The Rod Does Bend

Many anglers who have experienced Winston traditional rods on trout streams often find themselves addicted to fishing these moderate action rods. Especially on small streams. When I first saw the below photo that Steve took of me on a recent fishing trip, I thought, "Wow, that rod is really bent!" No, it's not a fiberglass fly rod. This is my "go to" Winston WT 7' 2wt fly rod, and has been one of my favorites for many years.

Steve and I had fished that day on a little canyon stream for native New Mexico trout, and closed out the evening fishing a pond on the outskirts of a mountain village. I walked out to the pond with the 2wt rod I had been fishing earlier in the day. Yeah, I was feeling a bit lazy, maybe tired, and didn't want to rig up another rod...this 2wt rod was still rigged to fish. That 11" rainbow on the end of the line (photo) is typical of most trout unfortunate to take my dry fly....head shakes don't often succeed in throwing my hook. It doesn't matter if they go airborne or go deep into the waters, they stay hooked because of the WT's taper. I'm confident the Winston WT tip section is my perfect taper for casting small flies and handling trout not interested in a personal relationship with me. I just don't know how another taper could be more effective?

Winston's WT rods are the reason I transitioned away from fishing fiberglass rods quite so much. I still enjoy fishing glass, but the WT rods go with me to trout streams much more these days. Where many anglers use glass on tiny streams with tight canopy, I use a graphite fly rod...specifically Winston WT or IM6 models. These graphite rods compare nicely to glass when loading the blank in the back cast. And they feel great managing tight lines with small trout. However, the primary reason I prefer graphite rods is their ability to cast a small dry fly accurately...more so than with glass rods.