I've always been a fan of Scott Rods and added Winston to the arsenal as well.  Both great quality rods.  But to me two completely different feeling rods.  I've heard some good and bad things of the Scott S4.  I shouldn't say bad things, but more like it doesn't fit everyones casting style.  I was able to shoot 80-90 ft out with ease with RIO clouser line and decent accuracy and relatively easy double haul, very nice.  When I'm practicing I use my old fly line, so never throw away your old line.

I just got my 8wt S4 last week and giving a good work out in my backyard and down at Bayfront in Duluth.  The first thing I wanted to see is how much line I could load and shoot.  This rod is a rocket, very quick response.  Having about 50 ft of line out, the rod loads quickly at the tip, very gradual down to the mid section, more with more line out.  Unlike the winston, which begins flexing earlier to the mid section (better feel of the rod loading).  This rod is going to work great for working in close, say 40-60 ft and you need to make quick accurate casts all day long.  It will cut down on the number of false cast needed at this range when tossing weighted clousers, hard poppers and divers.  It will definately have enough backbone to pull some fish out of cover.  It's very light and responsive.

Head down to the shop and ask John if you can test drive one.  I know others who like the X2s series from Scott.  So try those out as well.

Most of my fishing is for smallmouth, largemouth and pike.  So I do a lot of blind casting at short ranges 30-50ft.    But it's nice to know that with a good double haul on my Scott or Winston, I can go the distance to 60-80 ft real easy.