Winston Rod When One Becomes a TU Life Member?

[MD_Gene]

Anyone know anything about the Winston 5 wt that TU gives when you become a life member? How's the action? Fast? Slow? How would you rate the overall caliber of rod? I know that luggage companies, flatware companies, crystal companies make models of thier products that are sold to companies to be given to
employees as awards. For example, American Tourister makes luggage that they say, in their own words, is not for the regular, high-frequency traveler. I wonder if Winston is doing something like this?

 

[Letort]

As far as I know, they are regular production rods. They also rotate, as I have seen T&T, Sage and Winston as give aways for the life membership. Last time I looked (about a month ago), it was a Sage, which I was not interested in.

I would think the manufacturers either supply the rods at cost or donate several to TU.

 

[Letort]

OK, I stand corrected on this one. That is recently posted and sounds like a winner (I am a huge Winston fan). This rods appears to be based on the BIIx platform, but since it comes in at 8'10", does not sound to be modeled off of any of their production models.

I may try to call out to Bozeman and ask them about it. They are usually very good at answering questions.

 

[gutcutter]

The rod that I received for my $1000 donation (TU life membership) was a 9' 5wt Winston BIIMX. It was accompanied by a low end waterworks reel (Guru). In my opinion, they should have matched the rod with a high end reel.
I made the choice to become a life member partially (mostly) because of the rod.
I am a Winston junkie and love the BIIMX series.
It was a no-brainer for me

 

[wsender]

If only it was a 4wt.

 

[jayL]

My understanding is that it is a discontinued blank.

 

[jdaddy]

I have mixed feelings on the deal. I mean first you are supporting TU and their cold water conservation efforts, which is a noble cause. However, there are a couple of things that I don't like about this offer. First, the life membership was always $1000 and typically included a $700 rod. When the Winston BIIMX was fazed out they then went to a Sage TCX, which was the most expensive rod offered with the life membership and the life membership went to $1,200. That offer also included a nice Sage Reel. Now they are back to Winston and are offering the BIIx citing it as a $775 value. The BIIx was discontinued by Winston last year. It was replaced by the much improved BIIIx. The BIIx was $695, not $775. $775 is the price of the new Winston BIIIx. The BIIt and BIImx are still $695. So I believe that this dated rod design is being advertised as a higher value than it should. This impacts the tax deductible portion of your donation.

The BIIx is a nice rod. It has a great rod feel. It is a moderate action rod. I would not remotely call it moderate fast. The BIImx is the fastest of the Winston line up. The BIIIx is a substantial improvement over the BIIx. It's faster, lighter and still retains a great feel. Additionally, people are clearancing the BIIx 9' 5wt (and 4wt Sender) for around $400. Lastly, when Winston teamed with TU for the BIImx rod that gutcutter got, it took FOREVER for a lot of folks to get their rods. Winston back logged the requests quite a bit. It was a popular deal.

Bottom line is I would buy a clearance BIIx and donate money to TU or wait for the next lifetime membership rod.

Edit: To answer your question about it being a potentially "less than Winston" rod, that is not an issue. It is made in the factory (actually women come to the shop once a week to pick up blanks, take them home and do all the wraps at home) that should have excellent fit, finish and quality. But the BIIIx is a better rod.

 

[Shock]

I thought the offer was interesting, too.

I LOVE the BIIX's and personally don't know why they chose to discontinue it. At 8'10" and with the added TU touches, it would be a really unique rod to keep and fish for many years. If the price was $1000 I would probably jump on it.

I know that the "experts" have said that the BIIIx is a real improvement over the BIIx but I will have to cast one for myself before they can sell me on that. It sounds like Winston is just trying to reinvent the Z-Axis. If someone wants an Z-Axis they should just buy a Sage.

Martin

 

[jdaddy]

Shock wrote:
I thought the offer was interesting, too.

I LOVE the BIIX's and personally don't know why they chose to discontinue it. At 8'10" and with the added TU touches, it would be a really unique rod to keep and fish for many years. If the price was $1000 I would probably jump on it.

I know that the "experts" have said that the BIIIx is a real improvement over the BIIx but I will have to cast one for myself before they can sell me on that. It sounds like Winston is just trying to reinvent the Z-Axis. If someone wants an Z-Axis they should just buy a Sage.

Martin

I own BIIx's and BIIIx's of the same weight and length. The BIIIx is a winner. You will understand when you cast the BIIIx. Now would I pay $775 for BIIIx verus $400 for a BIIx? No way. But is definitely lighter, a bit faster and much more back bone. The 10' 4wt was a HUGE improvement but then again anything was an improvement over the 10' 4wt BIIx. However, do not fear, the rod retains the classic Winston feel. That's what is so cool about it in my opinion. I would say that the BIImx is more akin to the Z-Axis, with it being the fastest Winston produced to date.

Edit: And they kind of had to get rid of the BIIx. The WT became a special order rod. The BIIt is still there for those seeking a moderate action rod, the BIImx is there for the fast action and the BIIIx is just a great fast(er) action rod that is superior to the BIIx in my opinion. Why keep the BIIx?

 

[Shock]

I will have to give one a try when the snow melts a little.

 

[gutcutter]

jayl and jdaddy, i believe you guys are mistaken about the BIIMX and the trout unlimited deal. first of all, i ordered mine as soon as i saw the add in my "trout" magazine. i received it in only a few weeks after the order. the BIIMX was (and as far as i can tell still is) an "in production" rod when i jumped on the deal. previous to the life membership drive, i had purchased a 10wt BIIMX rod for permit fishing and i loved it. i saw the add for the TU life membership and got the 5 wt, suspecting that the action would be similar. i figured that if i didn't like it for trout, i'd use it for bass. well, i loved it. so much that this past fall (over a year after i joined, i bought an "in production" 9'4wt BIIMX. I have seen nothing that indicates that the BIIMX is no longer in production. the BIIX is phased out. maybe there will be a BIIIMX at some point, and if that happens, i'll probably get one of those, too.
i mean, i already have three winston four weights, what's another one gonna hurt???
it would have made more sense to me to package it with a litespeed and not a guru, but the guru is a great reel, too. i now use it on my BIIx...

 

[jdaddy]

gutcutter wrote:
jayl and jdaddy, i believe you guys are mistaken about the BIIMX and the trout unlimited deal. first of all, i ordered mine as soon as i saw the add in my "trout" magazine. i received it in only a few weeks after the order. the BIIMX was (and as far as i can tell still is) an "in production" rod when i jumped on the deal. previous to the life membership drive, i had purchased a 10wt BIIMX rod for permit fishing and i loved it. i saw the add for the TU life membership and got the 5 wt, suspecting that the action would be similar. i figured that if i didn't like it for trout, i'd use it for bass. well, i loved it. so much that this past fall (over a year after i joined, i bought an "in production" 9'4wt BIIMX. I have seen nothing that indicates that the BIIMX is no longer in production. the BIIX is phased out. maybe there will be a BIIIMX at some point, and if that happens, i'll probably get one of those, too.
i mean, i already have three winston four weights, what's another one gonna hurt???
it would have made more sense to me to package it with a litespeed and not a guru, but the guru is a great reel, too. i now use it on my BIIx...

Read the posts again. I state BIIx is discontinued, not the BIImx. I acknowledge that BIImx is a great rod, is still produced and a lot of folks got in on the deal for the rod, reel, etc for $1,000. I stated that there was huge demand issues and it literally took months for some folks to get their BIImx from the TU deal. You acknowledge getting in early. I waited until the end of December, called TU about it and they said they would not even place the life membership order under the BIImx offer as they were not being fulfilled and were months out. I don't think there will be a BIIImx. Frankly, from a looks perspective the Guru would look a lot better on the BIIx with the chrome hardware versus the color of the litespeed against the chrome. Does the guru not balance the 9ft 5wt BIIx perfectly? I would think it would and the litespeed may be a little too light. Just an opinion based upon the litespeed balances the 9' 4wt BIIIx perfectly and it is 3/4 -1 oz lighter than the BIIx.

 

[Chaz]

You know I have no incentive to become a life member though I could use a 6'6" rod, but they aren't likely to give you one of those.

 

[gutcutter]

jdaddy
sorry about the misinterpretation of your post. you are correct about the reel being too light.
i wound up putting a velocity 3 (5.1oz) on it. the guru (4.7oz) balances my 4wt BIIx perfectly

 

[wetnet]

I have the 5' weight 9'6" BMXII. It is an awesome rod. I have a Lamson Konic on it. I don't need to shoot a ton of line and I'm not good enough to unload my reel but my sons emptied the spool and just smiled at me and told me to have some fun Mom. I got it late last year and can't wait to get it out again soon.

I also may have thought about a 4 weight but I love to hit the smallmouth on the river with my Brother. This rod does both. I have never had problems with sensitivity.

Is it spring yet? We have so much snow I'd need a sled to the stream. It needs to go away. White out today for an hour!