As you might guess I didn’t drive 9 hours to catch small fish so I decided to put up the 22’s and 24’s and throw something that might make a fish or two move. Since my confidence was waning I cut back my leader and tied on a big rabbit strip streamer that weighed close to five pounds. I realize that most situations call for a larger rod when hucking giant streamers, but I really didn’t think this was going to work anyway. This is the part of the story that really made me a Winston fan. The rod loaded smoothly and delivered the streamer thirty feet or so to the other side of a deep run. The little B2T had some power hiding in the bottom end. I was impressed. The streamer dropped below the fast current and as it drifted slowly into the deep it just stopped. I set the hook hard and for a couple seconds nothing happened. I figured I was snagged, but just as I prepared to drop my rod tip, I felt my rod shake. The fish rolled on the surface and I caught a fleeting glance. Nice fish. He took me across the river and bent my little rod to the cork. I gained line and he took it right back I applied pressure from different angles to try and disorient him. It took some time, but I finally coaxed the big rainbow into shallow water. I am not sure what the fish weighed but it taped out at just over 25 inches. Needless to say I am a fan of the Winston B2T. It is one of the finest fly rods I have ever fished and it does everything well. I liked fishing the rod so well I have decided to buy a nine foot five weight also, maybe a Winston six weight B2X. I’m also thinking about the Winston MX two-hander. Needless to say I’m sold.

Clarence Beavers