Long rambling post about travel rods.

I have spent the last week or so reading everything I could find on the net
about cheap travel rods (I must have read 2000 ROFF posts; I almost feel
like I know some of you guys).

Here's why: I recently started a long thread here about how I wanted to take
up trout fishing and whether or not I could use my old fibreglass Fenwick
rod from when I was a kid in England. The consensus opinion was that I
should get a matching reel and go for it. I planned on doing this but then I
started to think about what kind of fishing I am likely to do and where I
will do it. I live (no doubt for sins committed in another life) in Los
Angeles, and don't have vast amounts of disposable income. This means that
the most likely places I will fish will be right here in CA, probably up in
the Sierras, since I understand that that is where the best fishing is and
also because it's near enough to drive to. Well, if I want my significant
other to join me (and I do), I am going to have to combine the fishing that
I hope to get into, with a lot of hiking, something that we both enjoy
already. This would have the ancillary benefit of perhaps allowing me to
fish less popular spots.

So, I started thinking that maybe what I should do, instead of using the
Fenwick 7 weight would be to buy a cheap travel rod that can be broken down
into short enough pieces to backpack with comfortably. Now, I have read
enough ROFF posts to realise that buying tackle is addictive and becomes a
pleasure for its own sake. Maybe I am doing that, but anyway, I can always
sell it if it doesn't work out.

Okay, I guess this post got sort of long, but here's my point: Is there
currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but serviceable travel
rods? So far, I have been looking at and have read good things about the
Cabela stowaway, the Cortland CL and the ST Croix Avid. Also, how do these
stack up against the Temple Fork travel rods which are around $139? Would
anyone care to comment on any of the above or suggest any others? The max
price would have to be about $120 to $140 and that has to include a rod
case. Finally, I would like to hear what you think of my idea that I should
look for an 8' 6" or maybe 9' 5-weight rod. I plan to fish for trout.
Nothing against any other sort of fishing, but for now that's just what I
have in mind.

Cheers, and have a good Holiday weekend.

Dan Hugh-Jones

Dan wrote:

Okay, I guess this post got sort of long, but here's my point: Is there
currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but serviceable travel
rods?

A packable rod would be fine and dandy, but you could just as well
acquire or make a sturdy rod tube for your Fenwick and use it as a
walking stick. PVC tubing works well.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

wrote...
A packable rod would be fine and dandy, but you could just as well
acquire or make a sturdy rod tube for your Fenwick and use it as a
walking stick. PVC tubing works well.

Get directions from Willi. He makes a killer rod tube that allows a guy to
store a rod that is well protected and yet quick to break out and fish.
--
Warren
(use troutbum_mt (at) yahoo to reply via email)

"Dan" lose wrote in
:

Is
there currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but
serviceable travel rods? So far, I have been looking at and have read
good things about the Cabela stowaway, the Cortland CL and the ST
Croix Avid. Also, how do these stack up against the Temple Fork travel
rods which are around $139? Would anyone care to comment on any of the
above or suggest any others? The max price would have to be about $120
to $140 and that has to include a rod case. Finally, I would like to
hear what you think of my idea that I should look for an 8' 6" or
maybe 9' 5-weight rod. I plan to fish for trout. Nothing against any
other sort of fishing, but for now that's just what I have in mind.

Dan, if you read 2000+ posts you have more guts than I do to wade thru
all that stuff.(politics? bah!) Also, then you know that I and some
others rank the Cabelas Stowaway rods as a good buy and a very
serviceable rod. They are on the slow side of medium on their
castability, so you might want to take that into consideration. They also
fit into your price range. As to your rod length, and weight, that would
depend on where you plan to fish (big water? windy conditions?, small
streams, etc.) ie: for instance, if you fish from a float tube then a 9
footer would be the best choice to keep your backcast out of the
water...if you fish small streams then an 8'6" rod might be too long. So
many variables to consider. What fishing conditions, on average, are you
faced with? A five weight is a good allround rod IMO.

Frank Church
....who thinks a 5 wt is even better when surrounded by all the other wt
rods in my rod rack

I don't travel a great deal but bought the Cabella's Stowaway for that purpose.
I think it is a very good rod for the price, and has worked wonderfully.

"Dan" lose wrote in message
...

....I must have read 2000 ROFF posts.....Is there
currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but serviceable travel
rods?....

2000 posts should be enough to realize that consensus on any issue is
virtually impossible, and when you insert that nasty little qualifier
"best", the matter becomes utterly hopeless. That said, the chances of
getting a truly BAD recommendation for what you've got in mind are pretty
slim and you can rest assured that if you do get one of those, someone WILL
let you know about it.

I've got 3 two-piece rods and 1 three-piece, so I can't really help you with
the question of good mutli-piece selections for backpacking. However, I
have done a good bit of packing with what I have. Long rod tubes can be
awkward at times but they're workable. Rw's suggestion of making a tube out
of PVC has the merit of being cheap and easy. I've got a couple of tubes I
made out of 1 1/2" schedule 40 water pipe. Practically speaking, they are
indestructible, and they CAN serve as walking sticks, but at about 2" O.D. I
find them too thick for comfort as a walking stick and they are also very
heavy. I've tried it and didn't like it....always ended up lashing them to
the pack and using something more traditional as a walking stick. In short,
it can be done, but I don't think I know anyone who's stated that it was a
satisfactory permanent solution.

Wolfgang

Frank,

Thanks for your response. I did indeed notice your advocacy of these rods
over the many posts I read. I have a few questions:

1) Given that I am a beginner, is a slow rod appropriate? Might I end up by
preferring a faster action and should I not therefore start off with a rod
that is more "in the middle" speedwise?

2) You say that where I plan to fish should determine rod length and weight.
I think I will, as I say, probably be fishing in the Eastern Sierras.
(Everything I have read suggests that that is the best trout fishing in CA.)
I believe this encompasses both lakes and streams, so I want to make my
(first) rod as versatile as possible. My thought was for a 5 weight 8' 6"
rod. Does this make sense, or is 9' better?

3) Do you have any knowledge of the other rods I mentioned? Could you put
the Stowaway in context?

4) And, finally, the Stowaways cost $90 each. The matching rod case costs
$30. For only $5 more I can get a "kit". This would get me a rod case, which
I want, and a reel and line, which I don't. Do you have any idea whether I
could could buy the kit and return the reel and line?

TIA

Dan



"Frank Church" wrote in message
9.11...
"Dan" lose wrote in
:

Is
there currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but
serviceable travel rods? So far, I have been looking at and have read
good things about the Cabela stowaway, the Cortland CL and the ST
Croix Avid. Also, how do these stack up against the Temple Fork travel
rods which are around $139? Would anyone care to comment on any of the
above or suggest any others? The max price would have to be about $120
to $140 and that has to include a rod case. Finally, I would like to
hear what you think of my idea that I should look for an 8' 6" or
maybe 9' 5-weight rod. I plan to fish for trout. Nothing against any
other sort of fishing, but for now that's just what I have in mind.

Dan, if you read 2000+ posts you have more guts than I do to wade thru
all that stuff.(politics? bah!) Also, then you know that I and some
others rank the Cabelas Stowaway rods as a good buy and a very
serviceable rod. They are on the slow side of medium on their
castability, so you might want to take that into consideration. They also
fit into your price range. As to your rod length, and weight, that would
depend on where you plan to fish (big water? windy conditions?, small
streams, etc.) ie: for instance, if you fish from a float tube then a 9
footer would be the best choice to keep your backcast out of the
water...if you fish small streams then an 8'6" rod might be too long. So
many variables to consider. What fishing conditions, on average, are you
faced with? A five weight is a good allround rod IMO.

Frank Church
...who thinks a 5 wt is even better when surrounded by all the other wt
rods in my rod rack

On Sat, 29 Nov 2003 09:01:20 -0800, "Dan" lose
wrote:

Frank,

Thanks for your response. I did indeed notice your advocacy of these rods
over the many posts I read. I have a few questions:

1) Given that I am a beginner, is a slow rod appropriate? Might I end up by
preferring a faster action and should I not therefore start off with a rod
that is more "in the middle" speedwise?

2) You say that where I plan to fish should determine rod length and weight.
I think I will, as I say, probably be fishing in the Eastern Sierras.
(Everything I have read suggests that that is the best trout fishing in CA.)
I believe this encompasses both lakes and streams, so I want to make my
(first) rod as versatile as possible. My thought was for a 5 weight 8' 6"
rod. Does this make sense, or is 9' better?

3) Do you have any knowledge of the other rods I mentioned? Could you put
the Stowaway in context?

4) And, finally, the Stowaways cost $90 each. The matching rod case costs
$30. For only $5 more I can get a "kit". This would get me a rod case, which
I want, and a reel and line, which I don't. Do you have any idea whether I
could could buy the kit and return the reel and line?

TIA

Dan


Have a look at the Stowaway 7 instead -- it comes with a tube.
They're faster, more versatile than some of the slower Cabelas. I
have a Stowaway 7 -- 6 wt. and it's fine.



Peter

turn mailhot into hotmail to reply

Visit The Streamer Page at http://www.mountaincable.net/~pcharl...ers/index.html

In article ,
"Dan" lose wrote:

I have spent the last week or so reading everything I could find on the net
about cheap travel rods (I must have read 2000 ROFF posts; I almost feel
like I know some of you guys).

Here's why: I recently started a long thread here about how I wanted to take
up trout fishing and whether or not I could use my old fibreglass Fenwick
rod from when I was a kid in England. The consensus opinion was that I
should get a matching reel and go for it. I planned on doing this but then I
started to think about what kind of fishing I am likely to do and where I
will do it. I live (no doubt for sins committed in another life) in Los
Angeles, and don't have vast amounts of disposable income. This means that
the most likely places I will fish will be right here in CA, probably up in
the Sierras, since I understand that that is where the best fishing is and
also because it's near enough to drive to. Well, if I want my significant
other to join me (and I do), I am going to have to combine the fishing that
I hope to get into, with a lot of hiking, something that we both enjoy
already. This would have the ancillary benefit of perhaps allowing me to
fish less popular spots.

So, I started thinking that maybe what I should do, instead of using the
Fenwick 7 weight would be to buy a cheap travel rod that can be broken down
into short enough pieces to backpack with comfortably. Now, I have read
enough ROFF posts to realise that buying tackle is addictive and becomes a
pleasure for its own sake. Maybe I am doing that, but anyway, I can always
sell it if it doesn't work out.

Okay, I guess this post got sort of long, but here's my point: Is there
currently any consensus on which are the best cheap but serviceable travel
rods? So far, I have been looking at and have read good things about the
Cabela stowaway, the Cortland CL and the ST Croix Avid. Also, how do these
stack up against the Temple Fork travel rods which are around $139? Would
anyone care to comment on any of the above or suggest any others? The max
price would have to be about $120 to $140 and that has to include a rod
case. Finally, I would like to hear what you think of my idea that I should
look for an 8' 6" or maybe 9' 5-weight rod. I plan to fish for trout.
Nothing against any other sort of fishing, but for now that's just what I
have in mind.

Cheers, and have a good Holiday weekend.

Dan Hugh-Jones








Hi, I have a cortland pro crest travel rod in 6 weight that I would be
willing to sell for $50 I honestly have no idea how it fishes compared
to the other rods so you would have to research that. I would prefer a
local sale in chico california.

"Dan" lose wrote in
:

Frank,

Thanks for your response. I did indeed notice your advocacy of these
rods over the many posts I read. I have a few questions:

1) Given that I am a beginner, is a slow rod appropriate? Might I end
up by preferring a faster action and should I not therefore start off
with a rod that is more "in the middle" speedwise?

A slower rod is IMO easier for a beginner, faster rods will magnify your
mistakes. I made the mistake when I first started of getting a faster
rod..going to a slower rod sure made it easier to cast. Based on my
experience, and others here, the Stowaway is an easy rod to cast, and it
will get the line out there when required.

2) You say that where I plan to fish should determine rod length and
weight. I think I will, as I say, probably be fishing in the Eastern
Sierras. (Everything I have read suggests that that is the best trout
fishing in CA.) I believe this encompasses both lakes and streams, so
I want to make my (first) rod as versatile as possible. My thought was
for a 5 weight 8' 6" rod. Does this make sense, or is 9' better?

In your situation, I would go for the 8'6", however that is personal choice
on my part...either one would be fine.

3) Do you have any knowledge of the other rods I mentioned? Could you
put the Stowaway in context?

No, I don't have any experience with the other rods you mentioned. Having
said that, nowadays most low end rods (including imports) will do the job
for you...the rest is eye appeal and rod action. As has been said before,
if you can, you should test cast any rod that you are considering buying.
Cabela's has a 100% guarantee policy, so if you don't like the rod, simply
return it, no questions asked.

4) And, finally, the Stowaways cost $90 each. The matching rod case
costs $30. For only $5 more I can get a "kit". This would get me a rod
case, which I want, and a reel and line, which I don't. Do you have
any idea whether I could could buy the kit and return the reel and
line?

Yes Dan, I did this twice in buying the "outfit"...the reel and line are
crap so I sent them back for a refund, no problem. The reel is boxed and
the line and backing are in their own packages, making it real easy to pack
up and return.

Good luck on your search, let us know what you come up with.

Frank Church