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Winston stalker series
Post 12 Nov 2009, 14:19 • #26 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/12/06
Posts: 1184
Location: US-CA
I too am in search of a "Holy Grail". First, I believe the 8.5' 6 wt Winston has been correctly identified as a Winston fiberglass trout rod and not one of the "Stalker" series. The desirability of the Stalkers is a a question for the ages. The regular trout models are much more versatile, but some where in my memory I seem to remember a quote attributed to T Morgan (I'm paraphrasing), where he said it was "wrong" that short rods under 8' weren't capable of casting anything but 6 or 7 wt lines. Again I'm unsure of the exact quote but from this point of view the "Stalkers" were born and their legend continues.

I am lucky enough to have Winston glass rods of the 70's, including a "Stalker", but in an unfortunate incident I lost an 8' 5wt, that I'm still trying to replace. There are some modern rod makers, some known, another unknown, that make rods that are very close to that lost rod. The quest continues. Respectfully rvreclus


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Winston stalker series
Post 21 Nov 2009, 12:31 • #27 
Sport
Joined: 06/17/09
Posts: 99
Location: US-CA
I fish in the Eastern Sierra's in California, the fish are smart and the hatches are short, so if you want to have a fish on line it usually means sub surface nymphing. I love using the 70's era Winston glass rods, they lay down the leader perfectly, and if you put your nymph in the mouth of a lunker the softness of the rod won't pull the fly out. The softness and slow action also allows me to use a much smaller tippet since the rod is so forgiving. That said, when the wind comes up, it will be time to put the old glass rod away, it has no backbone for casting in the wind,


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Winston stalker series
Post 22 Nov 2009, 04:53 • #28 
Sport
Joined: 11/06/06
Posts: 56
Location: US-SD
Back in the early 1970's I spent some time hanging out at the old Winston shop on Third Street in lower San Francisco. But at the time, I was enamoured of their bamboo rods including the highly specialized "Leetle Fellers". Candidly, I didn't pay too much attention to the glass rods.

Years later, however, I often fished with a gang from the Bay Area, including Ferd Claudio, in southwest Montana. My fly fishing mentor used Ferd's glass rods almost exclusively and I began to appreciate them too.

Later I acquired an 8'0" Winston Stalker at a local tackle swap for the huge sum of $30. Trouble was, I couldn't get used to its s-l-o-w, soft action for a 2 or 3 wt. line and later traded it off for a reel I coveted. But now I have two Winston glass rods from the SF era--an 8'0" 3 oz. I just bought and which casts a WF-6-F wonderfully, and an 8'9" for a WF-8-F which is my "go to" rod for big water and/or big fish. I find both rods to be very satisfying to cast and fish.


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Post 19 Apr 2017, 04:48 • #29 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 02/10/07
Posts: 1632
Location: The Netherlands
The Stalker was Winston's effort to duplicate their Leetle Feller bamboo rod.
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Here is my 1975 Merrick & Morgan Leetle Feller (7.5ft #3). As all Leetle Feller's, they were sold with one tip. A second tip could be ordered separately. The previous owner did order a second tip afterwards.

Image

It's a very delicate medium actioned rod and it casts a 3 weight line with delicacy but the butt still has some oomph to cast a tight-ish loop when needed. The second tip is a bit slower than the original tip and casts a 2 weight.


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Post 19 Apr 2017, 05:23 • #30 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 04/20/07
Posts: 8920
Location: US-ME
Oh that is nice--from an era of change in the industry in general and Winston in particular. Almost enough, like Glassmaster's post recently, to send me to the attic rummaging Fly Fisherman for advertisements of Winston 'glass through the 1970s. Instead, I'll settle for the late 1970s award-winning catalog after the move and its description

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Post 19 Apr 2017, 08:22 • #31 
Glass Fanatic
Joined: 10/09/09
Posts: 2796
Location: US-NM
It looks new......aurelio


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