Slide the reel case over both and go

 

That works good for an easy jaunt, but only solves part of the problem. I used to do that, but stopped packing in reel cases on longer hike-ins, as it is just one more thing to carry in and keep track of/stow.

 

13' fully assembled and crawling through bushes. I'm pro

Seriously though, one long skinny thing seems easier to manage than two skinny things.

 

Try doing that hiking a half mile through wet-side underbrush that is constantly trying to overtake the trail.

 

Oh, oh...brushfight!!! For the most part I'll give you it may be worse in general on the wet side.

 

I had recently bought my Sage 389-4LL and was hiking back to the car through some serious brush after a delightful evening fishing. Ready to stow my new rod, I saw that I had only 3 of the 4 sections in hand.

I retraced my steps most of the way back, peering hard through the gloom, brush and leaves for the missing tip section. Not finding it after returning to the river, I turned back in despair. Less than 20 feet from the car, I found the tip, snapped where I had stepped on it, unseen on my first trip back to look for it.

My lesson: Do NOT unstring your rod for a bushwhack. It's all too easy for a branch or vine to snag a guide and pull a section loose. A tight line connecting all the sections will help prevent that from happening.

Fortunately, my only experience with Sage's outstanding warranty service resulted in a new tip section shipped back to my welcoming hands in less than 3 weeks - in August no less!

"Good judgment comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment." - Will Rogers

K

 

My lesson: Do NOT unstring your rod for a bushwhack. It's all too easy for a branch or vine to snag a guide and pull a section loose. A tight line connecting all the sections will help prevent that from happening.

K

Completely agree. I never unstring anything until it slides back into the tube in the car.

 

Lucky guy, Kent. A broken tip is good for a warranty replacement. A lost tip is a three piece rod without a tip section. I dropped a tip section of my Redington 4-wt in the pouring rain at a treefarm lake last spring and didn't realize it was missing until I got home. I went back the next morning and found it, but I must have stepped on it, even though there wasn't a visual break; it broke on the first cast next time I used it.

I feel like I have broken more than my share of rods. Now I try to take the few moments required to break my rod down and put it in a sock before walking with it.

D

 

Lucky guy, Kent. A broken tip is good for a warranty replacement. A lost tip is a three piece rod without a tip section. I dropped a tip section of my Redington 4-wt in the pouring rain at a treefarm lake last spring and didn't realize it was missing until I got home. I went back the next morning and found it, but I must have stepped on it, even though there wasn't a visual break; it broke on the first cast next time I used it.

I feel like I have broken more than my share of rods. Now I try to take the few moments required to break my rod down and put it in a sock before walking with it.

D

I recently lost the top half of my redington rod carrying it out unstrung. After an hour or more of searching I gave up. After contacting redington they said just send it in and they would replace the whole thing....! Great company

 

Maybe I'm just type A or afraid to lose something, but I pretty much break my rod down whenever I'm headed on the move. It just really doesn't take me long to rig it up. Even for a nymph rig type setup it's probably 2-3 minutes tops for me to rig from case to cast. Alot easier to be on the move in the mountains near where I live if the thing is cased, and jammed into my backpack even if it sticks out a little like a small chimney or radio antenna! lol

 

Jslo, You are a type A with patience. Are you on the move to just one destination or a dozen?

 

Jslo, You are a type A with patience. Are you on the move to just one destination or a dozen?

LOL. Usually if I'm hiking in the mtns I might be hitting 3-5 or more places in a hiking sequence. sometimes its a couple hundred meters between spots, sometimes a couple miles. If it's only a quick short open hike of course I don't break down for that. But anything longer or more treed and I break down.

In the canyon that I consider my home river, I rarely break down as I'll wade a large section, hike back to the truck on the side of the road after exiting the river- and leaving everything rigged- drive to the next wadeable section...

I never bushwhack with my rod uncased. Just too much to think about as I bushwhack lol.

 

Patron Pole is a hiking/wading staff that holds a two piece rod (8' max.) inside.

 

Speaking of which, and slightly off-topic I know – but how can you tell the difference between the reissued "classic" or a vintage LL?

 

Speaking of which, and slightly off-topic I know - but how can you tell the difference between the reissued "classic" or a vintage LL?

I'm pretty sure the reissue was just the 389-4 and they also did a limited reissue of the 4711-2 LL for Feather Craft. I could be totally wrong, but the original GII and GIII LL's (wow, is this English?) were 2 and 3-piece rods only.

 

A lot of talk about rods broken due to trail stomping. JM2C but I use my graphite rods for bigger streams, still water, etc. where I'll need extra distance and there are usually decent trails. For small stream bushwhacking I take my fiberglass rods. Much less fragile and I do like the way they fish for small water. I've had many accidents like tripping over blackberry bushes or small tumbles down sheer faces where my fiberglass rod took a hit that would shatter any graphite rod.

 

I only broke one rod while walking through the woods. I was young and dumb at the time and was walking with my rod out in front like an idiot. I have since walked with my rod facing backwards. Never had a problem doing it that way. And the rod was all together at the time.

I have since then not walked farther than a few feet to fish. No brush busting anymore. Here, where I fish now, I can drive to. No walking involve unless I'm walking behind my truck to get a different rod out.

 

I have since then not walked farther than a few feet to fish. No brush busting anymore. Here, where I fish now, I can drive to. No walking involve unless I'm walking behind my truck to get a different rod out.

Adapt and overcome! Replacing the vigor of youth with the wisdom of experience. You must have seen the day coming when you wouldn't want to stomp too far to fish, since you moved to a place where you don't have to. I call that careful planning and excellent prioritizing.

 

I leave mine strung, in two pieces, with the tip at the handle, and my fly hooked on the tip-top. This works for me if I have a fly on that I want to keep fishing. Especially on the extra rods I have set up for kayak fishing. I now stow them so that they are safely under the rails of my U-12, or inside the hull (thru the angled 8" center hatch in front of my seat on my Tarpon SOT). I have snagged the tip of a fully rigged spare rod sticking out the back of my U-12 when casting, and once, long ago, I broke a rod tip when I let the current push me backwards into a piling.
I carefully rubber band both ends, but I am going thru my collection of velcro straps to find one that works for the tip and handle end. I think that the velcro strap might offer more padding and protection to the tip than the rubber band.

I usually don't break my rod down when hiking/wading along a river, unless I have to bushwhack thru some really thick tangles, or unless the trail is overgrown with blackberry brambles.

One year, for about two months of lake fishing, I never even changed my fly (Halloween Bugger), and just folded the rod in two and rubber banded it on both ends. The fly was working great for trolling and casting/stripping over dropoffs or to the shoreline, so I didn't feel the need to change anything. Except maybe for fresh rubber bands.

 

These straps might work well:
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Velcro-8-in-x-1-2-in-Reusable-Ties-50-Pack-90924/202261940#.UhUrTj-2-jk

The velcro runs full length on both sides so the can go as small as needed. you can even semi-permanently attach them to a rod if desired. That way you can free up your rubber bands for their intended purpose of drying flies.

 

I use slightly smaller versions of the Velcro straps to attach to the D rings on the sides of my float tubes. They make dandy rod holders without adding any weight, especially on backpacking trips.

K

 

... Tenkara... there, you made me say it.

 

I stopped bushwacking after an unfortunate poison ivy bathroom insident. That and the fact that I detest a good workout!

 

To get back on topic, a buddy convinced me this summer to carry the rod butt forward rather than the intuitive tip forward. It snagged a lot less in heavy brush as it had my more than ample frame clearing the way.

 

My first Fly Rod was one made out of Fiber glass. With a Sat-Trout Pfleuger reel. With the Double taper Floating line. I remember the reel make but not the rod. I was about 24 at the time. The reel had no rim control. a Real knuckle buster.

Shit, that was a llllooooonnnnnggggg time ago. Over 50 years.

 

Knuckle busters are cool. Real men still use them. Or poor men, I can't remember.

 

Greg, get a rod sock for a gear rod from Ted's. Should be about 4-5 ft and you can trim to size. It will protect everything but the reel and fits in a vest pocket when not needed.