Colt Johnson Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 I picked up a brand new Winston WT 8'6" 6wt. 3pc. factory built rod last week on ebay. The price was less than the cost of a blank, so I pulled the trigger. I've built and fished numerous (maybe 8-10) 6wt. rods over the last few years both graphite and glass; but never any Winstons. To date, my favorite has been a Steffen 5/6wt. 8'0" 4pc. However, I have a new contender in the graphite arena: I received the Winston WT in the mail on Saturday, and I was able to take it to our subdivision lake for some casting time on the water. I had a Rio Smallmouth 6wt. line spooled. I tried various weighted flies and wind-resistant poppers. The rod handled a wide spectrum of flies. The wind was gusting on and off and the rod handled the wind very nicely. And most importantly, the rod is not too FAST and not too STIFF. It is the only true medium actioned 6wt. graphite rod that I have handled. The Winston is a step faster than similar glass rods I've handled, but significantly slower and deeper bending than the Sage ZXL 6wt. or various Dan Craft 6wt rods that I've built. I am eager to spend more time getting to know this rod on the water. However, my first impression is that the rod perfectly splits the difference between the deeper bending, fun factor of glass while still offering some of the extra power of graphite. I was VERY impressed. This rod has me strongly considering building an Orvis Superfine Touch 9'0" 6wt. rod to compare. I would have to imagine that the Orvis SFT is going to be faster and stiffer, but the Winston disproved my preconceived misconceptions, and I am starting to wonder about the Orvis SFT as well. Colt PS: I ordered a Winston BIIt 4wt. 8'0" 4pc. blank this morning. I've heard excellent things about this one as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Gillio Posted October 29, 2013 Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 Colt, It is always nice to hear your rod reviews even though I'm not in the market for one. I am looking forward to the Orvis SFT review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colt Johnson Posted October 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 Thanks John. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob G Posted October 29, 2013 Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 More of us should do these type of reviews. Though we all may not like the same things in a rod, nor would two people agree on what is fast vs. slow, etc., it would benefit us all by giving more information to base our decisions on. Thanks Colt for your thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom L Posted October 30, 2013 Report Share Posted October 30, 2013 Nice write. Always enjoy reading them. Had always heard of the sweetness and the smoothness of a Winston, and was not convinced 'til I owned one. Picked up a 6wt BIIIx about 3 months ago in a closeout sale. They weren't kidding about the sweetness and smoothness... Congrats on your new rod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.