I'll sometimes seperate the rod into two pieces, keeping it all setup with my flies, and just stuff it into a case with a shoulder strap. Kind of anoying, but it works.
I don't know anything about that river, but I just got back from fishing for searuns on an Oregon coastal river. They really aren't picky, but my favorite setup is a reverse spider (orange or orange with a pink butt) with a beadheaded prince nymph trailing. They go nuts for it...