shipping by UPS in advance of your trip is one of the better options. it eliminates most of the "guess" work and cranky "TSA and airline" workers who got up on the wrong side of the bed.

i did fly from connecticut to montana and checked most of my fly fishing equipment and carried on my 4 pc fly rods with no problems. but that was about 5 years ago and i'm sure things have changed since then. i wouldnt bother printing out the the list of things that are safe for flying and shoving them in the face of a TSA worker. it wont get those items on the plane.

my fly rods were in the original cordura covered rod tubes and not in aluminum ones. maybe that made a difference. i dont know. i also was not beligerent with any TSA or airline workers.