Winston Air 2 9′ 6-weight 5-piece

Reviews

1. Rated 5 out of 5

   Like the 9’ 5-weight 5-piece model, I am super impressed with the taper design of this rod. It simply doesn’t feel like a 5-piece rod in any respect. Neither stiff nor heavy, the Air 2 9’ 6-weight 5-piece flexes right through its 4 ferrules without interruption of the flex profile. The action is “medium fast” and it will handle any 6-weight line except overweighted specialty streamer tapers such as the Rio Outbound. One of my favorite line pairings is the Scientific Anglers Amplitude Infinity, which engages the whole rod for efficient, powerful casts that turn over nymph/indicator rigs with authority without requiring an overpowered or exaggerated casting stroke. I also loved it with both a Rio Technical Trout, which lightens the rod and tightens loops in the 25-50 foot casting range, as well as a Rio Predator WF6, with which the rod was impressively stable and confident. This is an efficient, naturally well-tuned rod for all-purpose 6-weight fishing, especially with nymphs and dry flies. It feels like a close cousin of the 9’ 5-weight 5-piece rod, but appropriately escalated in power.

   John Duncan (Telluride Angler)

2. Rated 5 out of 5

   Cut from the same cloth as the 905, just appropriately more powerful and wonderfully representative of its line weight. The Winston Air 2 5 Piece 906 is a superb western 9 foot 6 weight. Dries, nymph rigs and streamers feel appropriate save for the large dungeons maybe. The appeal as a more packable all around trout rod is serious and leaves little argument not to have one of these somewhere close by. Similar to the 905, the 6 weight feels faster, livelier and more playful with a Rio Gold, but with more seriousness than the 905. You get the sense that this rod will push into the wind when needed. The Infinity taper slows it down, but gives it a little stiffer butt section feeling. Both lines on the Air 2 5 Piece 906 provide for a rod that is highly tuned with a hopper, hopper-dropper or indicator rig. The Gold gives you a little more finesse and the Infinity gives you a little more locked in and loaded feeling. Light and beautiful, the Air 2 5 Piece 906 is adaptable and capable across a broad spectrum of trout techniques and should be a top consideration for the angler venturing further in need of a bigger stick.

   Richard Post (Telluride Angler)

3. Rated 5 out of 5

   The 9’ 6wt 5 piece Air 2 from Winston is a very deep and even flexing rod. It doesn’t cast off the tip like some of their stiffer rods but rather loads deep and absorbs a lot of energy. This rod will roll cast and mend better than other similar rods out there and has superior feel for a 6wt. It doesn’t have the ultra-light feeling that the 4 and 5wt 5 piece rods do, but it certainly doesn’t feel heavy in hand. This is a rod that would be excellent for long leaders, and bigger dry flies on larger rivers. It is a little picky on fly line pairings yet still handles a pretty wide range of fly lines well. If you plan on using it strictly as a dry fly rod I would suggest thinking about the SA Amplitude Trout Expert WF6F. If you want to use it as a “do it all” style 6wt, consider the SA Amplitude Trout GP WF6F. In the name of science, I decided to cast a streamer style line on this rod and was absolutely blown away by how well it handled the aggressive line. I played around with the Rio Elite Predator line on this rod and it was strangely lovely. I wouldn’t recommend fishing a really big streamer on here, but with an appropriately sized bug and the right line this would be a really fun streamer rod out of a boat.

   Parker Thompson (Telluride Angler)