A fly rod is never just a fly rod. Ethereal phrases, like “balanced feel” or “an extension of your arm,” are tossed around when describing the best rods. Even the worst ones – clunky, heavy, or too stiff – earn their own personality. Fly rods earn their keep as a fishing buddy, the one witness to your triumphs and failures that can tell the truth of what really happened. Luckily for us, fly rods can’t talk.
Some, though, gain a mythical status that goes beyond the normal angler-rod relationship. Perhaps the most famous of these legendary rods is the Staff of Moses – the 8’6″ 4-weight B2T made by Winston from 2007-2013. You don’t earn a nickname like that without some serious clout, and Winston certainly has a history of producing stellar rods. But is another 8’6″ 4-weight really that much better than any other? Especially from a company known for making some of the best dry fly rods of all time?
Everyone I know who owns one of these rods says they’re magical. They’re soft and powerful, delicate and deliberate, able to punch long leaders and tiny flies out to 60 feet with ease. Somehow they have the backbone to land enormous trout without making you feel outgunned.
Winston only made about 800 of these rods, and they gained popularity before social media became such an integral part of our lives. You’d hear whispers about the Staff in fly shops, or the fly fishing forums on the late 2000s, but talk of its uncanny greatness didn’t spread like wildfire. If the rod was built today, it probably would’ve sold ten times its original number. Used Staffs go for close to $1,000 these days.
The Staff’s Elusiveness
Since they’re both scarce and expensive, I didn’t think I’d be able to ever fish one. Then, earlier this year when the editorial team here at Flylords started planning for our first-ever print magazine, someone floated the idea of writing a story about the Staff. Being the resident Winston nerd and dry-fly nut in our group, they graciously passed that story to me. In turn, I went to a few fly fishing groups on Facebook, asking for stories and experiences of those lucky enough to fish the Staff.
The stories trickled in, but the consensus was what I’d always heard – this rod is special. It’s magical. It’s the greatest dry fly rod ever built. Not just by Winston, but by anyone.
Getting A Staff
That’s how I initially met Austin Alexander, a fellow Winston enthusiast who likewise always wanted to own a Staff. We shared stories of our favorite Winstons, compared our collections, and made the usual gestures of saying we’d need to fish together.
Right about this time, a Staff popped up for sale on eBay. This is only the second Staff I’ve ever seen for sale, and I immediately started thinking about how I could afford it. But my wife and I are in the middle of building a new house, so extra cash doesn’t exist. The timing couldn’t have been worse, so I sent the link to Austin and told him he needed to buy it.
A few days later, he sent me a picture of the Staff lined with a classic Abel. He said it cast every bit as good as a Glenn Brackett-era 8′ 5-weight Winston bamboo rod.
Then, Austin asked for my address. A few days later, the Staff showed up on my doorstep, with a note from Austin urging me to fish it and enjoy the heck out of it.
Overcome by gratitude that a complete stranger would lend me such a valuable rod, I didn’t even take it out for the customary wiggle test. No, I waited until my good friend Ryan McCullough could come down to fish with me, because Ryan is the one who got me interested in classic Winston rods from the start.
Fishing The Staff
We made plans to fish two rivers in Wyoming with the Staff – and a few other rods from our collections, to see how it stacks up against modern and ancient history. Among the other rods we brought were an 8′ 4-weight WT Tom Morgan Favorite, an 8’6″ 4-weight pre-IM6 Winston, an 8’6″ 5-weight Air 2, and an 8′ 3-weight Air.
The best way to describe the Staff is that it lives up to every adjective thrown its way. This is truly the best dry fly rod I’ve ever fished, and perhaps the best fly rod I’ve ever used.
I fished the Staff on one larger river, where 60-foot casts to rising fish aren’t uncommon, and on a smaller freestone, where the fish were stacked in the deep pools. On both pieces of water, the Staff didn’t falter. Even when I loaded it up with a larger dry-dropper than I’d normally fish on a 4-weight, the Staff still delivered flies on target.
And once I tied into a 17-inch rainbow, the Staff flexed and bounced, but never felt like it couldn’t corral the fish when push came to shove.
Why It’s So Good
Where the Staff shines is, surprisingly, in its most tangible aspects.
For starters, this is easily one of the most accurate fly rods I’ve ever thrown. I’m an average caster on a good day, and sub-par most of the time. However, it’s a known fact that some rods are built more inherently accurate than others. This is thanks to the phenomenon of torsional stability, or the ability of the rod to stay straight while moving through a fly cast. The more a rod wobbles side-to-side, the less accurate that rod will be.
The Staff is laserlike in its precision. In many ways, it feels like a direct extension of your arm. Look where you want the flies to land, and they end up there.
This rod also has uncanny power. Throwing 14-foot 6x leader with a size 16 parachute mahogany dun? Not a problem. A larger dry-dropper than you should normally fish on a 4-weight? Sure, the rod feels a bit like a slingshot, but the flies still get where they’re going. Even in the face of some stiff wind, the Staff had surprising power for a 4-weight. It absolutely launches line, but with the feel and delicacy you’d expect from a light-line dry fly rod.
The best way to describe it is that the Staff has the power and backbone of a 5-weight, with the finesse and feel of a 4-weight. Again, these are its tangible qualities. And while they’re certainly noteworthy, I’ll admit I was nervous that the Staff wouldn’t quite live up to all the hype. That I’d finish my short time fishing the rod and be left wanting more from it.
That’s not what happened. All those intangibles are there. This rod feels special, mostly because it doesn’t feel like any other 4-weight I’ve fished. It’s certainly the best dry-fly rod I’ve ever used, and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it on any spring creek in the world. The Staff is easily one of the best all-around rods I’ve ever thrown, too.
Again, I go back to what I said earlier – this rod lives up to every adjective thrown its way. If you ever have the chance to fish one, do it. You won’t be disappointed. Well, you might be upset that you’ll have a hard time finding one for sale. But these are rods that are truly worth every penny of their secondhand market price.
Now I’ve just got to find my own.