How do you manage your rods/line when backpacking?

J

JeffRaines

Smolt
Most of the “hike in” fishing I’ve done so far has comprised of day hikes, where I hike in, bust my rod out and fish, then take it all down and hike out.

This coming season as per my other post, I’m gonna try for at least a few multi day excursions where I’d like to try and figure out some other way of storing my rod/line so it wouldn’t be such a tedious task of pulling everything out, setting up, taking it down completely to move, etc.

For those of you who have done this - I’d love to hear how you’ve managed this stuff. Is there a way to leave leaders rigged up so all you have to do is pull them out and fish? Maybe snake the fly through the guides and leave it attached on your reel?

Thanks!
 
JeffRaines said:
Most of the “hike in” fishing I’ve done so far has comprised of day hikes, where I hike in, bust my rod out and fish, then take it all down and hike out.

This coming season as per my other post, I’m gonna try for at least a few multi day excursions where I’d like to try and figure out some other way of storing my rod/line so it wouldn’t be such a tedious task of pulling everything out, setting up, taking it down completely to move, etc.

For those of you who have done this - I’d love to hear how you’ve managed this stuff. Is there a way to leave leaders rigged up so all you have to do is pull them out and fish? Maybe snake the fly through the guides and leave it attached on your reel?

Thanks!
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Unfortunately, this is one of those questions that gets the "it depends" answer.

I have done multi-night hikes with my rod fully rigged for the whole trip and I've done overnight hikes where I breakdown a 7 piece rod and pack it away. It depends on the challenge of the hike, how brushy the trail is..., but most importantly how often you can or plan to fish. If you hike along a creek and want to stop every now and then you'll want your rod rigged. If you are grinding it out to a high lake with a rough trail (where you might stumble) then you'll want to pack it away and rig it once you are there.

For some reason I dislike rigging rods so I err to the side of a rigged rod and I do get some strange looks and comments. I've done hikes with Scouts and they are prone to setting their rod down and forgetting it so for them we recommended breaking it down and attaching it to their backpack.

Not really an answer but maybe a few things to think about...BTW about 40 years ago I had a reel fall apart (screws backed out) on the trail and I couldn't use it. So back then I always packed the reel in a sock to avoid screws vibrating out and if they did I knew where they were.
 
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I’m of the Ilk that de rigs and rigs with every spot. Partly because I like rigging and partly I only get to backpacking on moving water (per your other thread) once a year. And when I get to that spot, it’s more of a hike in, post up, and do day hikes up and downstream (it’s almost 7 hr drive hence the once a year).

Rigging aside, my biggest concern is weight. I’m not UL, but definitely weight conscious. Therefore I hate carrying tubes (one spot I bring two rods: one for redsides and one for bulls). That’s 2+ lbs of extra weight. The patron saint ray jardine is very disappointed (yes, I know, he’s very much still alive). But I’m also too clumsy to just roll with my rod and rod sock in my pack. I think this year I might try and make a pvc rod tube, but rip it on a band saw down the center line and add some rubber bands to hold the sock in. It’ll keep some rigidity, but be half the weight.
 
mcswny said:
I’m of the Ilk that de rigs and rigs with every spot. Partly because I like rigging and partly I only get to backpacking on moving water (per your other thread) once a year. And when I get to that spot, it’s more of a hike in, post up, and do day hikes up and downstream (it’s almost 7 hr drive hence the once a year).

Rigging aside, my biggest concern is weight. I’m not UL, but definitely weight conscious. Therefore I hate carrying tubes (one spot I bring two rods: one for redsides and one for bulls). That’s 2+ lbs of extra weight. The patron saint ray jardine is very disappointed (yes, I know, he’s very much still alive). But I’m also too clumsy to just roll with my rod and rod sock in my pack. I think this year I might try and make a pvc rod tube, but rip it on a band saw down the center line and add some rubber bands to hold the sock in. It’ll keep some rigidity, but be half the weight.
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I think for tubes I'm gonna give the old florescent light covers a try. I seen someone post about it years ago on BPL and it seems like it would be sturdy enough to keep the rods safe as well as being fairly lightweight. With them strapped to the sides of my pack, I can't imagine them getting damaged unless I too get damaged haha.

As far as rigging, its just so tedious... especially in a situation where you might walk a while, then fish, walk, fish, etc. Thats a lot of doing and undoing... I don't mind putting the rods together or threading the line through, but add in tying on a fly on top and I feel like its gonna get annoying fast.

Some of my trips may be just that(set up a basecamp and explore from there), but it would be awesome to do the fish/hike/fish/hike/etc... pretty much fish your way to camp each day.
 
Those Nite Ize (or however that brand spells it) long rubber twist ties are great for keeping rod parts together completely de-rigged, partially-rigged, or just keeping the fly in place while the rod is rigged.
 
mcswny said:
I’m of the Ilk that de rigs and rigs with every spot. Partly because I like rigging and partly I only get to backpacking on moving water (per your other thread) once a year. And when I get to that spot, it’s more of a hike in, post up, and do day hikes up and downstream (it’s almost 7 hr drive hence the once a year).

Rigging aside, my biggest concern is weight. I’m not UL, but definitely weight conscious. Therefore I hate carrying tubes (one spot I bring two rods: one for redsides and one for bulls). That’s 2+ lbs of extra weight. The patron saint ray jardine is very disappointed (yes, I know, he’s very much still alive). But I’m also too clumsy to just roll with my rod and rod sock in my pack. I think this year I might try and make a pvc rod tube, but rip it on a band saw down the center line and add some rubber bands to hold the sock in. It’ll keep some rigidity, but be half the weight.
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It's fun to see differences in how we do our recreation! I hate rigging and as I've gotten older I worry less about weight...I just add a day or two to my trip...and I eat better.
 
longputt said:
It's fun to see differences in how we do our recreation! I hate rigging and as I've gotten older I worry less about weight...I just add a day or two to my trip...and I eat better.
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I'm pretty weight conscious, but there's some areas I don't worry about it... one of those areas is my quilt/pad/pillow. I could certainly shed close to a pound probably on my sleeping pad(Exped Ultra 7R MW), and could also shed weight on the pillow(Nemo Fillo Deluxe or whatever) but I actually sleep with this stuff vs. tossing, turning and wishing for sleep with the lighter weight stuff.
 
How about custom walking staff/rod tube? I did that and it worked pretty well. It was PVC and I didn’t dial it in or anything but you definitely make something that suits you.
 
HauntedByWaters said:
How about custom walking staff/rod tube? I did that and it worked pretty well. It was PVC and I didn’t dial it in or anything but you definitely make something that suits you.
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A rod tube walking staff was our solution. Art Carlson put this dental tooth material on my 9' 2pc Sage case when new in '81. Logged 1,000's of miles north cascades, paysayten, wind river ect. Stream crossing staff, snowfields, critter poker, tarp pole, handy. Too many chances to break a rod hiking, I always broke down to a small side pocket on the kelty.
 

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Anyone ever try the fishpond rod holster?
Been wondering if there's a way to rig one to a pack....thinking it would be nice to be able to store a rigged rod (probably broken down in halves) on the side of a pack.
 
Long_Rod_Silvers said:
Anyone ever try the fishpond rod holster?
Been wondering if there's a way to rig one to a pack....thinking it would be nice to be able to store a rigged rod (probably broken down in halves) on the side of a pack.
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They’re ok. The magnet for the top part sucks—might as well not be there. I added Velcro to mine and made it a lot better.

The buckle also seems to be a bit awkward and like if it were reversed might be better. But it’s doable.

I prefer the Opros 3rd hand and then for the top part I just use the aforementioned rubber twist ties.
 
I'm surprised the Tenkara guys haven't added to this. Seems perfect as long as you're okay with Tenkara. Maybe a Tenkara rod for streamside fishing and a regular rod for the alpine lake?
 
I have an Orvis 6 piece travel rod. I carry it in a Cabella's travel tube that allows me to keep the reel attached. The whole thing is about 2 ft long. I added a couple of rings to the tube and can hook to the outside of the pack, or stick inside with the reel end in the interior. It is a 5 wt. mid-flex and works for about 90% of the stream fishing or a hike to a remote pond.
 
Attaching an unprotected rod to a pack is a blueprint for unhappiness. A small vine maple twig overhanging the trail, an unnoticed rhododendron or dead fir branch, an arch of salmon berries leaning into the trail, and SNAP! An unshielded rod inside the pack isn't much safer as loads shift or the pack gets dropped too hard or a companion goes looking for whatever you asked him to bring you. I spent literally hundreds of nights on the trail over a half century, trust me on this.

If you want to go an inexpensive route, you might look for a section of light aluminum tube, fab some end caps from- say, cat food tins and pop rivets, - cut sponges for interior end cushions, slip a light cardboard liner into the tube and you're into it for well under a pound. The metal tube will discourage the nocturnal fauna from gnawing on cork and graphite.

As for the delay caused by re-rigging at each stop, you're talking what, maybe 90 seconds?
 
Four piece rod tubes and steel Sox for rigged rods and reel case
 
Tom Butler said:
A rod tube walking staff was our solution. Art Carlson put this dental tooth material on my 9' 2pc Sage case when new in '81. Logged 1,000's of miles north cascades, paysayten, wind river ect. Stream crossing staff, snowfields, critter poker, tarp pole, handy. Too many chances to break a rod hiking, I always broke down to a small side pocket on the kelty.
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+1 for this solution. I just added several layers of electrical tape on the bottom of my case to add some durability, but looks like Tom has a better option. I was normally able to fit 2 rods in 1 case, sometimes to have one set up for dry flies and one for streamers, or just to have an extra rod in case someone in the group had a unfortunate encounter with a tree or something and needed a spare.
 
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