I am flying to Arizona in February and am going to do some fishing. Anyone know the rules on flying with fly rods & reels? What can I carry on and what has to be checked into baggage? How do you pack to protect the gear? Any hints and tips will help. Thanks.
Over the years, I’ve flown often to various fishing locations and have learned a few things the hard way…like getting to my destination with THREE RODS BROKEN, out of three, that I’d “thought” I’d packed well enough…
So, the last several times I’ve flown with rods, I’ve done the following…
Rods in PVC tubes, NOT factory made rod cases. MAKE SURE the PVC pipe you choose os “Schedule 40”, PVC, no lighter. (PVC pipe comes in various “schedules”, and “40” is the heaviest, before going to “Schedule 80”, which is gray in color and not really needed).
Make your own screw on caps, on one end of the tube and a cemented on cap, for the other end. ANY hardware store, if you give them the dimensions of what you’re putting into the pipe, can sell you the proper sized fittings. (For a 9’ x 2pc. x 5wt.Powell rod, I used 2-1/2" PVC)
I carry 2 reels with me, in carry on luggage and 2, identically lined and set up reels, I pack in my luggage, with my vest and flies.
Aluminum factory rod tubes ARE NOT strong enough for airline baggage handler’s abuse. Neither are, 99% of the canvas, or, nylon covered “Fly rod travel cases”, sold by box stores and fly shops. If you want your prized rods to arrive in the same number of pieces that the factory made them to be, build your rod case so after it’s done, you can STAND ON IT AND BOUNCE UP AND DOWN and you’ll have a good chance your rods will make it!!
Also, add a 2" thick, piece of foam rubber, to the inside of the PVC glue on cap. Make the tube large enough, that IF you have a factory, aluminum tube, it will fit inside the PVC tube.
Just .42 worth from one that’s been there, done that!
I’ve been on about 24 flights since last May WITH my fly boxes, hemostats, nippers etc in my chest pack IN my CARRY-ON luggage along with my rod and reel, waders etc. It has been pretty much trouble free as far as I’ve been concerned. - I’ll only check luggage if I am going to be gone 5 days or longer!
Good Luck!
i flew from hartford to bozeman and had no problems carrying on two 4 piece rods in their cordura covered rod tubes. i checked all of my other gear and had absolutely no problems.
i also flew to england and packed a 4 piece rod and all of my gear in my checked luggage and had no problems.
flying with 4 piece rods may be easier than 2 piece rods. they do fit better in the overhead bins.
dont always believe what the TSA website says about what can be carried on. one grumpy TSA agent is all it takes for you to check everything, even if you have printed out the page from the TSA website that says so.
some folks will get away with aluminum rod tubes some wont.
I carry all of my flies and reels in a small Cabelas tote bag, and my rods are all 4 to 7-piece rods that fit in the overhead bins. I’ve not had any problem with TSA in the last three years. I figured it was easier if I put everything together, just in case there are questions. The rods are bundled with long strips of Velcro to be easier to handle as well. If I’m taking a small fly tying kit with things like bodkins, I put that in my checked baggage, along with my vest and waders. I carry-on only those things which have high value or would be a royal pain to replace (i.e. 5 boxes of hand tied flies), and the rest gets checked.
I asked myself the following question one day; “If you could only have one fly box with you on a trip, what would be in that box?” I took a new fly box that fit into a vest pocket, and proceeded to fill it with the desired flies. It took about two hours as I put every fly in groups of 4 flies, and then started culling those that I knew to be less productive. In the end I had a box that would cover 95% of my freshwater fly fishing, and I still carry that box in my vest today. One of these days I’m going to assemble a box just for trout and one for panfish. These would be terrific for one-day trips where you don’t need a fly shop’s worth of flies along with you when heading out for a single species.
Enjoy your trip!
Joe
Joe
Last year, on a trip to Chile, I carried on boots, waders, rods, and reels. Flies were checked in baggage. It is a hassle to carry all of that stuff; however, these were things I absolutely had to have with me. I assumed the flies would make it with the luggage and if not the guides would have flies. There was a small period of times that the Chilean’s were confiscating flies for bird flu concerns but that is no longer the case.
One of our group had a small pair of scissors for tying flies in his carry on baggage . He made it all the way down ok but on the way back, the chilean authorities yanked him out of line and scrutinized him for awhile – eventually letting him go.
I am surprised that the TSA lets you carry on flies; however, it is laughable that they would be dangerous enough to use to hijack a plane. Having had several flies stuck in my head and elsewhere over the years, I don’t think it was a grave enough danger to warrant an all out ban on carrying them on an airplane.
I think those before me have pretty much answered your concerns. The only thing I would add is that the ticket people will tell you that fishing lures have to be checked. However, I have had no problem with flies in carry-on luggage. I think they might be referring to large casting lures. However, it might just depends on the individual TSA security person on the lure issue. Follows Joe’s guidance on this.
Also, I would not try carrying on a two piece rod and plan on putting it in the overhead if some of your flight will be on commuter planes. Just not enough room. You’ll end up having to put it in the belly of the plane which puts you back in the crushing category mentioned earlier. In short, most TSA folks are sportsman friendly.
Have a great trip!!
I would guess that TSA believes in the stereotype that flyfishers are ladies & gentlemen, and pose no threat to air travel. The worse you can expect from us is the non-stop stories of “the one that got away.”:rolleyes:
Joe
I’ve never been hassled about carrying on reels. I have a sturdy rolling duffel that my 4 piece rods fit nicely into. I’m most paranoid about losing my flies. The airlines will replace a rod, but there’s no way they can replace the many hours that I spent filling my fly boxes. As a result, I take as few flies as possible. If you check your rods, make sure they’re in the tubes when you pick up your bags at your destination. Unfortunately, thieves sometimes get jobs at the airports.
I’ve only had a couple of problems. A guy at LAX would’nt let me carry on a PVC pipe rod case saying I could hit someone over the head w/ it. My friend carried on his canvas covered PVC rod case w/ reel no problem. I guess it doesn’t hurt as bad covered with canvas. The guy in Idaho almost took a small needle nose plier to crimp barbs down. He let me slide but said don’t bring it again. So my suggestion is don’t expect consistency wherever you go. What may be good one place is bad someplace else. Good luck.
Rebelfly’
Sorry, I wasn’t as specific as I could/should have been…
When I answered your question, at first, I ASSUMED, (my mistake, perhaps), that you’d be taking along a rod(s), like 9’ 2-piece, and CHECKING THEM. I should have asked, if you’re taking 3-4-piece rods, which is usually a “carry on board-store overhead” situation.
“IF” you do check them, “AND” they’re 9’-2 piece rods, I’ll still suggest the PVC tubes. Also, I forgot to mention something that again I’ve learned the hard way over the years of traveling with fly gear… put your name, address, phone number, dog’s name, dog’s picture, any identifying info you can think of… INSIDE your gear, as well as, tagged on the outside.
I almost lost 2 Billy Pates, going to Belize, because the OUTSIDE tag got “mysteriously” ripped off, my travel reel case. Having my ID, inside, when I went to “lost baggage claim”, saved my reels.
This topic has been bantered around just every fishing bulletin board on the web. The hard and fast rule is there are really no hard and fast rules regarding permissable carry on items when it comes to fishing gear. That said, concensus seems to show that most domestic flights within the lower 48 states will allow rods and reel on as carry on. Flights that involve travel outside of the lower 48 states is where most of the issues regarding permisable carry on fishing gear orginate now, particularily when the flight departs from a non USA airport.
Here in Canada, it seems to be the exception to carry on any kind of fishing gear. So much of this stuff is at the descretion of not only airport securty, but also airline staff. Even if security will allow it, the airline often will not.
Rebelfly, for your Arizona flight you shouldn’t have any issues if you check your flies and carry on your reels and travel rods.
Tight lines!
Guy
What fishing stuff is allowed as carry-on is dependant on the airport and the TSA security person. I have had so many problems at the NYC airports with pack rods, reels, flies, tying equipment, etc., etc. that I have given up.
It either goes UPS insured for it true value a few days before the flight or in the checked luggage.
I worked a 90 day detail at the airport and watched TSA change their rules as to what they would allow through the checkpoints on daily and sometimes hourly bases and all for good reasons. Without going into much detail, things changed as threat levels went up or down and as new Intel became / becomes available.
Now having said that it surprises me, with the training I have, as to what they let through at checkpoints and you should be glad that I’m not in charge.
TSA has a very daunting and un-thanking task to see that we fly safe. It is a job that has been invented out of necessity as a result of 9-11. For some reason I try to think of this as I wait in line to do the TSA hokey pokey, then I don’t feel so put out.
Always check with your airline as to what to pack and what can be carried on; but that is subject to change.:???:
My son and I flew to Yellowstone this summer. We carried our rods onto the plane in one of these http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0036267319052a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntt=fly+rod+case&Ntk=Products&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&_D%3Asort=+&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form1&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1 combination rod/reel cases. Nobody at the airports along the way even so much as gave us a sideways glance.
I didn’t bring fly boxes or other things on the plane, but the rods and reels in the above cases offered no problems at all.
On the way home, I had picked up a new rod while out west and brought it back in it’s aluminum tube. I just took a couple strips of velcro and strapped the Cabela’s tube and the rod’s aluminum tube to lash the together. Nobody in any of the airports even blinked an eye.
Hope this helps.
Jeff
I honestly believe they make a concious effort to make sure that nobody will know exactly what the rules are at any given moment. If a bad guy knows what the rules are, he’ll have an easier time knowing how to appear in compliance. If he knows that a certain piece of luggage or a certain item will never arouse suspicion, that’s where the contraband is going to go. On the other hand, they know that just because something got through twice with no problems doesn’t mean it will be allowed the third or fouth time. Uncertainty makes for discomfort. Discomfort makes people nervous. They want to keep the bad guys a little uncomfortable and a little nervous. Makes them easier to spot.
If it makes you and me a little uncomfortable too, that’s the price we pay for security.
I used to carry my 2 piece rods on trips but the last time was 2006. I’ve gotten to carrying my 3/4/5 wt rods on a fishing daypack along with flies, waders, jacket and sometimes my vest. This last time to Yellowstone, I put my 4 wt in my checkin along with my vest/fly boxes/wading shoes then had to contend with a lost bag in Wyoming. Fortunately United delivered my bag to the hotel 3 hrs later though I missed a half day of fishing without my flies, vest, wading staff, shoes and clothes. Sometime soon I’ll switch to having all 4 or 5 pc rods and maybe a bigger pack to carry all my fishing stuff except my shoes. I did see someone in Jackson Hole get off the plane with a 2 piece rod tube so it may still be okay though that may count as one(1) piece of carry on. Next time I’m bagging the laptop and just carrying 2 carryons and 1 check in.