Here ya go, the latest 5 wt shootout for fly fishing. It's a long video but here's a couple of notes.

Best Streamer Rods
-Redington Classic Trout
-Winston Air II
-Thomas & Thomas Avanti II


Best Dry Fly Rod
- Winston Pure 2 My wife has been fishing this rod in a 8' 3" 4 wt on the San Juan this spring for risers and it's definately the finest dry fly rod I've ever used.
-Winston Air II
-Sage Classic R 8


Best Nymph Rod
-Thomas & Thomas Avanti II
-Winston Air II
-Redington Classic Trout



The Redington Classic Trout scored well across the board and will be the budget rod ($170 or so) of the season for those looking for a good value. I haven't cast the Winston Air II but the gang obviously loved this rod!

I have a couple of 6 wt Sage R 8's that I love for streamer fishing and windy days/ bigger drys. Haven't cast the slower R 8 Classic but I'm sure it's probably one of Sage's best trout rods since they decided to finally slow down their trout rods (at least a little).

What are your thoughts? It's about that time of year for the OB to head to West and chase some Trucha!

I use a 9' 5wt Winston Air II as my everyday stick. Not surprised at where it ended up in these rankings. It's a great rod with a "fast action" that skews a little toward medium-fast. Winston hit the sweet spot there a few years before most other manufacturers realized that they had gone too far towards ultra fast rods and began course correction.

The Air II does most things pretty damn well on medium and big water. I switch to a Scott G series if I'm on smaller cutthroat streams throwing dries (though the Air II can do this well too), go to a bigger streamer stick if hucking big articulated stuff, and I might occasionally wish I was throwing my wife's 5wt Scott Centric if I'm trying to laser beam a giant foam hopper more than 50 feet in windy conditions, but the Air II does everything else really well.

No Scott rods in the top 3? List is incorrect.

rather be fishing said:

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No Scott rods in the top 3? List is incorrect.

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Watch the video, some of the top 5 were just separated by a couple of points! Wife's favorite 5 wt is a 9' Scott Radian! If she's nymphing, it's a Scott.