Winston Air 2 9′ 4-weight

Reviews

1. Rated 4 out of 5

   With any fly line, this model is more touch-oriented but less powerful than the Air 2 9′ 5-weight.  If the 9′ #5 is a 7 out of 10 in stiffness, the 9’ #4 is a 6 out of 10.  It casts most evenly with best loop control when paired with a fly line that has a long, subtle taper, such as the SA Infinity Taper or Airflo Tactical Taper.  Shorter headed lines tend to bounce or disengage.  The Rio Technical Trout strikes a reasonable compromise, but I like the rod best with long headed lines.  Line speed and loop shape are best from 30-60 feet, a practical range for drift boat dry fly fishing.  It’s a great rod for rivers like the Missouri, where the rising trout always seem to be 40 feet away.  It’s also well suited for wading tailwaters, presenting long leaders with a little distance between angler and trout.

   The Air 2 9’ 4-weight won’t drive nails into the wind like other rods in its class, but it has the characteristic feel and presentation qualities that make anglers love Winston rods. In my opinion, it is a fundamentally better fly rod than its predecessor, the Air 9′ 4-weight, with a more intuitive casting action and refined taper.  The Air 2 9′ 4-weight is definitely faster action than the Pure 9’ 4-weight, which flexes into the middle of the rod on every cast, but not as powerful as the equivalent Centric, X, Asquith or NRX+.  In the hands of a skilled caster, this Air 2 has high level presentation capabilities, but you can’t horse it in the wind or generate much line speed with a full nymph rig.  Fish this rod with a single dry fly or light dry-dropper combo.

   John Duncan (Telluride Angler)