I'm planning to build a 9' 4-weight spring creek rod for some cold-weather dry-fly fishing. I want something that loads well for short casts and is soft enough to protect 7x tippets on big trout ... what I'd call a moderate or slow action, mid- or full-flex blank.

Winston comes to mind immediately, but money's tight now. Does anyone have recommendations for a Winston-action-without-the-Winston-price kind of blank?