#Rl winston im6 fly rod reviews series#

The rod designers had clearly worked on this issue at length, because now this rod is truly one of the finest 5 weights on the market. Most importantly the tip wobble with 50+ foot casts was nearly indiscernible if it was even there at all. Casting the rods side by side it was clear that the B3X had much better balance right up and into the tip section. So I decided to put them side by side and see if they had corrected these problems in the new B3X. At longer distances the 9вЂ™ 5wt B2X was difficult to control because of these issues and it just felt sort of sloppy in a range fishing situations where you needed to accurately deliver the goods at a distance of over 45 feet. The B2X 5wt was very limp through the 3rd and 4th sections of the rod and had a lot of accuracy problems with tip wobble in my opinion. Both rods were listed in the Winston catalogs as вЂњFASTвЂќ action, but immediately upon picking up the 9вЂ™ 5wt B3X you can tell that there is a lot more power within the new generation of boron and graphite and the rod just feels quicker. So in terms of light in the hand, the B3X wins by a hair, but itвЂ™s nothing that is going to wow anyone, and especially not anything youвЂ™ll notice casting all day. The B3X 9вЂ™ 5wt weighed in at 2 5/8 ounces compared to the B2X which weighed in at 2 3/4 ounces. So the B2X was a little вЂњlimpвЂќ in a few of the rod line weights and lengths вЂ“ in my opinion especially the 9вЂ™ 5wt B2X вЂ“ and I was curious to see how the 9вЂ™ 5wt B3X would compare to its older brother. The B2X left something to be desired and there was definitely some room for improvement in different areas of performance вЂ“ enter the B3X. The 7 and 8 weight rods were a little too soft for a lot of peopleвЂ™s likings and you had a hard time punching them through the wind or throwing large or heavy flies with them. There were rods that just didnвЂ™t fit perfectly into the B2X lineup that was supposed to be a little faster and quicker than their old offerings. For instance the 8вЂ™6вЂќ 4wt was an entirely different rod than the 9вЂ™ 4wt and the 9вЂ™ 5wt for a lot of folks wasnвЂ™t nearly as crisp or smooth casting as the 9вЂ™ 6wt. The problem with the B2X was that certain rod lengths and models in the lineup had a very different feel from one another. and for good reason it was lighter, smoother and a fair bit faster than previous Winston offerings and was easy for anyone from a novice to a highly skilled guide to cast. ItвЂ™s been the best selling rod in the history of RL Winston Rod Co. The B2X was and still is a great fly rod.

#Rl winston im6 fly rod reviews series#

But IвЂ™ve never believed that you can take a bunch of rods out and line them up in a parking lot and tell which one is going to fish better, after all unless you are deranged you actually fish with your fly rod, not stand around casting it in some abandoned fieldвЂ¦ So when my new B3X arrived in January I took the next day off to line it up out on the Lower Madison for a little вЂњresearch.вЂќ Let me tell you, it was well worth the wait.Д¬omparisons: I believe itвЂ™s important to have something to gauge a rod against if youвЂ™re going to talk about a new rod series, so IвЂ™ll use comparisons to the Winston B2X series for the remainder of this review. I casted a 9вЂ™ 5wt, a 9вЂ™6wt and a 9вЂ™ 8wt and I was surprised by how consistent the action was across the lineup вЂ“ the 5 felt like a 5 and the 6 like a 6, and the 8 was much more powerful than the old B2X 8wt. It was quicker than the B2X but not so quick that it didnвЂ™t have that trademark soft Winston tip. My First Thoughts: I waited patiently while all of the store models floated into the shop and casted them a fair bit when the weather cooperated and I was impressed by the performance of the production rods right off the bat. The BIIIX (B3X) was described as everything from вЂњvelvety smoothвЂќ to вЂњcrisp in the hands and on the waterвЂќ to вЂњthe Best Rod Winston has Ever BuiltвЂќ etcвЂ¦ I knew I had to have one. But, when I heard that Winston was replacing the BIIX (B2X) series, my first reaction was вЂњNo, donвЂ™t ruin a good thing!вЂќ After I heard some of the initial reactions from several of the rod designers, I was salivating to get my hands on one. Whenever new rods come out from any rod company that I respect, I get a little curiousвЂ¦ When it happens to be a new rod built on the line of the overwhelmingly popular Winston Boron Series, I had to get my hands on it and take it for a spin.