[Old406Kid]

My brother in law has severe RA and can no longer fly fish so horsetraded me a pair of these along with all of the rest of his gear for my "magic" Sako .243 that he's coveted for over 40 years. (The truth is I'm just storing it all for him and letting him get the enjoyment out of the rifle that he can still shoot at the range with a special rest.)

So getting back to the LTX's, he gave me a 9' 4wt. and a 9' 6wt., both 3 pc. rods.
Who has one, how did they stack up in their day, and what would you compare it too then and now?

Due to the plethora of other rods I have, I haven't had either out yet but plan on dusting them off this spring.

Thanks for any info, thoughts, and opinions.

 

[Cold]

Have the 9' 4wt 3pc LTX. Custom build so I can't comment on that.

I'd describe it as "quick" but stop short of actual "fast". Those with more experience with Winston's rods have described it as "fast for Winston".

It's my go-to rod in "standard" trout fishing situations here in PA, standard being considered a day of casting normal trout flies in sizes from #6-20 at 15-50 feet in a medium to large moving body of water in variable wind conditions. Sure there are plenty of rods, many in my quiver, that will do specific parts of that range better than the 904-3 LTX, but none of them do all of it as gracefully.

There's power, but without a crisp, quick action, it wilts a bit out past 50 or 60 feet, but with proper casting technique and rigging, you can (and I regularly have) switched from delivering a #20 griffiths gnat at the end of a 12+ foot leader on 7X...and gone to a 5' extra fast sink poly-leader, 2X tippet, and a 3" long clouser...and finally on to a double nymph & indicator rig.

Mine liked SA GPX, then I put a Rio Grand on it, which it also liked, but the 4wt Grand bogs it down a bit much. My next line for it will likely be a Rio Gold.