DAIWA FISHING TIPS: Travelling with Rods – Vicki Lear

I have travelled to Darwin a few times now and always seem to have trouble when going through the airport with my rod tube.   I can travel from Sydney to Darwin okay but when returning, Darwin airport always seems to knock the rod tube back. Distressed at 12 midnight at the airport, well what do we do with it now? “You will have to post it back”. How are we supposed to do that when we are boarding the plane now? Not their problem. So after chucking a tantrum and ordering to speak to the supervisor it remarkably now fits and returns home with me. I was not risking this year; I was going full assault on the travel rods.

I was fishing a number of different methods on Corroboree Billabong and hooking anything from Tarpon though to Barraumundi, oh and I forgot, snakes also. I took up 3 rods and they were all 3 pieces. These rods have a dual purpose, They are great for travelling, but also come in handy for my Snapper fishing when at home – I wanted something that would double up for the fishing we do at home rather than just sit in a cupboard all year until the next flight.

For me it was easy. I ordered two Generation Black, Black Sniper rods. They are a 213cm rod with fast action and rated medium heavy. You can throw between 7 to 21 grams in weight and use 4-7kg of line. I also had the bait caster in the same style. I teamed these two rods up with the ballistic 3000 and loaded with 10lb J Braid. I wanted to fish relatively light leader up there and just use a little bite tippet to protect against the lily pads, wraspy teeth etc.

It handled the Saratoga really well dragging them out of the lily pads and for Teagan who also used this combo it gave the rod a work out on a nice Corroboree Billabong Barramundi.

The rods all fit diagonally in my clothes bag. I just packed my clothes around them to make sure they had plenty of padding. They all arrived in one piece or should I say three and returned safe and sound also.

It was hassle free travelling to only have one bag to deal with and no rod tubes. This how I am going to travel from now on and I would totally recommend it to everybody.