Traveling with flyrods

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Southshore
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:38 pm
Location: Christchurch NZ

Traveling with flyrods

Post by Southshore » Tue Oct 30, 2018 3:52 pm

First thing is that our precious rods need to be well protected when traveling, especially flying regardless of whether that's long or short haul. Second thing is that weight is the enemy of the traveling angler; boots waders vests reels and all the paraphernalia we overload and burden ourselves with in the name of sport. You can hire waders from a lot of sport shops, or the fishing lodge where you're staying - they tend to have the odd gumboot out the back in the woodshed (check for spiders first), or you can just wet wade in summer. So I'm taking two 4piece flyrods but I don't want to take two tubes. Answer's obvious, bunk them into the protective sleeve and tube together if there's room and in my case I'm lucky because there is. A No.4 and 6 flyrod fits into the No.6 tube and once tied down there is no movement of pieces to rub or damage each other.
The tube will fit diagonally inside a large suitcase and we only take one when travelling for a couple of weeks to Godzone, along with two maxi 7kg cabin bags. Problem solved with weight and space saved.
Rod & Fly 6 weight sharing with a gold Redington 4 weight. Note the fighting butts courtesy Mitre-10.

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fraser hocks
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Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 3:25 pm
Location: Queenstown

Re: Traveling with flyrods

Post by fraser hocks » Wed Oct 31, 2018 7:39 am

I tend to find that when I go out for a days fishing I typically take 4-6 rods on any given day. I have a fair selection and like to be able to choose a rod dependent on the day, conditions and size of river I'm going to fish. Hence I have a cupboard full of empty rod tubes. Their a pain to carry around, so instead I keep all my rods on a shelf in their socks and have made up a couple of rod tubes from 150x50 rectangular PVC downpipe. Bit of a mess around, as caps aren't available off the shelf but not a big drama to make up. Sage make some nice aluminium tubes that carry many rods, but they are rather heavy, which kills your baggage allowance when traveling.

I had a bit of a struggle trying to find a suitable bag for travel as most bags are made 30" (imperial I know?) long, and rod tubes are around 32' long. As you have found Brian, the best you can do is squeeze one tube into a bag on the diagonal.

After a lot of research I found this bag https://www.osprey.com/au/en/product/sh ... 6_308.html Its 36" long so has no problems taking both tubes. I typically pack the tubes in the center of the bag and put cloths on either side. Once packed like that, it would take a truck driving over the bag to damage any of the rods. It has an amazing capacity and swallows up all my tackle as well as a lot of cloths when I'm on a big trip in winter. Had it a few years now and if I were ever to loose it, id buy another one in an instant.


Bucking trends in fly fishing since 1970!

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Southshore
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:38 pm
Location: Christchurch NZ

Re: Traveling with flyrods

Post by Southshore » Wed Oct 31, 2018 8:33 pm

Hi fraser, In the early days of 2-piece rods I made a holder out of PVC (Bunnings) like you did. Found a cap for the base which was glued on, and a screw-on cap for the top also glued on. Never got a dent in it but a pita traveling as it had to go "overlength" on airlines. I've heard about those Osprey bags but couldn't justify the cost so I just pack the 6 weight tube in our suitcase. There's an old deer cullers adage that says you fill up your pack with essential gear then chuck out half the contents and fill it with socks (or fishing stuff). These days you can get 7 piece rods which just about fit in a cabin bag but I would have to chose between one of those and a divorce. My 10 weight Barramundi fly rod is a Cabelas Stowaway 6 piece and that is easy to cart around even to slinging it when fishing. I'll keep working on it and if Lotto comes my way you'll see me at the checkin with an Osprey. cheers



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fraser hocks
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Joined: Sat May 10, 2014 3:25 pm
Location: Queenstown

Re: Traveling with flyrods

Post by fraser hocks » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:18 am

HEHE yea iv got a Orvis 7 piece frequent flyer rod that is very handy like that. Its a 5# but quite fast so it will handle a 6# line with ease. Its my take into the back country as a backup rod, as once in its sock goes inside the pack and takes no room up. A few times its been used by mates after they have broken a rod on a back county mission. I enjoy ribbing them about how much its going to cost, as they didn't bring a backup :lol:

Yea I got rid of all but one of my very old favorite 2 piece rods a few years ago. Just too hard to travel with these days. The 6-7 piece rods are handy but with that many spigots they never really have the finesse of a 4 piece. Recently iv been swapping over my double handed rods to 6 piece as the action of a spey rod is not as demanding. Very handy having all rods that fit into tubes less than 32" long!


Bucking trends in fly fishing since 1970!

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Southshore
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:38 pm
Location: Christchurch NZ

Re: Traveling with flyrods

Post by Southshore » Thu Nov 01, 2018 11:11 pm

Too true. I've noticed how the lighter weight rods are getting stronger, if I could use that word. I fought and landed a double figure rainbow in a dam with my Redington #4 and it handled the fish better than I would have thought, and I see where Mike Hughes, the Tongariro river guide, uses a #4 on those feisty rainbows, so I reckon my #6 weight chucking a #7 line would be good enough for just about any scenario depending mainly on the wind, and wind would be the major drawback. Another advantage of the lighter rods is that they bend more and absorb the impact of a fighting fish and that means you fight them from the rod butt rather than the rod tip. In theory, hooks don't tear out or leaders break off as often. Cheers

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Southshore
Posts: 194
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 6:38 pm
Location: Christchurch NZ

Re: Traveling with flyrods

Post by Southshore » Fri Nov 02, 2018 9:52 pm

Just to finish off the thread, probably the best flyrod I ever owned was a Fenwick 6 weight in a medium action. When I thought my fishing days were over (wrong wrong wrong) I donated it to the kids at the Tongariro trout centre for their pond days. I don't regret that, but I have a fishing mate who does regret putting his Orvis Spring Creek down on the other side of a wire fence and then stepping on it. The crack it made almost drowned out the scream. I'm happy with the 3 rods I have and I'm getting very fond of the Redington. Cheers
Fenwick 6 in action with an 8lb brownie in Nth Canterbury.

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