetics. Great eye-opener to me this afternoon and in my book a better balanced rod sure improved things for me. By the way I was using a Rio Windcutter floater 10-11.