Fly Rod Protection
Filed under: How To... — admin @ 2:04 pm
OK, you’ve paid some real money for your fancy fly rod. Next to your children and your wife (debatable) , probably your most prized posession. If you’ve ever broken a fly rod, like I have, you know it’s extremely painful. It’s like someone cut off your hand.
There are a multitude of ways to protect your investment. Here are a few ways:
- Weighted Flies: When throwing heavily weighted flies, use an open loop to keep the projectile away from the graphite rod blank. By this I mean purposefully lower your rod on both the backcast (to around 3:00) and the forecast (to aroudn 9:00). Normally you’ll want 11:00 and 1:00, but if you through a tight loop like this, you risk your fly hittng your rod, or alternatively your head. I prefer a head shot any day.
- Snags: When snagged, don’t violently crack the rod back mercilessly. Give it a couple of direct sets and if it’s snagged, grab the flyline and pull free. I don’t care for pointing the rod at the snag and holding the line tight against the grip and pulling until something breaks. I’ve broken several rods trying to pull fee of a snag. If you’re “terrestrial” with your snag, for God’s sakes pull on the line only and look the other way. Tell your buddies to watch out, as well. These brush or tree snags can be lethal, if you’re not careful.
- Transport: When traveling, keep the rod in a hard protection tube or case. Whether in your car or in a boat, when you’re not using the rod, take a second and break it down and run the main sections into a protective case. If you’re in a boat it’s very easy for a long rod to catch on a sharp edge or get sat on when your big slob buddy staggers and falls over onto your rod.
Short Distance Rod Transport: If you’re spot hopping consider using a device to keep the rods outside of the car for short distance “leap frogging” as you try to pimp the guy in front of you. Consider using a rod carrier like the Vac Pac Combi to keep your rod safe. This system of two magnetic T-bars, offers a safe and solid way to transport your rods, anytime you want to move short distances and don’t want to screw around reassembling your rods everytime you start and stop.
Longer Distance Rod Transport - When you want to keep those rods 
stung up, but are traveling longer distances, check out the Double Haul Rod Case. This is an easily assembled and mounted four-piece, fully-adjustable hard-shell rod case that mounts and locks to most roof racks. This will protect rods and reels from theft, damage, wind, dirt and dust. I’ve used this system when I’m spot hopping longer distances, but still expect to be in and out of the car frequently. Take a look at a video on this unit found HERE.