It Can Fish

For several years I have often been asked about Winston Pure fly rods, and if I like them. Everyone knows I'm a Winston WT fan. And I suppose they were curious as to how I would compare the Pure against my favorite WT rods. My usual response is, "I've never even held one, so I can't really comment." Well, when the new Pure2 was launched last year, and all the shops were selling their holdover stock of Pure fly rods, at steep discounts, I decided to give one a try.

After fishing this rod for about a year now, I can say it feels familiar with its smooth casting action, much like what I get from my older classic rods from Twin Bridges, Montana. Different. But it is still traditional Winston, and very enjoyable when shooting a fly out to a trout's nose. This 8' 4wt boron model will comfortably cast a fly line out to 50 feet with good control. What I really like about this rod is its ability to cast a short 10-15 foot line when necessary, which is required criteria for my light trout fly rods.

Is it possible this rod can replace any of my WT rods in the favorite fly rod category? Well, no. However, it has that famous Winston action, it takes some of the brunt off of my classics, and is quite enjoyable when fishing a trout stream.