Winston TMF ?'s

[anthonyminski]

Does anyone own this rod? How versatile is it? Only drys, or can you throw small streamers? Also, anyone rig a 5 wt line on this 4 wt? Thanks, just trying to get some opinions on this rod before a possible purchase.

 

[afishinado]

Never heard of a Winston TMF. It's not listed on the Winston site either:

http://www.winstonrods.com/flyrods

 

[anthonyminski]

Look under Classics, then WT trout. It is an 8' 4wt (Tom Morgan Favorite).

 

[salvelinus]

Sure it's listed, look at this page: http://www.winstonrods.com/flyrods/classic/wt_trout It's mentioned under 4 weights. "The 8' "Tom Morgan Favorite" is a great spring creek rod." So I would think it's made for tiny dries and such.

 

[afishinado]

anthonyminski wrote:
Does anyone own this rod? How versatile is it? Only drys, or can you throw small streamers? Also, anyone rig a 5 wt line on this 4 wt? Thanks, just trying to get some opinions on this rod before a possible purchase.

I see the rod now on the Winston site.

You really have to cast it to know if it fits your casting style and what you plan to do with it.

Knowing a little about Winston rods, plus the fact it is a medium action rod, I would guess that putting a 5wt line on this rod would not be a good choice. Generally faster rods take more kindly to overlining.

Again, find a shop that has one and try it out. I would recommend that you evaluate other models and other rod brands before you decide. My philosophy is, with lower-priced rods, 70-80% satisfied is okay, but you should be 110% satisfied before you lay out all that cash for a rod, and plan to fish it for decades and will it to your heirs.

 

[tennjed]

The TMF is best used as a dry fly rod (a sweet stick). If your looking for more versatility in that length and wt. I would look at BIIT or BIIX. Don't be put off by the BIIX as being labeled fast. It isn't like most "broomstick" fast actions out there. I fish my BIIT (8' 4wt) quite often as my go to small/med stream dry fly rod. However, if I need to fish a small nymph rig, it can handle it. Just my 2 cents.

 

[GreenWeenie]

The Winston TMF is a medium action rod according to Winston’s definition, which is much slower than Sage’s definition of medium action. As an example, Winston’s fast action BiiX would be classified by Sage as a medium or maybe a medium-fast action rod. Now, for the TMF rod.

First, the TMF is a two piece rod (if that matters).

Second, the TMF is not designed for long distance casting and it will max out at about 35 – 40 feet irrespective of size fly (it is a true rated rod meaning 30 feet of 4 weight line results in optimum loading). While the TMF is designed for delicate presentation it can handle non-weighted bucktail type streamers and lightly weighted nymphs but you’re not going to chuck out a heavily weighted woolly bugger.

Third, if you have a fast casting stroke and are prone to muscling out the fly, this isn’t the rod for you.

Fourth, it will not overline.

Overall, if you are looking for a rod with a classic medium action that will outperform any other rod at close ranges when using smaller flies, especially dries, this is the rod for you unless you want to drop $1300+ for a Tom Morgan Rodsmiths rod. If you are looking for a traditional action rod with more versatility, the sweet rod in the Winston WT line is the 8.5 foot #5 weight rod. This has a medium-fast action and is really a nice rod. Also, as Tennjed stated, the BiiX rods are not broomstick fast action rods despite the fast action label. They are a true fast action designs with a soft tip that progressively gets stiffer as you approach the mid section. Also, the BiiT, while labeled medium action, actually has a lot more power than one would expect and is a farily traditional action rod.

If you are looking for a very versatile #4 weight the Winston BiiT 8.5 foot rod has been labeled, “The Staff Of Mosses,” by many on the Winston forum. I have cast it and it is a nice rod.

I have an 8 foot 3 and 4 weight WT rod and a 9 foot 5 weight WT rod. The 3 weight (medium action) actually has the best feel of them all but it simply cannot handle much wind. The 4 weight is a medium-fast action rod, can handle wind, has nice feel and is extremely versatile but my 9 foot 5 weight (medium action) simply does everything it does plus more. Just remember, the Winston WT series is not meant for slinging heavily weighted flies to distant targets. With my 5 weight and good timing I can deliver a pretty heavy payload with a good degree of accuracy to about 25 – 30 feet. With normal flies the 9 foot 5 weight will reach out to 50 – 55 feet with ease. But probably 100% of my fishing is done within 25 feet so these rods suit me perfectly.

My advice with this and any other rod is try it first.

 

[jayL]

My experience with winstons is that they are noodles. They are fine noodles for dry fly fishing. They might be the best for that.

My relatively limited experience with them says that you will be dissatisfied with it for any other application. Perhaps this model is different, but I have noticed it to be the case over a few different models.

 

[mrflyfish]

It is a classic. Med action, protects the tippets very well and is very delicate. For my self I would jump on it but I also know it limitations as said above. There may be a rod that performs better for you. Get out and cast a few.

 

[GreenWeenie]

I would agree and yet completely disagree with JayL’s assessment. Compared to a fast action Sage or Loomis or some of the other cheaper fast action broomsticks out there than yes, one could label the Winston rod a noodle but it is an extremely versatile noodle that can do a lot more than just fish dries at close ranges.

Effectively using and liking a truly traditional medium action rod all comes down to casting stroke and technique. If you’re casting stroke is tailored around a fast action Sage type rod than absolutely, you will have all kinds of difficulty casting a Winston and you probably won’t like it. But if you slow down your casting stroke down and let the rod do the work most of the 4 weight Winstons will easily reach out to 45 - 50 feet with the BiiX’s and BiiMX’s easily hitting 70 feet. With my 9 foot WT 5 weight (medium action) I can toss a cone head #8 muddler with three #4 split shot on the tippet accurately up to 30 - 35 feet without a problem and this distance more than suits my needs. With no split shot that muddler is out to 40 – 45 feet and with a #14 dry as an example, I can easily reach out to 55 – 60 feet in low wind conditions. To me this is pretty versatile. But in order to do so it takes a slower casting stroke and good timing to make the rod come alive in your hands and you either have that casting stroke or you don’t. I’m not saying one stroke is right or wrong but if your timing is off you can’t add power to the stroke to compensate for poor timing or you will quickly overload the rod and the cast will fall apart.

But within the WT series the TMF rod is definitely more specialized and specifically designed to excel under delicate close-up dry fly fishing conditions. I certainly wouldn’t buy this rod to be my all purpose rod, as that is not what it is meant to be, but I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a different Winston WT to be my all purpose rod if traditional action feel in graphite is what you want (the BiiT is Winston’s traditional action rod except made of Boron). If you don’t want a traditional feel but are interested in Winston than stay away from the WT (3 piece) and BiiT (4 piece) series and look at the BiiX (Boron fast action) or BiiMX (Boron extra fast) series rods (both 4 piece). The LT series (Winston’s graphite 5 piece series) is a bit faster than the WT but somewhat slower than the BiiX.

 

[anthonyminski]

Thanks for all the input. I have cast the TMF and it is a fantastic rod IMHO. I am not a "fast" rod type caster. So, Winstons suit me. However, I am looking for a versatile rod as I can't afford more than one rod at the $600-700 price point. The money isn't the issue, I can't afford losing my wife over a fishing rod. LOL. I'll be headed to the sportsman show in Oaks this weekend to further my research. I'm curious about the WT 8'6'' 5wt and the same in the BII t.

 

[bikerfish]

you let your wife know when you buy a fishing rod??!!
never heard of this. sounds scary.
from everyones reaction to the rod in question, I'd say buy it, if you don't like it, you can probably sell it and not loose anything.

 

[abbrod]

If you don't mind I will throw my two cents in on this one. As a custom builder, I test rate every rod utilizing the "common Cents System" developed by Dr. Bill Haneman. This system is truly eye opening as it objectively measures all rods in a simple, scientific, apples to apples way. It measures the intrinsic power of a rod and also the action and frequency in a numerical way making comparing one rod to another possible.
The Winston BIIx 9'4wt. is a very fast action rod. Faster than the Sage Z-axis in fact. It does not however have a stiff feel. What is different is that the Sage 4wt is actually more powerful than the Winston 4wt. This is what in at least this case for the two rods I was able to measure causes the broomstick feel in the sage. It also has a higher frequency which indicates that it recovers more quickly than the Winston.

When you read all of the comments in this thread you will find that there is no data based explanation at all. They are just terms that are not defined, and can mean different things to different people. We all say things like "moderate, fast, stiff, light etc" but what does that mean? Call the fly shop and place your order for a medium length rod and see what you get. The guy will immediately ask what exact length in feet and inches you are looking for. That is because there is an accepted unit a measurement in place that we all agree to use. Think about it. But if you say order me a 9' fast action rod the guy says "I got just what you need!" Should there be a way to determine how fast in a numerical way so we could all agree that we were talking about the same thing? This would eliminate a lot of frustration.

Check it out. If there was more use of this tool we could start being able to accurately and objectively compare rods when questions like "has anyone tried the model x series rod?"

http://www.common-cents.info/

 

[afishinado]

Great info from Greenweenie and abbrod, they really know their stuff.

In this article are photos to demonstrate what abbrod wrote about rod action and rod power:

http://www.rajeffsports.com/power_action.php





Here is a great explanation on how many people select a rod that fits their style of casting:



"So which rod is better for you a stiff or a soft rod? How the heck should I know? I've never even seen you cast!

As a rule if you were born with muscles that feel best making longer slower motions than you might like a softer rod. You are a distance runner, a painter who makes long smooth brush strokes, or a Tai-Chi in the park kind of person. Maybe you like reading excerpts of Robert Frost in between casting strokes. You have what some people call long muscles. You don't feel comfortable having to come up with that explosive power application needed to bend a stiff rod. Don't worry we still love you. (Awwwwwww!)

If you were born with an abundance of fast twitch muscles you might like a stiffer rod. You are a sprinter, shot putter, a jumper, or a boxer with a great jab. Or maybe it's just all that caffeine. Your explosive burst of acceleration will be enough to bend a stiff rod and will result in good loops."

link to source:

http://www.rajeffsports.com/power_action.php