by Winston Rods | Nov 21, 2025
It’s a Pacific Northwest tradition: when winter sets in, anglers flee the short days, rain, snow, and ice for white sand flats and palm trees. It sounds inviting — unless you’re a winter steelhead guide, which I am. In that case, you wait for another window to get your fix of light beer, palm trees, and sight fishing.
Late in the steelhead season, once moss takes hold in my beard, a certain client’s mantra echoes in my head:
“Tarpon and Beer. Let’s get the F$%K out of here!”
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by Winston Rods | Oct 15, 2025
10/16/24 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW FROM THE R.L. WINSTON ROD COMPANY
THE AIR 2 TH
The R.L. Winston Rod Company, located in Twin Bridges, Montana, is excited to announce the AIR 2 TH, utilizing the company’s award-winning AIR 2 graphite platform with NanoParticle resin system, to showcase unmatched lightness, loop control, power, and two-hand casting efficiency. Designed with application specific lengths and grain windows, these two-handers are lighter, incredibly durable, and deliver the deep loading Winston feel spey anglers have come to love. Every model has been precisely engineered for exceptional loop control, power, and efficiency—to deliver effortless casts and tight loops with minimal effort. Whether you’re swinging up summer steelhead on the Deschutes, searching for Atlantic Salmon on the Restigouche, or fighting Kings up in Alaska, the AIR 2 TH redefines modern two-hand performance.
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by Winston Rods | Jul 17, 2025
Twin Bridges, Montana— 7/7/25 — The R.L. Winston Rod Company and Bauer Fly Reels, located in Twin Bridges, Montana, are pleased to announce two key additions to their sales team. Jay Beebe joins as Sales Manager, while Tyson Webb takes on the role of Northern Rockies Sales Representative, covering Montana and Idaho.
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by Winston Rods | Jun 9, 2025
6/9/24 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NEW FROM THE R.L. WINSTON ROD COMPANY
THE AIR 2 REACH
The R.L. Winston Rod Company, located in Twin Bridges, Montana, is excited to announce the AIR 2 Reach, a three-model series of ten-foot fly rods delivering lightweight and responsive feel as part of the award-winning AIR 2 series. These rods extend performance across trout applications that demand a little extra length for technical nymphing, long drift presentations, float tube fishing, mending and lifting more line.
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by Winston Rods | Feb 10, 2025
Words: Sam Lungren
Photos: Jesse Males
The words caught in my throat: “…jaguar…” I wheezed under the outboard thrum.
The rest of our crew and clients were still facing back upstream as we headed down, hollering supportive trash-talk to April Vokey and Jesse Males working and filming the fast water around a mid-river rock formation for the violent yet stubborn payara—vampire fish as they’re appropriately known. I turned my head downstream as we came around the bend to see an oddly symmetrical lump on the sandbar.
Terry Haynes—Rewa Native, head guide, jungle warrior—saw it too. As we both pointed and gasped the lump rose into a 100-pound wildcat, turning and trotting back into the abysmal Amazon Rainforest, rosette flank undulating over cables of muscle. It was gone before anyone could so much as unsheathe their cellphone. I reached up to notice my eyes were wet.
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