jjciiijs

I don't know about you guys but every time I pass a nice piece of water I wonder about fish.
I want to carry a small pole and kit on a trip. weight the #1 concern.

Anybody find a great spinning kit? How about a fly kit? And I mean SMALL. I know you can get
4 piece fly rods. I was just thinking smaller if possible. I have scene some SMALL spinning rode
and kit combos. Haven't scene REAL small fly rodes. Does not have to be great, just workable.

What have you found?

robow

I love to build rods in the colder months and so I've built several 5 piece 8' to 8'6" fly rods, generally a 5 or 6 wt. for all around use. A rod, single reel, and flybox with a few extra leaders and tippet comes in about 1/2 lb. The rod will pack down to about 20 inches. None of this takes up much room and easily goes within a pannier. I know Cabela's sells a 6 or 7 piece take down rod. The only problem is that sometimes I don't make my intended daily milage if the water is that enticing but as long as I'm not on a schedule, that's OK too.

mthayer

The Difference in the length of a 6 piece and a 4 piece rod is just a few inches. I was looking at getting a 6 piece also but I decided to stay with my 4 piece rod. I am willing to sacrifice a few ounces on a rod to keep a familiar rod. If you dont fly fish, and would like to get spinning rod, St. Croix has a travel rod. St. Croix rods are wonderful, I own some also.

Boondock

I build my fly rods. I've built a 4 piece, 9 foot rod that would work well. I think if I brought a rod, I might take a 2 piece, 8 foot rod, and make it a flag staff for my Bob Trailer. I'd have to sew a rod sock with some orange flags on it and figure out a way to make it stand straight up at the back of the rig (the sock itself could be made of reflective material). If I were building a rod specifically for touring, I would use Rec Recoil guides on it, because of their durability, and a graphite reel seat for lightness.

mthayer

The Idea about using a 2 piece rod a flag staff is a good idea. The heaviest thing is the cases. I use the cases that I leave the reels on the rod. They are pretty stable, Ive taken one to Belize and Brazil, its been thrown around used and abused and it keeps my rod safe. I am planning on doing a tour up to a local lake when the white bass start to run.

JoeMan

I plan to retire this year. I am planning on doing the GDMBR from N to S. in the next 2 years I will absolutely take a fly fishing outfit with me - probably a 5 weight. I'll strap this to a Bob trailer.

EriktheFish

Err, so do you folks plan to stealth fish? At least here in New England, ya gotta have a fishing license, each state requires its own, get caught by Fish & Game and receive a fine. That's why I've never considered fishing on tour.

robow

Erik, you can do like I do, and that is you purchase your out of state fishing license online for the days you plan on traveling thru that particular state well in advance.

Ekdog

How about fishing with a soft drink can? Ray Mears does it in this video at 4:50.

Thulsadoom

Use discretion. Middle of nowhere, I might not worry about it. Crowded tributary, might be wise to pick up a temp license if there's a bait shop of something close by.

jjciiijs

Some good comments. But I was going a step further. How about a fly / spinning combo rode? Carry one rode OK for both. Seen any?

gregw

I brought along a 5 piece spinning rod on my cross country trip. Thought I would make good use of it, in the end I used it a few times and finally mailed it back. I fished in the Current river in Missouri, a lake in Colorado and also Idaho, total of 1 tiny fish caught. Now if I catch a fish, I want to eat it, if you are a catch and release Fisherman, that would make a big difference. For me it was not worth it. First you need a license, next you need a way to store the fish fillets until dinner. Turned out to be way more of a pain than it was worth, at least for me anyway.

I would still encourage you to give it a try, the equipment is small and light, so there is no big weight penalty. I'm sure if I got into a bunch of trout in Colorado, my story would be completely different.
good luck

jjciiijs

Yep that is why it is call fishing and not catching. I enjoy just being there playing in the water i guess

robow

They're easy enough to make, you can use a Tennessee cork grip with sliding rings/bands on to which hold the reel seat. Therefore you can place the fly reel on the end or move the bands further up for more typical spin fishing. I built a 5 piece 7' or 7'6" 5 wt for such occasions.

24/7biker

this seems like a neat spinning combo, it says that it packs down to under 20" https://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...003000_100-3-0

here is a 7 peice fly rod https://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...001000_175-1-0

Cyril 

hardy smuggler....I own two.....6 piece 7ft 4 wt and an 8 piece 9'6" 7 wt.
both pack down to a 14" tube.....i never tour without fly gear.

march brown also makes good pack rods.

best,
cyril

jjciiijs

I was on this site and yes he does have a combo rod. I talk to him to find out if he makes it just to
have it or thinks it will really do the job of a fly rod and a spin rod(it is 7'6"). I did not get a clear
answer. I was trying to get more info because his rods are BIG money.

I know a comb rod may not be great at both ways to fish, but I would hope that the job can be done
with some decent feeling. I would not want to get stuck paying 400.00 and getting a rod that barely
will fly fish but does spinning OK. Or the other way around.

Anybosdy have this comb rod from March Brown?

jjciiijs

Well. perhaps easy for a guy that is into making rods. I appreciate the note, but I am not there at this time. I tried once and did OK re-wrapping a guide. The glue is tricky w/o a rooler to keep the rod moving as it dries. But I do not think I am at the level to buy a blank, ferral and guide it and get a good job.

Cyril 

several years ago at the Somerset, NJ flyfishing show, I had the chance to extensively test cast a hardy smuggler 4wt (which I now own) and several March Brown rods. The March brown rods were of a remarkable caliber; head and shoulders above the offerings of Bass pro and Cabellas, etc. IMO. I went with the hardy because it suited my casting style better, though it was more money.

Ive never cast the March Brown fly/spin combo rod, but im sure, based on my experience, that it is one of the better of the type made.

Cyril

mthayer

Academy has some combo rods like what your looking for. Dont know about other department stores around, but Bass Pro, Cabelas, have them in the catalog and online. As for building a rod, talk with the local flyshop and see if there are local rod builders around. THey will have the tools to build one correctly. Its not that difficult to build rods, the key is to keep the eyes inline.

NoReg

These days with ebay etc... getting a small electric motor to turn the rod should be virtually free. When I used to work in a fishing shop we did quick repairs with 5 minute epoxy. We would do the wrap (I do it by hand without any device) and then we would take a tiny spatula made out of a reground half razor blade, and pick up some 5 min epoxy, and smear it carefully around the thread (no colour preserver required). Then we would top coat with varnish or nail polish. The point being that with the thread totally filled in the final ap of varnish is just to smooth things over and won't sag or run if done properly. I have made whole rods up that way, particularly when experiment because they will last as long as you want, but when torn down there is virtually no residue on the blank.

For fly rods, you can build them on quality ultralite fishing blanks. An ultralite rod tends to make a heavier fly rod than one might think. Ever wonder where they get those 6 foot salmon rods that were all the rage up to the 70s. But by finding a really light one, in pack size, you should be able to get an extremely small rod with tiny sections. With flies the "lures" wight nothing, and you could cut the back twenty feet off a DT line and just wad it up carefully. One could get by with a pocket rather than a reel, though fly reels can be very light anyway.

It's the regulatory thing that puts me off. When on road trips I tend to pass through several jurisdictions Poaching is out of the question. It is so pervasive that the rules are extremely tough and not worth violating. In fact you could be in violation just doing stuff like carrying flies with lead through certain parks, or having fishing gear withing X feet of the water. I just keep the activities separate, but it is tempting for sure. There must be a location that would be just great for this kind of thing. Though the best fishing is normally not near roads, unless you are in some place like Chile where it might just be good enough anyway.

meyers66

Hi,
This light weight fishing gear looks like it would work on tour: https://www.tenkarausa.com/index.php?cPath=22 Anyone use it in the wilds?

robow

Of course there's always the Popeil Pocket Fisherman for $19

Mr. Jim

I sometimes carry a set up similar to this one.

https://www.amazon.com/Shakespeare-Fi.../dp/B002VFUJIK

On mine the handle on the reel also folds up, great for panfish and the like. I've caught many a bluegill, sunfish and perch on that setup. I usually use it for backpacking but may take it touring this year.

jjciiijs

Just going Spinning makes it easy and you guys have come up with several ones. However, when you add in wanting to do Fly, then most of them go away. However, one guy started talling about not using a reel. And that is right. A fly reel is just a holder and you could fight small fish with just fly line going through a spinning pole as long as you can get the spinning pole to throw out the line, which most will do to some degree. And as others have shown, you do not need a pole at all - just a can and line. But i like poles and enjoy the fight with one. But there are losts of times when fly will be better than spin or the other way around. So I wnat both. March Brown makes one - expensive. And I have not used it yet. But I did get my hands on one for the same price as a Fenwick portable, whcih I would consider if things went differently.

Thanks for all the post