The 'Forgotten Child'

Experienced anglers know Tom Morgan took the standard 8' 4wt IM6 fly rod and tweaked its tip section to create the TMF model. And ever since then, the TMF got all of the publicity, and the fame for being Tom Morgan's favorite rod. Yeah, I love fishing my TMF, the 'favorite child'. So, what about the sibling of the favorite child? The 8' 4wt rod without the tweak. Is it any good, or inferior compared to the favorite one? I had to find out.

After a few years of keeping an eye out for this standard 4wt rod, I found it. The rod was in very good condition and the price was a steal. And, what really caught my eye about this rod, it was made in 1992 when Tom Morgan was still with the company. I now have the 'forgotten child' that was built during the magical era of R.L. Winston.

I have fished this rod a few times since acquiring it, never had a chance to fish it in an environment where it could excel...until recently. I published a post on this blog during the spring when I did some comparative test casts between the standard model and the TMF. But the true test of any rod's performance has always been actually fishing a rod in one's home waters. I can now say this rod is impressive.

While this rod isn't as sensitive as the TMF, it is fabulous to cast and lands a dry fly so very softly. On one day, I had rigged up my 2wt rod to fish the morning on a canopied stream. Then, fished the afternoon with this standard 8' 4wt rod. Oh my! The 4wt rod felt very strong after fishing the ultra light 2wt through the morning. It was obvious to me that's its capable of landing big fish. However, it is also sensitive enough for the Leetle Fellers in the 10 to 13 inch range, which I was landing on this particular stream. I like this rod. Quite a bit, actually. Is one rod better than the other? Well, I must admit I prefer the TMF's action a fraction better. However, the different personalities of each rod will help to keep fly fishing exciting this year. This rod deserves as much action on the streams as its TMF sibling.

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