Tackle Tactics » Tips-Techniques » Fishing-Adventures-Destinations » For the Love of Travel Rods

For the Love of Travel Rods

By Ken Smith

My Winter escape this year concluded after a 13,166km round trip up through Cape York, down through the Gulf of Carpentaria, up to Darwin, back down the west coast to Timber Creek and then a winding course back through the NT, Central Australia, South Australia, Queensland and finally back to my home state of NSW.

A difference to this year's trip, compared to last years, was that I only took travel rods on my latest trip. Last year my PVC rod tube was fixed to the roof of my 4WD, however I rarely used the one-piece rods. Leaving the 4WD parked with lots of rods on the roof can be a bit of a worry, especially in areas with lots of people about.

Not so with the three and four-piece rods, stowed in their own tubes and packed safely within the car. I must admit that I love all types of fishing, so my travel bag was bulging with fly, spin and baitcast travel rods. Whether you are travelling on a plane, train, boat, helicopter, bike, quad, horse, camel or just hiking into a wild, untouched place, the travel rod makes great sense and is easy to carry. When compared to the earlier telescopic models, the quality of these rods nowadays is second to none.

So, much of my fishing is throwing lures, plastics and the occasional live bait, with my preferred method here being a spin rod. The three main rods in my spin stick arsenal consist of the Okuma Cerros range of travel rods.

Light Combo

The CER-S-703ML 7'0" / 2-4kg / 1-15g rod is perfect for those smaller species and for flicking light lures and plastics, along with hopping blades and plastics across the bottom. Think jungle perch, tarpon, mouth almighty, garfish, bass, trout, golden perch, silver perch, redfin, bream, flathead, whiting and so forth. Matched with an Okuma Helios SX 20 spin reel spooled with Platypus Bionic Braid X9, I have found this combination perfect for those finesse presentations.

Medium Combo

The CER-S-703M 7'0" / 3-6kg / 5-20g is the rod that I rig up when chasing barramundi and Murray cod in those average to medium size fish species. This rod is not left wanting when it comes to handling a decent fish and casting a barramundi or cod lure or plastic, with an upper range of a 20g lure. Team this rod up with a spin reel, such as an Okuma ITX-3000, again spooled with the Bionic Braid X9 and it's a perfect match.

Heavy Combo

The final rod in the Okuma Cerros Travel Spin Rods range that I use is the CER-S-703H 7'0" / 5-12kg / 15-40g. With the upper range line at 12kg and lure weight of 40g, this heavy weight model can be confidently used to target those trophy fish with ease. Big swimbaits, plastics, lures and even live baits are what this rod made for. I match this rod with the Okuma ITX-4000 spin reel, spooled with Platypus Bionic Braid X9 and this is the ultimate setup. Leaders on all combos are Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader.

My next year's winter escape is already in the planning for northern Australia and my travel rods will be some of the first gear packed! I am eagerly looking forward to this coming Summer, when I don a backpack with a travel rod, jump onto my bike, kayak, canoe, quad or tinny and head off into those little gems of waterways that take quite an effort to reach. The travel rods make it easier to take in quality gear with me, that will handle everything asked of it!

Cheers, Ken

Gearing Up:
Okuma Cerros Travel Spin Rods
Okuma Helios SX Spin Reels
Okuma ITX Carbon Spin Reels
Platypus Bionic Braid X9
Platypus Stealth FC Fluorocarbon Leader