We see a lot of broken fly rods over the course of a season. Although we’d love to dish out stories of huge, rod buckling fish, the majority of the time rods are broken getting in and out of a boat, sticking them in a ceiling fan, or other less glamorous ways. Safely storing your rods to and from the water is important in protecting your equipment.
Rod tubes ensure that your rods are protected at all times, however having to setup and break down your rod at every location can be a pain. We’re constantly searching for better ways to transport our gear while on the water and our own Whitney Gould has come up with a clever solution. Check out the step by step on how Whitney stores her rods safely and fully rigged!
One good way to break a rod is to lay it over an anchor line, as shown in Steps 1 through 6!
Great tip for spey rods especially. I use hair bungees instead of velcro straps.
Velcro and hair bungees are good. I’ve found that using a spring loaded Barrett’s work best. I use a large one at the handle, and a small one near the tip. Easily installed and removed while holding tight.
I simply clip them on my shirt or vest while fishing. Also helps to control the swinging motion of tools such as forceps, hook sharpeners etc,
I have sewn up vinyl socks to go over the broken down rods. Reduces the rubbing and scratches.
When I travel with booked luggage I use a 4 inch, 100mm, PVC plumbers tube which will hold five rods in their socks which goes in the gear section of the roller bag. The 4″ tube is half of the weight of 4 2″ tubes so that is 1kg weight saved. I use bubble pack to stop any rattles. Cheers BM