Drawing To A Perfect Pair - Winston IM6 2wt & 3wt

When I leave the house to spend a day on home waters, I usually take a pair of fly rods...in event the stream conditions change or for when I move to another stream. And, when deciding which rods to pack for the day, I like to "draw" out a pair with similar personalities and action (mostly).

These two are an absolute perfect pairing of rods when I'm fishing streams up on Rainy Mountain...the Winston IM6 7'6" 3wt and Winston IM6 6'6" 2wt fly rods. You wouldn't think a 12" change in length would make a difference, but it does in several of my stream environments. So you know, my home waters range from wide open meadow streams to tiny Rios running down the mountain through tight canopies of trees.

Both rods were built with the same components in a two-piece configuration. The IM6 7'6" 3wt rod was built in 1993 and the IM6 6'6" 2wt was born in 1996. Each have the Winston cigar handle, down locking reel seat with maple wood spacer, and nickel silver hardware. The calligraphy style on the rods tell me the same person (Bucky Ballou) applied the inscriptions on the blanks...yes, the most beautiful hand inscription you will find among US rod companies from any era. 

From a distance, you will not be able to tell the two rods apart. They look identical in my hand to anyone who is watching me work a stream. Well, if Tom Morgan was watching me, he would know. Hmmm, maybe he is watching from the heavens above??? I better do it right or risk being embarrassed.

I do believe these two rods are the essence of both the R.L. Winston company and with fly fishing as a lifestyle in the outdoors. When I add a third rod to this quiver for longer fishing trips, you can bet it's either my TMF or WT 8'6" 5wt rod (destination dependent). It makes for one heck of a fly fishing quiver...

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