Air Travel With Fishing Gear
 

Does anyone have a good solution for checked fishing gear? The carry-on rod tube & checked tackle thing is getting a bit old. I'm also tall enough that I'd rather not have a personal stuffed under the seat. I like my leg space. Any ideas? I looked into the UK/Pelican solutions but they're so heavy to be almost impractical. Also, they're meant more for guns than rods & tackle. Hoping for some input, thanks in advance!

At the ridiculous prices they are starting to charge now for extra or oversized baggage, I would just continue putting it in with your checked luggage. You can also ship the gear to your destination beforehand so it is there when you get there. Alternatively, if you constantly go to a certain lodge or place to fish then see if they will let you leave your gear for the next time you are there, this is what I am doing now.

Do you know that if you keep your checked gear under the dimensions its $25 one way? That's not ridiculous, paying $150 for $50 of tackle is and I'm not doing that again.

I travel with my 4-pc fly rods in individual tubes in my duffel bag/checked luggage but my fly reels travel in my carry on shoulder bag: reels are ok as carry on and more vulnerable to damage so I carry them with me.

The very idea that they charge you for a bag in the first place is ridiculous. It's air travel, of course people are going to have luggage!! Its the people that are travelling with the 2nd, 3rd and 4th pieces of luggage that should be charged extra. Most rod tubes end up in the "oversized" category (except 4pc fly rods) and so you have to pay even more.

Okay, back to the original question - what are people using to carry their rod & tackle?

And FWIW, maybe I'll just check my entire tackle box next time.

This is what Air Canada (and for that matter United Airlines policy) is...

Waivers / Charges
Fishing rod in rod case:

NO oversize or additional piece charges apply if carried with tackle box.

All other additional checked baggage rules apply.

Rod luggage
 

When i travel I go to a carpet supplier ( After Eight flooring) and ask for their empty cardboard carpet roll tube. Many different sizes ( diameters) and you can cut the lenght to any thing you want. Make ends for the tube out of layers of cardboard circles. Found these to weigh the least of anything. Do not get the thin colaspable ones... look for the heavier tube as to not damage gear. Pack tackle with reg luggage... take what you can fit cause if your like me ... too much to take

Thanks for your input! I'm beginning to believe I'm overthinking this since both Air Canada & WestJet count a tackle box & rod holder as one checked bag. In fact, reading through WestJet's tariffs, I'm thinking they have a better policy since it doesn't restrict a traveller to 2 rods. My biggest concern is that the next time I travel I want to take a full sized 2 piece surf pole and those darned things are long! A mid-size pole is 15' and some are as long as 21'! After going through the tariffs of Air Canada and Westjet for what seems the umpteenth time, I realized that it's entirely possible to carry a 2 piece 15' pole as part of the checked tackle. Seems like overkill, but when trying to get the longest cast possible that's the pole that's needed to get the distance.

If your rod tube fits in the overhead bin they'll let you carry it on too without having to check it. I've done that a number of times and it's never been questioned. FWIW, my Rapala Baja tube is 39" long. As mentioned before, I'm just trying to lighten my carry-on load.

Just got back from Florida. I use a travel backpack to take my gear although a duffle bag or something a bit longer then average suitcase would work too. The policies on number of rods etc are a bit weird and I believe need to be taken with a grain of salt. I just flew united which defines a fishing package as 2 rods, 1 reel, tackle box, boots and a net. I didn't have boots or a net but I took 4 rods and 5 reels instead and had no issues. I did phone in before doing so but the lady just said it didn't seem to make much sense to her and that if it fit in my bag it shouldn't be an issue. I did see people that have had issues with this if flying to mexico and other countries where they use it as an excuse to tax you on the extra equipment though.

All my rods are travel rods either 3 or 4 piece though. Anything longer will require some sort of tube and you have to be careful about oversize charges as well as length limits as each airline is different. I know there are travel surf rods but not sure about 15 foot models, think I have only seen 10 and maybe 12.

One thing interesting that I learned was that CATSA(who does the Canadian security screening) says that reels should go in your checked luggage. I had phoned them because of seeing comments about people having to strip fishing line off reels on some flights(mainly down in US/Mexico etc) and when the guy looked it up in his system he said that reels show up as checked luggage. Neither reels or line show up on their public website, I am not sure how that is usually enforced though as I know some guys do fly with their reels as carry on. Depending on the security officer you could run into issues though based on what the guy was telling me, hence why I just put them all in my checked bag.

Interesting about the reels & line. When I flew to Hawaii I carried both of my reels as carry-on without issue. In fact, when I was checking in for our flight out, I messed up and put my carry-on daypack on top my laptop and had the privilege of being thoroughly searched due to my thoughtlessness. Curiously, the reels didn't seem to be an issue and I'm sure they knew they were there. Also, my current surf rod is 11 1/2' long but I want something longer that will get my bait out to the Ulua.

ETA: The only travel surf rods I've come across are the Rapala Baja's. Which max out at 11 1/2 or 12'. If anyone knows of something longer in a 4 or more piece, I would be very interested in where I can get one.

Yeah I wasn't expecting that response at all. I know guys fly with them as carry on regularly so it didn't make much sense to me.

The USA searches are done by the TSA, I never did check to see if they had an official stance on reels or line. From what I could tell it is mainly countries like Mexico etc that have a problem with line being on the reel. I am guessing you can probably fly with them in your carry on across most of Canada and USA without issue but I still will put them in my checked luggage unless I get different information next time I look into it.

Have to agree, if they're forcing people to strip line I would be a very unhappy person if they made me strip my #6 sized level wind. It has nearly 1000 yards of 100 lb test on it. The line is literally worth 2x as much as the reel.

I have always placed my reels in checked baggage and carried my rods on in a rod case and placed in the overhead storage with Westjet, United and American. I will only fly Air Canada in an extreme Emergency so I don't know about them.

You can check these out. http://fish.shimano-eu.com/content/f...SURF_BX-H.html

You have to find a place that will ship to canada. These rods are 15' and 7 piece and cast 8 oz which is good for weight and bait but too stiff for 1-4 oz shore lures. They are also heavy so made for casting bait and then sticking into a holder while you wait. Too heavy for continuous casting with lures.

I do not recommend the Rapala line up for travel rods. They are cheaply made and do not last for more than one trip with out repairs. The 11'-6" would work in a pinch but the 13'-6" is too floppy.

Theses look like decent travel rods
 

https://www.santiamfishingproducts.com

Anyone try these rods? They don't ship to Canada but you can get them new on eBay.
Just haven't seen may reviews on them

Looks like another option although I think they are too long for a suitcase. I have a 5 piece 11'-6" that's 32" long and that just fits. The 11' ft in this series in a case would be 36" and the 12' even longer. They might fit into a duffel bag but those are actually oversize luggage as far as I can tell. Also the butt section is too short for serious distance casting. My shortest rod has 24" from end of rod to center of reel and 27" is more comfortable. My back up rod is a 13'-3" telescopic that breaks down to 46" which I can carry on in Canada but has to be checked in Mexico. For 3 trips I have paid $50/us to bring it back. This year the agent fell for my sob story and let it slide thru for free. I think because I was already paying extra for my soft sided cooler full of frozen snapper. The Sweet Grass Montana warehouse works good for getting things shipped for free or close to here. And if your smart you order stuff before you fly out of the country and then declare it as part of your duty free.

Years ago I tried to take my fly reels with line on in a carry-on-bag while flying from Edmonton to Vancouver. Security made me go back and put them in checked luggage because of the lines, so that's what I do now, regardless of whether that was just an over zealous security person.

And don't even think of carrying on flies!

Hooks are checked, rods are carry on if they fit in the overhead.

thanks!!! heading to mexico with my 11 foot 6" baja rod monday... so ill pack the reels and lures in check in bag....and carry on the rod in its case!!!

going to PV if any one has any secrets to give me....bringing lots of Rapalas.

Anyone use the Baja 4 piece traveling rod?

ynx

happy

Russ If you want the best distance surf rods on the planet , check out Century sling shot .
12'6" is all you need. You can get a 5 pcs custom. They cast a country mile . on a more affordable note Shimano Exage BX S.T.C in 7pcs is amazing . I have a 15' DAM red steel 3 pcs if you interested. Made in Germany

That's what I have, the tips break easy on them so be wary of that. I'll never buy another one. IMO the only thing good about the rod is the case.

Thanks, I'll look into it. I'm also going to give kite fishing a shot.

You might get one or two trips out of your Rapala but as was said they are cheap and won't stand up. Also you will have to check it coming back from Mexico for $25/us and that gets old fast. But still I find I got many hours of fishing in relatively cost free once I was set up. And it will give you a taste of surf fishing which if you have some success and like it, then you can move up into some better gear. Just remember to snug up your sections every half hour as they work loose from all that casting. I would go at least one hour north or two hours south of PVR to get to some good beaches. If you can get some 2 oz deadly dicks in refracta red, or a Gibbs minnow, they work good for casting and as a searching lure, as anything 3 oz and heavier really wears you down.
And it's easy not to hook up and get discouraged and gaze out and wonder about a boat trip. Also a boat trip is a nice break from casting and I use local fishermen for 1500 pesos for 4 hours. A diving Rapala lure to 3-6' along with a top water set up works good for that. Anything that dives deeper than that will be really hard to hold if they don't have rod holders. Have fun!

Not too sure how things work in Mexico, but in Hi, you can run 2 rods at the same time, most people will set up a "dunking' rig and a "whipping" rig. Think of the dunking rig as similar to a trout pond set up (that's what I use the surf caster for). The whipping rig is basically a casting rig with a weight & 3-6' leader, often just a plain hook & bait. Any typical rod you use in Alberta will be fine for that, if you're using a freshwater reel make sure you wash it after you're done otherwise it will be toast.

ok well i hope the rod lasts the 2 weeks....LOL....next time ill get a better rod. well see how it goes.

ill look into thos deadly dicks and see what they are....

tnx

ill report back in 2 weeks. gunna target grouper and snapper....and rooster. might take a panga for mahi mahi....i dunno yet.

tnx happy