AIR 2 MAX FIELD NOTES: South Florida

AIR 2 MAX FIELD NOTES: South Florida

WORDS: Captain Justin Bachert
PHOTOS: Asher Koles

My approach towards fly fishing and guiding for tarpon, overall, is based off of an accumulation of my past experiences – as a mariner, waterman, and angler. Our ecosystem in south Florida, and in the Florida Keys is seemingly ever-changing and being able to adapt to those changes is what we all need to focus on.

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Musky Fools

Musky Fools

Written by Dan Donovan, owner of Musky Fool
The Original Musky Fly Shop

As I sit down to write this in the midst of another musky season I pose to myself…how many muskies have been landed on Winston rods? How many big ones?!

As a gentleman who arrived at fly fishing in one of the most unlikely ways…via muskellunge…it’s a natural question I suppose. Winston rods, at least here in musky country are revered, yet not typically tools we consider for the job. With all the rigamarole, fish breaking rods in figure 8s, casting treble hooks and egg sinkers (can I even say those words here?!??!) it’s no wonder the musky fly anglers aren’t running towards the green tubes for their next green dragon adventure. 

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Introducing the New Microspey AIR 2

Introducing the New Microspey AIR 2

5/19/2023

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The R.L. Winston Rod Company, located in Twin Bridges, Montana, is excited to introduce the Microspey AIR 2, utilizing our new, high-performance AIR 2 boron/graphite materials to provide anglers an unbelievably lightweight and responsive action that allows for ultimate trout spey presentation and faster line speeds to out-perform cast after cast. With an overall lighter weight, faster recovery, smoother connection, and sweeter feel, the Microspey Air 2 provides extraordinary feedback through the cast and swing.

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The Weekend with Winston

The Weekend with Winston

The biggest lie in owning a boat is that it will result in more fishing. In my experience, it’s only led me to more time on the oars, vicariously fishing through the angler up front. Leaving me to chomp at the bit, some would say. Having a couple buddies that can row helps. On a drizzly day in March, I was lucky enough to find myself between the leg locks on the front of my drift boat looking forward to some spring fly fishing in Montana. Skwala stoneflies clumsily fluttered past us and crashed into the rushing water below. A silhouette appeared from under the bank and, quicker than the dark olive stonefly could recover, a sudden gulp took the insect back to the depths. Days like these are enough to spoil any angler, on or off the sticks.

Skwalas, like other stoneflies, can live for years clinging to stones and wood on the river bed before crawling to the shore to emerge as adults. What ensues is a miraculous display of fluttering stoneflies stumbling about or crashing into the riverbank. Shortly after, they return to the river’s surface to lay their eggs–– and trout take notice in a big way. (more…)

Bay Flats Lodge Selected as Newest Winston Preferred Lodge

Bay Flats Lodge

Where: Seadrift, Texas
Guests: 40
Site: www.bayflatslodge.com

The R.L. Winston Rod Company in Twin Bridges, Montana, leading manufacturer of the world’s finest fly rods, is extremely pleased to announce Bay Flats Lodge, located in Seadrift Texas, as the newest fly fishing lodge to be selected as a WINSTON PREFERRED LODGE®.

What began back in 1996 as simple weekend hunting or fishing trips to get to know the people they worked with better, Bay Flats Lodge owners Chris and Deb Martin have turned into the most desired outdoor sporting destination along the Texas coast. The business was officially named Bay Flats Lodge in 2001 as the Martins acquired a canal home in Seadrift that could house up to twelve guests each day. The lodge has since evolved into a gorgeous waterfront property situated on the shore of San Antonio Bay that can comfortably accommodate forty guests.

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“A Fool’s Errand” – By Ambassadors Lee and Michaela Molvie

As your eyes dry out from searching the lake, a sharp sting sets in to the fingers from stripping the iced fly line across creased skin hundreds of times, and hope slowly fades. You began to think, “At least my double haul is looking good” – which is really what you say to yourself to keep from feeling disappointment and gnawing self-doubt.

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Landon Mayer’s Stillwater Tips

Photography By: Jason Shields
IG: @perfectloopproductions

Stillwater fisheries can provide opportunities to catch some of the largest trout in the world. One of the challenges many anglers face is how intimidating such a large body of water can be. What I’ve learned over the years is that a majority of large trout find a bulk of their diet near drop lines, vegetation, or rocky shorelines.

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The Days that are Worth It

By Mike Pogoda, Winston Pro Staff

Father’s Day is right around the corner.

As I’m writing this, my son is napping and I’m enjoying some quiet time. Any fellow parents can relate to that big exhalation of relief when you have some time to yourself. My son turns two this year, so I’m still pretty new to being a dad. What I’m not new to is spending most of my time in the outdoors. Naturally, when he was born, I couldn’t wait to share my love for the outdoors and fly fishing with him. When he was only a few days old, I put a Winston rod in his hands, hoping that he’ll grow up to be a Winston guy like his dad. Fast forward a month and we packed up the camper, hooked up the drift boat, and headed to the Henry’s Fork. His middle name is actually Henry, so you can tell that it’s a special place to our family. That weekend, we did his first float and the rest is history.

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Blue-Wings

Blue-Wings

The most enigmatic of hatches.

Words by Spencer Durrant

I stood in a halfhearted drizzle with my back to a wall of willows while I surveyed the river. It was still at its wintertime flows, both the current and the fish barely moving. What I’d hoped would get the fish moving wasn’t showing up yet, and based on the weather and time of day, I doubted it would.

Ryan McCullough stood next to me and we watched his son Josh and my buddy Mike Kingsbury throw fruitless cast after fruitless cast.

“I can’t figure this out,” I said. “This is perfect weather. Perfect conditions. And nothing’s happening.”

Ryan nodded. “Yeah, it’s weird.”

The four of us were exploring a stream that was supposedly seeing good hatches of early-season blue-winged olives. The bugs were small, dark, and only came off when the weather turned sour. We’d planned the trip to coincide with weather just bad enough the bugs would be out, and hopefully few, if any, other anglers.

So far, we were the only things – fish or people – caught in the rain.

That we’d driven so far to explore a hunch only compounded the feeling that we needed something to happen soon. Mike and I both lived in Utah at the time, while Ryan and Josh drove down from Olympia, Washington. While any time I get to spend with Mike, Ryan, and Josh is certainly a win, we could’ve picked a more convenient location and time to break bread and catch up on life.

“Maybe we should’ve waited a few weeks for the skwalas,” I muttered.

Ryan shrugged. “Maybe.”

Then, cutting through the pitter-patter silence of a rainy day on a small piece of water, we heard the unmistakable sound of fly line going tight. Moments after, the whine of an old click-and-pawl reel filled the air.

“I got one!” Mike hollered.

Sure enough, he stood downstream about 100 yards, his fly rod bent in half. “It ate the dry!”

I glanced back at Ryan. “I haven’t seen any bugs yet.”

“Neither have I,” he said.

Mike played the fish quickly into the net, popped the hook free, then held the fish up briefly so the rest of us could see. Its pale golden flanks glittered dimly in the gray, flat light of midmorning.

Almost as soon as Mike let his fish go, Josh let out a yell. Ryan and I turned to face him, 100 yards upstream, just as the brown trout jumped, landed, then pulled off another 20 feet of line.

“Well, I guess they finally got the memo,” I said.

Ryan and I waded back into the water, giving each other enough room to cast. Between the raindrops, I saw tiny, dark bugs fluttering lazily. Mayflies tend to fly with a nonchalance that’s undoubtedly part of why trout love them so much.

As though someone had thrown a switch, the bugs came off in droves, and the fish reacted as you’d expect. Soon, the once-tranquil surface of the river was rolling from the unending series of rises as far as the eye could see. It was a perfect hatch. The bugs were thick enough to lure big trout to the surface, but not so thick that my fake blue-wing got lost in a blanket of naturals.

I don’t know how many fish I caught that day – I never started counting. The hatch was too good to worry about which fish I landed and which ones went free. It was a rare moment of angling nirvana, where you could thoroughly lose yourself in the machinations of the natural world.

The hatch finally petered out around 4 p.m., almost five hours after it began. The four of us fished without a break, pausing only to tie on new flies, tippet, or to grab the rapidly-depleted bottle of floatant from whoever remembered to bring it. My back ached, my feet were mostly numb, and I was down to my last battered spent-wing fly when I finally called it a day.

Back at camp, we shuffled around in a bit of stunned silence. To this day, that’s still the most magnificent blue-wing hatch I’ve ever witnessed. It reminded me of the picture so many folks I know try to paint of a stonefly hatch. A river full of fish, eager to eat, hitting the surface with something close to reckless abandon. The only difference was these fish weren’t hitting just anything. The slightest bad drift, or one too many false casts, put them down. I broke off a half-dozen flies, at least, because I set the hook before the fish had fully eaten my blue-wing. It wasn’t easy fishing by any means – the fish and the bugs kept me on my toes.

It was the sort of fishing that demanded good casting and attention to detail, but rewarded both handsomely. That I got to spend the whole day throwing dry flies only made the experience that much more unforgettable. I think that’s why I enjoyed that blue-wing hatch more than any other stellar dry fly hatch I’ve fished. Part of fly fishing’s allure is the idea that you’re waging some sort of passive fight against nature; that we only sometimes win is what keeps us coming back.

Spencer Durrant is a fly fishing writer, guide, and bamboo rod builder from Wyoming. He’s the News Editor for MidCurrent, and a columnist for Hatch Magazine. Connect with him on Instagram/Twitter, @Spencer_Durrant

Photos by Cole Leishman (@cole.leishman)

 

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Extra Reach To Get The Job Done – 9’6″ 5-weight Air 2 Review

Words By Brett Wedeking

There’s a million rods out there these days and a million opinions on what the best one is—and a lot of hype. It’s impossible to say what “the best” rod is out there, but Winston’s Air 2 series makes a persuasive argument for top billing. Over the winter I had the opportunity to fish the new 9’6” 5-weight Air 2 on my homewaters of Puget Sound. What a treat it was.

While my Puget Sound fly fishing is technically trout fishing, it’s unlike any other trout fishery on the planet. We need powerful rods that can zip out shooting heads and weighted flies with ease, repeatedly, but still retain a light and sensitive feeling in the hand. And, we’re talking 5-6 weight rods, this isn’t striper fishing. Blending power and finesse is a difficult task but this model finds the sweet spot on every cast, every hook up.

To say this rod blends power and finesse is unfair and simplistic, however. This rod generates the type of power you’d normally find in a 7-weight. And that kind of power is rarely blended with the delicacy and presentation accuracy of this rod. I’m a fan of longer rods for big rivers and this rod is perfectly at home on rivers like the Deschutes, wading thigh deep on slick rocks, trying to sling a stonefly around an upstream bush. Feel confident that the fly will drop where you point the rod and not six feet up in the bush. The line control that six extra inches provides is beautiful. Big mends and high sticking are cake. Roll casting is buttery and effortless.

The length slows down the cast and the rod bends deep into the butt, with kinetic feel from tip to cork. That feel is equally important when trying to sling a baitfish pattern 80’ to the beach or dropping a PMD emerger behind a boulder. While I only fished the former situation with this model, this stick would be my first choice for the South Fork of the Snake in July, where you’re double hauling bushy stoneflies along the bank and fishing hatches in the riffles on the same afternoon.

This rod excels at throwing a variety of fly lines. For floaters, I’d match it with an SA Trout taper or Infinity taper all day long. Don’t be afraid to load a heavier taper either, for turning over bigger bugs. This rod will handle it. I was thoroughly impressed by this rod turning over the shooting heads and baitfish patterns we fish on Puget Sound. I put a 6-weight Rio Coastal Quickshooter and 6-weight Outbound on and the rod slung both lines as far as I cared to cast, with tight loops, in a breeze. This is not your average 5-weight trout rod, folks. Streamer fishing in Montana, New Zealand browns, nymphing on Upper Sacramento, stoneflies on the Yakima, wherever you’re going, this rod is a grade-A option. And, I can’t wait to try out the heavier models.

For more info on Seattle fly fishing in Washington’s Puget Sound and local rivers, check out Tailout Anglers or @tailoutanglers on Instagram.

Photos By Greg Sweney