Review: Winston nailed the design on the Air 2 Max with a trifecta of accuracy, sensitivity and power. These seeming contradictory qualities are blended so seamlessly that I can nearly forget about the rod and focus on fishing. A great quality is the feedback sensitivity of the rod, giving in confidence knowing how the backcast is behaving. My casting is accurate with these rods without undue concentration, including full side-arm casts transitioning down to the water. The 8wt Air 2 Max is a step up on power compared to my power rod that it replaced, which enables more controlled line pickup and very capable distance. It is a lively rod with true-weight lines and is relatively undiminished with ½-overweighted lines. I like the 8wt so much that I picked up a 6wt for river streamer fishing and it behaves just as well casting both floating line and a heavy-headed sink line. I was able to compare the Air 2 Max against modern rods that are marketed for accuracy, and rods marketed for power and found that the Air 2 Max had an upper hand over them all. Winston is obviously putting care into designing and manufacturing these rods.
