Three For The Road - Winston WT

When I leave the house to spend a few days camping and fishing somewhere in the Southern Rockies, I usually pack three fly rods...one each in a different weight class and length. As for which rods to pack for the trip, I like to select a trio with similar personalities and action (mostly) that will work on any of the streams in the surrounding area of the camp. 

I'm already planning fishing trips for this year, and will start making reservations soon. My mind explores various places in New Mexico and Colorado as I decide on future adventures. There is a highway that runs north out of Santa Fe and up into Colorado. I love this road because all along it are a variety of streams, with different species of trout. The size of trout range from the small guys to big ones, requiring rods from 3wt to 5wt, in a variety of lengths, due to the various stream environments.

I fish with IM6/WT fly rods most of the time, so for me to load three Winston WT rods into the 3-rod travel bag is a natural thing to do. This trip begins and ends on a big river known to be a bit fickle, with no assurance the trout will be cooperating. I like to wade into it with a WT 8'6" 5wt rod. Yes, I'm only using dry flies which makes it more challenging to entice those picky trout (it's primarily a nymph fishing river). This WT is a joy to cast a dry fly into the seam of a run and then watch as a splash covers the fly.

And, once I'm in Colorado, the length of the WT 586 rod seems to be much easier to move into and out of a favorite stream as I work my way upstream to reach the trouty spots. Yep, this rod is legendary and a joy to fish.

There are several mountain creeks in route to that Colorado stream. And, I have to be honest, it's not easy to decide on which 3wt rod in 7', 7'6", or 8' length to pack for this trip. Any one I choose is perfect for some creeks and not so good for other places. Most of the time, the WT 7' 3wt rod goes into the bag for one particular, tight, little Rio that I love to fish. Just thinking about fishing this amazing little stream gets me all excited for summer to get here.

Last but not least. A WT 8'6" 4wt rod also goes for the ride to work the mid-size streams and alpine lakes on this route. It's about as sweet a rod as can be on those particular streams and stillwaters. I like it because it's smooth and sensitive for smaller trout, but can also handle much bigger ones...if I get lucky.

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