Why Are Winston Fly Rods So Expensive? | We Went to The Winston Factory to Find Out
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- Опубліковано 1 жов 2024
- When you see that tone of green, only one brand comes to mind, R.L. Winston. Winston has been developing and manufacturing fly rods in Twin Bridges, MT since 1929 where they have mastered the craft. It's no secret that Winston rods often exceed the $1000 mark, but why?
We wanted to find out for ourselves, so we spent the day at the factory to get a glimpse into how these rods are developed and what Winston offers that other brands don't. By the end of the day, we had our answer... Perfection comes with a price.
WINSTON RODS: flyproject.us/...
My grandfather used to work at winston and my grandmother sewed the bags till she couldnt sew anymore. I have muliple bamboo rods from that they'ed build for each other. My favorite is a 7.5 ft creek rod, its so fine, natural bamboo, I need it referbished!
yep as a current employee there and owner of many winston rods i can truly say that they are the best
Winston has an amazing history
My first one was a steal. There was a B2T at a Cabelas fly shop, the person in there said it was sent to the shop by mistake, sat in the back storage for a while, then they put it on clearance for $200 because it wouldn’t sell at the regular price. I liked it so much, I bought another one a few years later with my rewards points. Yes I agree, great rods. But most people don’t realize, that the reason why you can balance them so easily with a light reel, is because the reel seat and components behind the cork grip are pretty heavy compared to many other rods. Today’s reels have become too light in weight, but with many of the Winston rods, you get some extra weight there behind your hand (along with the reel) to help with the balancing -it’s all physics folks.
wild thing is these are production rods! I can get multiple custom made fly rods for that same price using the materials and blanks i want
I am a Winston user and I used to be a fan of the brand, until I broke a rod and they never responded to my messages - which were not intended to execute the warranty but to request a new section of the broken rod. Nowadays I have one Winston rod in use but I'm sure I won't buy another one again.
I won’t.
Winston did not start making rods in Twin Bridges, they were started in San Fransisco by Robert Winther and Lew Stoner. Tom Morgan moved the company to Montana in 1976 a few years after he purchased it form Doug Merrick. I have the 'Pure', it's a nice rod, the fit and finish is better than any of the big rod companies for sure. The Pure 9' 5wt seems fine for dry flies and smaller stuff. The older rods I think especially the one with spigot ferrules had a bit more 'magic' about them and could throw heavy flies and streamers a lot easier. I can't comment about the Air Max2 because I've never cast one. You are paying for the lifetime warranty too so,...
I love my Winstons. Almost all summer I spent with my 10ft 9”trout Spey Air2 until my home water dropped. Then TMF kicked in and my Pure. I spent whole this week casting TMF and it is really great rod. I wish Winston will do some downlocking reel seats but that might come back one day. I also have some rods from reputable companies, some little cheaper some equal to Winston price but I always go back to Winston to fish when conditions are right. If anyone wants to try true Winston then please try TMF and you will understand why that Winston model is 1K rod.
Ok, now I know what will be on my Christmas list.
I’d love to buy one, there too soft… Tough to beat my Scott Centric👌🏻
Centric is a killer rod… but Winston is no longer soft with launch of the Air 2 Max… I was surprised… very fast flat shooting rod for salt or wind