IMPORTANT
SITE UPDATE:

Visit the relaunched
Fish & Fly at fishandfly.com

A New Rod

Dry Fly takes a look at purchasing a new rod and explains his passion for the rods made by Winston.

It's quite remarkable how one thing leads to another and then another and, if you let things creep up on you, how expensive this can get.

Some while ago I seemed to recall mention of Gray's Sporting Journal in The Fish & Fly survey and my curiosity was aroused. I had heard of the publication, knew it was American but not a lot more than that so I surfed the net - like you do - and up came the web site. I was sufficiently impressed with what I saw to subscribe to this sumptuous and obviously highly regarded outdoors magazine but the thing that fascinated me most - being professionally interested in this kind of thing - was the reader profile.

Suffice to say that subscribers to Gray's, own, on average, 12 guns and 11.2 fishing rods. Makes you think doesn't it. Well, it does me that's for damn sure. Here was I with one - yes one - fishing rod which I have used exclusively for around seven years and I'm signed up alongside all these folk who have rods and guns for wallpaper. Clearly, something had to be done to rectify the situation. See what I mean by one thing leading to another?

The first thing you do when contemplating a new anything that isn't actually essential is to rationalise justification of the expense. No problem - I paid around £300 for my first Winston so that's £42.85 per year or somewhat less than the price of a daily newspaper even allowing for six months close season. No argument, clearly I deserved a new rod and what's more ought to have bought one long ago, I'm due. Twenty - four pence a day for the privilege of owning one of the finest rod's in the world, how frugal can you get dear...you know it makes sense dear...it makes me so happy and a pleasure to be around...

So, that decided, the next big question for many is, which manufacturer? Not an issue as far as I am concerned - another Winston - I don't even have to think about it. It's a done deal. Since I started fly fishing about twenty years ago I have owned a number of rods but never more than two at a time.

I started off with a clearance job - twenty quid - that was too long and far too heavy in line weight for the little streams that I fished most but it taught me the need for delicacy of presentation. You don't catch too many trout with a nine and a half footer for a seven weight on tiny chalk streams unless you get just a bit savvy and wise up to the importance of streamcraft in general. Although unsuited to the task, that rod made me a better fly fisherman faster than would otherwise have been the case.

Since then I have owned - amongst others - a Shakespeare Boron, more clearance stock, - an efficient rod. I have owned cane - loved the look and smell, just not my thing when it comes to the fishing though. An Orvis Far & Fine came next - a big step, a Sage Light Line and then the Winston.

I particularly liked the Orvis and the Sage but the Winston is, for me, the finest trout rod I have ever seen or fished with bar none. The eight foot, four weight, Tom Morgan's Favourite has given me immense pleasure and is now like an extension of my arm. Cliché yes but true also. The action of these rods is like no other, so smooth it almost hurts.

I knew the problem I would have even before I had finished the rationalisation process. If I own the 'perfect rod' already what do I go for next - longer, shorter, lighter, heavier, two piece as now or three or even five piece? Should I go for something a little faster in action this time and what reel seat wood do I want - zebra, birdseye maple or walnut - uplocking or sliding band German nickel silver fittings? Do I want an inscription on my rod? - Maybe. Decisions, decisions - spending money really can be stressful even if you have persuaded yourself that you can afford it but at least when you spend it on first class fly tackle you know you can relieve that stress just by showing your new purchase to the water.

Well, maybe stress is too strong a term for the process of deciding on which truly beautiful, gem of a rod you are going to settle for. Eventually, I got there. Seven and a half feet, three piece, three weight with a medium to fast action. Birdseye maple reel seat and uplocking fittings. An inscription too - the opportunity is too good to pass up. The rod arrived a few days ago. What can I say? it's a Winston for goodness sake. These people know about rods - they really know about rods and every bit as important, they know about people who fish. They understand what it means to be a fly fisherman better than any other company I know.

When you buy a Winston you are buying more than just a fly rod, much more than just a tool to do a particular job. You are buying a superb piece of craftsmanship certainly but you are also buying in to magic and dreams - the very stuff of fly fishing - you are making an emotional investment every bit as important as the financial one. When we fish, the rod in our hand connects us to a unique kind of experience and for me Winston rods possess an almost intangible energy and lightness which together make them so pleasurable to fish with. Call me sentimental but they also give me a sense of belonging and in a harsh and increasingly cynical commercial world, that's a rare experience which I value.

The company had it's beginnings in San Francisco in the form of the Western Rod Company and in 1929, the year of the Wall Street crash and the beginning of the great depression, it was taken over by Robert Winther and Lew Stoner. The name Winston coming from these men's initials and a contraction of their surnames. The two men soon had a reputation as builders of outstanding bamboo rods, many of which in the early days were made for surf casting and trolling.

During the 1930's, tournament fly casting became popular and nowhere more so than in San Francisco at the Golden Gate Angling and Casting Club where Lew Stoner's rod designs smashed all previous distance casting records. In 1938 Winston developed the first hollow - fluted bamboo fly rods and for many years they were the lightest, most powerful rods available and it's the knowledge and experience from those early days which underpins the basis both for the technical expertise and the philosophy behind the modern graphite Winston rods. They still make some of the best new bamboo rods money can buy under the supervision of the renowned Glenn Brackett, an acknowledged master of his craft. If you want one though, you had better be prepared for a two year wait and lunch with your bank manager. Lots of people do want one.

Even though Winston know better than most how to produce rods that can deliver long distance casts and certainly provide for those situations with their boron and boron graphite ranges, they are probably still best known for their lighter line IM6 trout rods - recently renamed the WT series - and which are my own particular favourites. The majority of river trout are most frequently caught in and around forty five feet or so and whilst many of the rods in this series are capable of greater distances all are designed and sold with an optimum casting distance clearly specified and it is at the shorter ranges that I personally feel these rods excel.

The combination of lightness and fluidity together with superb build quality sets Winston apart from other rod builders and since 1976 when the company moved to the little town of Twin Bridges in Montana, demand and reputation has continued to grow and this still small company now ships rods to discerning fly fishers all around the world.

No, they don't come cheap - very little of worth ever does - and they are not for everyone. The softer, slightly slower action which delivers the smooth, delicate presentations isn't to everybody's taste and if you are into throwing an entire fly line over the horizon with a trout rod you should probably look elsewhere. But if you are an experienced fly fisher with a love of beautiful things in general and fly rods in particular then I think you should take a look at these. One thing's for sure - with an average of 11.2 rods to their name there won't be too many readers of Gray's Sporting Journal who don't own at least a couple of Winstons. In fact, one fly fisher and recent subscriber to Gray's that I know extremely well fishes with nothing else...

To get a better feel for what the company is all about visit their website at
http://www.winstonrods.com/

Even if you are not in the market for a rod just at the moment I thoroughly recommend their video 'Winston Waters'. It is, quite simply, a beautiful little film about the company, it's history and philosophy. It features among others, Thomas McGuane - the novelist and author of the recently published The Longest Silence - who has himself, had a long relationship with the company.

Once watched though, you may find yourself doing a little rationalisation of your own...

Dry Fly

'Dry Fly' is a passionate fly fisher who, unusually, fishes dry fly exclusively and with no exceptions. This practice is born out of simple preference and despite his many protestations, fully acknowledges and respects both the skills and historical significance attached to traditional alternative styles and the absolute rights of others to employ them. He enjoys fishing dry fly in all types of running water. Fishing not fish is his priority.

He does, however, have a number of piscatorial bees in his bonnet !!

With a background in marketing and a nodding acquaintance with members of the tackle business both here and abroad he lives in deepest chalkstream country from where, unsuccessfully, it is insisted, he attempts to eke out a living from a variety of commercial and investment ventures.