Well, here's my two cents: For our spring fish and on the Dean, I fish the Sage 9140-4, and love it. There is a reason it's "the standard" for a lot of people. Of course, I wish the handle was a little longer, or that I fished a heavier reel to give it a little better fishing balance, but otherwise, I think it's a great rod.(more on this in a minute) For most summer run fishing and and other times when hatchery size fish are the norm, I too like a lighter rod, and I like the 7136-4 for these purposes quite a bit. It's light, easy to fish, and once I slow down a little, it throws a sink-tip well and fishes it deep. I originally thought it was more of a dry-line rod, but I made a deep sink-tip that dredges for those early summer run hatchery fish in high flows, and I have a lot of confidence in this line. If you want the formula, let me know. Anyway, I may be biased as I am now working for Sage, but they just sent me the new 9140-4 that's been redesigned and made with a higher modulus graphite (IIIe), and I fished it the other day on the Sky. What a great improvement--lighter, a bit quicker, and it feels extremely "lively" in the hand and on the swing. Incidentally, this was an earlier model that has since been changed back, but it had a longer foregrip, which made the balance point comfortably under your right hand. This years version has the original length handle, and I've been talking to them about a handle length somewhere in between the two, but for now, the 2000 model has the long handle, and the 2001 has the same length as the old rods. The balance problem on the short handled version can easily be solved by going to a heavier reel, but you'll pay for it--Tibor Gulfstream, anyone? I highly recommend you get your hands on this new version of either the 9140-4 or the 7136-4. I love both these rods in the old version, but this new design and material really is better--makes a guy think about trading up. I know a product endorsement from someone making a living from the company is hardly credible, but I really am excited about the improvements. Give 'em a try and let me know what you think. Now, if only our rivers were going to be open in the spring...
Peace,
Dylan