Andre Scholz

Andre Scholz joined the Winston advisory team as a special member of the Winston Pro Staff in 2005. He resides in Schwerte, Germany and has a degree in Sports Science from the University in Bochum. Andre has made a name for himself in Germany and Scandinavia as one of the leading two-handed (spey) casters in the world. His exceptionally smooth, almost effortless casting and detailed knowledge of the sport have brought scores of students to his European casting clinics.

Winston rod designer, Sam Drukman, and Andre met at the 2004 FFR Show in Denver, CO.
Sam was immediately impressed with Andre’s masterful technique.  Since then Andre has worked closely with the Winston design team in designing the new Boron IIx and Boron II-MX spey models, the lightest in the world.

Andre uses a Scandinavian style line that incorporates Poly leaders.  With this system he creates loops that are so perfect, that all angling spectators are instantly struck with envy and awe. He casts equally well on water or on a mowed lawn.  His anchor is so light, he casts on the grass, without a grass leader.

I took a short Spey casting lesson from him at the 2006 Sandy Clave.  Andre uses lighter weight heads and loads the rod only in the tip. He grips the rod with his top hand very close to the reel, so his hands are close together.  Almost all of his power comes from his bottom hand during the entire cast.  The back loop forms into a tight V-shape.  The forward cast is a narrow bullet that delivers amazing distance and accuracy.

Andre's influence can be felt in Winston's two newest Spey rod models: the 13' 3" 7/8 and the 15' 9/10. These lightweight, crisp action rods have stolen the show in their size categories.  The 13' 3" 7/8 was the most popular two-hand rod model at The Fly Fishing Shop in 2006. This is because it is possibly the most adaptable spey rod ever built.  It accepts all casting styles and throws a huge variety of fly line weights.  All of Winston's spey rods tend to be very forgiving, but are also very high performance. 

You can try any or all of the Winston Two-Hand Rods at the Sandy River Spey Clave.