As promised, here is a report of my recent experience Flying with my Tackle as "Carry On" items.

Flew from Hartford, CT to Boise and return on Continental Airlines ... carried on board with absolutely no hassles, no questions. All in the past 3 weeks.

5 fly rods (all 9ft 4 piece) in an Abel rod carrier
5 Reels, with spare spools ... all with lines mounted
and, surpising to me ... I carrie d on (way too many) 10-12 boxes of Flies, including 2 dozen large size 4 Wooly Buggers.
Never had one word from the TSA folks or the airline folks.
I had the Reels and Flies all in a small rollaboard and some in my small backpack.
Also, I forgot that I had a small Swiss Army knife in my carry on along with my fishing stuff, probably a 2" blade (maybe 1 & 1/2") and no problems with that either.

Same good experience coming home from Boise a few days ago.
And oh yeah .. the fishing out West was fantastic even though it was 95-100 degrees.