Travel 5 PC Fly Rods

We all live hectic lives. For many fly fishermen business trips and family getaways mean that they are limited to how often they get the opportunity to throw a line. Filling up the trunk with disposable nappies or kids bikes or packing up suitcases and on board luggage with business suits and shiny patent leather shoes tends to reduce our ability to carry fishing equipment.

Besides which there are usually other parties involved who tend to frown on planning fishing excursions when either Aunt Doris or the entire board expects to monopolize the conversation and activities.

Luckily there are five and six (and even seven) piece rods that make carrying our essential equipment convenient (and where necessary safely hidden from sight).

Of course you might want to get your hands on a five or six piece traveler rod as a valuable addition to your hiking equipment, where space and weight are really at a premium. So secrecy may not be your prime consideration, but a quick fishing orientated escape from the mystery meatloaf created by Aunt Doris while ‘just stepping out for a breath of fresh air’ is still a consideration as far as I’m concerned.

In one of my last articles I wrote about five essential flies, in this one we’re going to take a look at how to twin your selection of five flies with your choice of easy to carry fly rods. By the time you’ve made your selection you should have the beginning of a fly fishing arsenal that will fit in your glove compartment, neat in more ways than one.

I’ve never been a big fan of ‘Smuggler Style’ rods. The models that I have used (including the original Hardy styles) have been plagued by a terrible wet noodle like action. In my experience they just didn’t have the responsiveness and control of two or even three piece rods.

That seems to have changed and the newer rods take advantage of new design techniques and composite materials. Here are some of the best.