Travel rods for fishing trips

I wouldn't replace a one-piece rod for anything in the world, but I've always liked the concept of travel rods that you can take anywhere with you, in the car, on the bike, on the motorcycle, on the scooter, on the plane and other means. transport. Of course where the length of the sections plays a decisive role. In the first phase, out of this need, I believe, the first telescopic rods appeared. More willingly, more out of necessity, I bought a telescopic spinning rod in the early 2000s, Mitchell Tele Spin, a rod I only used two or three times. It wasn't right.

How much does it cost to transport the rods by plane?

I prefer the one-piece rods, the majority in my fishing arsenal, less the 2.4m ones. Rods that I have flown over time to a bunch of countries with a tube Bazuka Pro which I shared with my traveling friends. The cost of transporting a tube full of rods (special hold baggage) varies between 50 and 100 euros per direction, depending on the airline with which you fly. In Bazuka above we also put 21 rods, so if you divide the costs by 4-5 fishermen, it is not the end of the country to transport your favorite rods abroad, especially those in one piece.

Are travel rods allowed as hand luggage?

In normal countries, as they are US and England, travel rods of 3, 4 or 5 segments are allowed as hand luggage on the plane. In Europe, unfortunately, is not allowed this, the rods being probably considered white weapons and not falling into standard dimensions of hand luggage. In short, in our country, the only way to transport travel rods by plane is also in the hold baggage.

In Romanian, maybe slip it

There are also cases, I did not meet them live, I only heard of them, in which passengers were allowed to board the plane with travel rods or two pieces. Small in length, which is true, so in the eyes. I believe these stories because they also left my son on a plane, from Greece to Bucharest on a WizzAir flight, with a fishing net caught on a bamboo stick that was more than a meter long. You can try, I don't have the courage to do it with my rods.

Why do I need travel rods?

Because this year, and in the future, I planned several departures alone, the first being in Sweden, departures involving flight and the need for at least 2-3 rods. So, the Bazuka version has failed, too few rods to cut the transport tube and I don't even have anyone to share the costs with in this situation. We are on a low budget, well, pandemic, so I need an optimal variant of travel rods.

What does optimal travel rods mean?

In my case, it means entering my Elodia. Elodia, as my friends called her who carried it in various places, is a Samsonite hard troller bag with oversized dimensions. I think he is over 20 years old and has seen most of the waters we have fished over time in travel. And all the holidays. I measure Elodia inside diagonally and I find that I can insert a tube with a maximum length of 83-84cm. Okay, let's start the search.

How many travel rods do I need?

Basically three. One ultralight for river fishing with rotary, small oscillators and micro wobblers for trout, grayling, perch, a medium for pike and pikeperch with oscillators, spinnerbait, gums and wobblers, a medium hard for larger, heavier lures. It would not hurt any hard to carry lures over 50g, because, however, we are talking about Sweden and possibly fishing for other large species. So four in plm, not three, as Adi Despot would say.

Where did I look for travel rods in fishing shops?

Subjectively, I looked for travel rods in stores MimTeam and Arrow International. First on the way, DAM Quadra Safar, in two models, 2.10m (10-30g, weight 153g transport length 0.58m, medium light, four segments) and 2.40m (15-40g, weight 176g, transport length 0.65m, medium hard, four segments ). An ok option I could say, in view of the low price (254 and 288 lei) and the fact that the DAM company has recently recovered a lot of land on the predator fishing segment. But, these two rods would have solved only part of the case.

Daiwa and Savage Gear travel rods at Arrow International

I do a search and the first three appear in the order of the numbers on the shirt, Daiwa Mega Force Travel Spinn, 2.20m (7-25g, weight 120g, transport length 0.62m, four segments), 2.40m (10-40g, weight 160g, transport length 0.66m, four segments), 2.40m (30-70g , weight 185g, transport length 0.66m, four segments), prices between 199 and 227 lei. If it was an ultralight, it would have covered the whole range of travel rods I needed.

I'm a Savage, yeah!

At a higher price range, not far away, I found three rods Savage Gear Parabellum Travel, 2.14m (3-14g, weight 99g, transport length 0.65m, four segments), 2.44m (10-30g, weight 137g, transport length 0.66m, four segments), 2.79m (7-24g , weight 147g, transport length 0.75m, four segments). Prices between 376 and 438 lei, Toray blanks, that's how they behave. I only liked the first model, suitable for ultralight fishing, the other two being too long for my tastes, even if they fit in Elodia. I'll see how I combine them, the important thing is that I found enough rods to choose from.

So many lures, so little time! Other stores, other travel rods

I did not limit myself to the two stores above only in view of the fact that we have a collaboration that has lasted for many years. I just don't like going to fishing shops. Why? Because whenever I walk into a store, I can't help but buy ghosts or fishing gear that I don't really need. Glad for the Romanian market, in a google search "travel rods", we found a lot of other companies in our specialty stores. I never got to see them again, as I told you above, I try to stop shopping too much.

Rise like a Phenix, lansete travel Asava

Like the Phenix bird reborn from the ashes, poetically speaking, that's how I remembered some travel rods I saw at Dorian Dubovoi some years ago. Two rods in three segments, which plugged did not lose any of the action in the load, behaving as a whole as a one-piece rod. Honestly, I only remembered then that they were made by Andrei Sava, not the origin of the whites. It is certain that I liked them very much and something remained imprinted there in my elephant memory. I'm kidding, all my friends know I'm so forgetful. But they were right.

In the footsteps of the Phenix birds

I call Dorian to ask him about the two rods, he tells me there are actually three. In plm. Just as I called him, he went fishing with one of them, and he confirmed to me that my memory did not deceive me, the rods were mounted by Andrei Sava on Phenix blanks. Okay, okay, but what whites? He quickly befriends me, probably eats the shawl, and promises to take pictures when he gets home. The photos are coming, the blanks are Phenix BR3 RedEye Travel Series, one is BR3-720MS (7′2 ″, 6-12lb, 3 / 8-1 / 2 oz), and the other is BR3-700MH (7′8 ″, 8-17lb , 3 / 8-1 / 2 oz). On the third rod he was left to photograph it when he reached it, having it elsewhere. In addition, he tells me that in recent years he has only fished with these two rods, so I did not like them in vain.

Answer phone, phone, phone…

Well, don't I call Sava? Coincidentally, or not, the moment coincided with launch of RodbuildingShop.com and of course Sava did not answer my call, being caught up in this new project. If he was fishing he would answer me… And yet, won't these blanks be on the site? Well, they were. What happened next? Well, if Muhammad doesn't come to the mountain, the mountain comes to Muhammad. I started to place an order, this way, he wants, he doesn't want, he still calls me Sava asap

As you can see in the order above, I have chosen three blanks to cover my needs for my future travel rods, Phenix BR3-720MS, BR3-700MH and BR3-780H. Being a dedicated rodbuilding site, I also dug through the mounting elements to configure my rods exactly as I imagine them. G2 carbon grips together with mandrel Seaguide Skeleton XMS and Seaguide LS Titanium rings they seemed to me the most suitable for this project.

I put a orange mounting thread, because it goes with carbon black, with the Phenix logo and because I'm tired of seeing the rods of ASava yellow shades in the boat, with friends, at Sava, at Boances, on Facebook, Instagram, Tik Tok. Allergy. Should I put a cork?

Speranţei Street on the ground floor, Corina

However, in order not to wake up with the door control, of course I want them mounted, I wrote to "Strada Speranţei, on the ground floor" plus a message asking Mr. Andrei Sava to call me in person. Coincidentally or not, on the girl in charge of the orders RodbuildingShop.com Her name is Corina.

"Whether he comes or not, give me an answer
I don't really think he hid.
Where are you going? Where is?
If only he would give me some news
To know that it exists and that would be enough for me.

Please remind me of my address
When you meet happiness
Flower house, Speranţei street on the ground floor
I am still waiting and hoping for it… ”

Will follow.

PS1: How long do you think Sava called me back?

PS2: But I didn't solve the ultralight problem…

PS3: What travel rods do you use?

Read on here!