Winston

In the coming weeks I'm going to be soaking a good amount of change into a new general purpose five weight trout rod and the Winston WT is one in particular I've got my eyes on, mainly because it seems like the perfect rod for this area of the country. As of right now I plan on casting one of these rods along with maybe a Sage Z-Axis or Orvis Zero Gravity, though I don't know if I so much prefer such fast rods. But anyway, I was wondering if anyone here has any experience with Winston's customer service, good or bad? Reason I ask is because I've read about some bad experiences recently with them and with the amount of money involved, good customer service is a must.

I have an 8'6" 5wt Winston WT, and fish it more than any other rod I own. To me there is no better all purpose trout rod. As far as winston customer service goes, I did have an issue with them a few months ago after my WT started cracking at the middle ferrule. I sent the rod next day shipping, and called them 2 days later to make sure they recieved the rod. They "didnt know" if they had it or not, and asked me to call back the following day. I called the following day and they told me the same thing again. I was not happy. I called a few days later, and they still did not know where my rod was. Eventually, while they still did not know where the rod was, I recieved an invoice for the repairs they were doing. So they were repairing the rod that they "didnt have". After all the confusion and a few weeks went by I recieved my repaired rod. They did excellent work on it. Not only did they fix the damage, but they also re-did all the spiqot ferrules on the rod, cleaned the cork, polished the finish on the blank, and replaced nickle finished hardware on the reelseat with new shiny hardware. Needless to say I was pleased with their work, and all it cost me was shipping an a headache.
 
 While guiding, i've had the chance to cast a lot of rods, and must say that the z-axis doesn't seem as fishable on PA waters as the xp, and the xp is a little fast for my tastes. Nonetheless I feel the xp is a great rod.

SilverKype, if the WT fits my criteria for what I'm looking for after casting it, I'm prepaired to spend the $600 on one. I do, however, plan on casting several different rods before making any sort of choice and those rods range from $250 all the way to $650.

I was looking originally at a T3 mid-flex but learned that they will be discontinuing that line of rods after this year. I see they already have a couple on clearance on the Orvis website. By the way, if anyone's interested in a new eight weight, Orvis has two Zero Gravities (a tip flex and mid flex) on clearance for $395!

Anyway, I'll probably stay away from a Z-Axis because of how fast it is, but they make a Zero Gravity in a mid-flex 6.5 and I'd like to find and cast one of those.

Any other suggestions? I prefer more moderately actioned rods, not bamboo slow and not broomstick fast. I know the market is getting thin on such rods...Again, this is a general purpose rod for trout made to handle a variety of different situations and will be my go to rod 98% of the time, so anything super fast is out of the question.

They just discontinued them but I would have to recommend a Sage SLT.  They fall into the moderate/fast category.  They have an awesome powerful feel.  I personally dont own one but have borrowed/fished my buddies numerous times.  I had a Sage VPS and the SLT put my rod to shame.  Plus now that they aren't being made anymore you could probably find one for around 400.

ORIGINAL: ronnie84

SilverKype, if the WT fits my criteria for what I'm looking for after casting it, I'm prepaired to spend the $600 on one. I do, however, plan on casting several different rods before making any sort of choice and those rods range from $250 all the way to $650.

I was looking originally at a T3 mid-flex but learned that they will be discontinuing that line of rods after this year. I see they already have a couple on clearance on the Orvis website. By the way, if anyone's interested in a new eight weight, Orvis has two Zero Gravities (a tip flex and mid flex) on clearance for $395!

Anyway, I'll probably stay away from a Z-Axis because of how fast it is, but they make a Zero Gravity in a mid-flex 6.5 and I'd like to find and cast one of those.

Any other suggestions? I prefer more moderately actioned rods, not bamboo slow and not broomstick fast. I know the market is getting thin on such rods...Again, this is a general purpose rod for trout made to handle a variety of different situations and will be my go to rod 98% of the time, so anything super fast is out of the question.

 
I prefer moderate action rods myself. Many people make the wrong assumption that all changes in flyrods over the past 10 years has been progressive. That is certainly not true. The WT is the same as the IM6 that winston has made for a very long time. The only thing that really changed on the wt has been the real seat. You'll find that the WT is still the most popular winston rod, even after the company started adding boron to "improve" their rods. The boron IIt is a good example of how new technology is not necessarilly better. Winston seemed very sure that this rod was superior to the WT, but just about everyone who cast it said otherwise.
 
Most companies have replaced their moderate and slow rods with fast action rods that cast further, but do not fish well. Fast rods DO NOT fish light tippets well, and therefore are not good choices when it comes down to tiny dries and emergers. Softer rods take the pressure off the tippet, and absorb it.
 
I often fish 7x tippets with midges and tricos on my WT with no problem. Couldnt see doing that with anything faster.
 
 

Well my wife isn't too pleased with the idea of purchasing a rod in the $600 range.

I haven't casted any of these yet, but has anyone here had any experiences with the following rods...

Sage Launch
Winston Ascent
Winston Vapor
Orvis Power Matrix

Which would you recommend and why?

You really think the Ascent and/or Vapor is that bad compared to an Avid? Chances are you know much more than I do but I'm just curious anyway...

While I didn't actually cast it, I did pick up an Ascent at the fly shop to get a feel for it and I didn't have any complaints, personally...

I too am looking to purchase a Winston although I think I'm going for the BIIx. I've fished with this rod and was amazed at how the rod performed. I have 2 orvis rods and this particular rod is just amazing. I also casted the z-axis and the zero gravity. In my opinion there is no comparison as the BIIx has an action all it's own. It is much lighter and the action is totally different the the axis and the zero with those two being much faster rods.  You may want to consider the BIIX. It is a little higher in price I believe than the WT though. As far as customer service, I cannot imagine there would be any problems with a company like Winston although as with anything there may be a few glitches. Good Luck my friend. Try casting the BIIX - I think you'll be amazed. When you do though - let the rod do the work. Being an agressive caster, I immediatly tried to load the rod up too much - overpowering it. When I settled down - the rod  did the work for me.