Sorry if this has been asked before but I've just got back from a camping holiday in France - turned out the campsite had a free fishing lake just opposite my tent. I ended up buying a €4 kids rod in the supermarket and caught some nice Bream. I wish, however, that I'd had some decent gear with me.

My question is basically can anyone recommend a decent travel rod that will fit nicely in a suitcase?

I've seen the Shimano range but was wondering what was best - a telescopic or multi-piece rod?

Grateful for any advice.

Cheers in advance

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IOI

Its like any other rod, personal preference. There are some factors which relate to multi-piece rods which could help you decide.

Multi-piece rods by virtue of the blank construction tend to be heavier length for length and weight for weight. Each spigot or ferrule has re-inforcing at the joint which adds to the weight. The greater the number of joints the heavier the rod. The additional joints also affect the action of the rod and generally make it feel more sloppy. This assumes you are talking about a general `occasional use' rod for the odd holiday bash. If your looking at serious then there are a multitude of quality travel rods by many manufacturers where these inherent problems have been addressed but at a price. Conoflex even have an excellent 4 piece 12ft surfcaster which can chuck a lead. Harrisons have four piece 12ft
ledger rods that are superior to many `top brand' traditional section rod.

Telescopic rods suffer from a history of cheap and nasty going back decades. This has nowadays been addressed and there are some good quality telescopic rods on the market from Shimano or Hiro (Portugal). The build of the telescopic rod eliminates the heavy joint, (the guides form the re-inforcing) and the action tends to be better as well as the rod being lighter.

I have access to hundreds of different rods and blanks but earlier this year I needed a small travel rod and did`nt have time to make something up. I looked around and plumped for the Shimano Xsage telescopic. For what its intended and at the price (about £40+) I can`t really fault it and I`ve had some good light tackle fun with it. Nice light action and weighs next to nothing. Comes in a small alloy case about 12 inches long and extends to around 7ft. Not trying to push Shimano. As a general rule I steer clear of a lot of there stuff. As I said personal preference.

Nice write up Stan,I can only echo your words. In the past I have went for the cheaper telescopics.When sea fishing with them you MUST wash all of the salt water off the fittings. The fittings tend to be made of fairly cheap gear and after say 2/3 holidays,due to severe rusting the telescopic will be ready for the bin.

They still pay for themselves though

Snatcher,

got to agree they pay for themselves. Even the Shimano I got at £40+ will last a good few seasons if looked after and that`s good value for money. Some of the better telescopics are now using stainless guides with stainless ferrule re-inforcing, they should last the blank life. The older, far eastern or indeed some Scandinavian ones used chrome plated steel which just falls to bits in saltwater. I must admit I wash down everything I use in saltwater and that includes Penn International reels. I`m still regularily using an old white Mitchell 624 for bait and the likes and its as good as new and that must be twenty years old. When I get the time I may just strip down the Shimano, thread reinforce the joints and fit decent Fuji guides because the wee blank aint at all bad.

can see a slight boob in my last post. In case anyone new is reading. " I wash everything I use in saltwater" obviously meant evrything I have used in saltwater I was down with fresh water.

Thanks guys for the info so far. Stan that was a very detailed reply - cheers! I've been looking at the Shimano range as it's only going to be an occassional use rod so I don't want to pay the earth for it.

Can't decide whether to get a spinning rod, carp rod or match rod. Most of my holiday fishing should be light line and I'm sure all these options would do really.

IOI

all I can say is I took that small Shimano telescopic to Portugal in April. There was not a lot of quality sea fishing at that time, (better now) but I did have a bit of fun with mullet to about 3lb, some sea bass on a short boat trip to the 4lb mark, bream from the shore 1/2 to 3/4lb. On a couple of days I visited the "barragems" {reservoirs} which are teeming with carp. Literally shoals of 30 - 50 carp on the surface and about 6 or 7 shoals visible at any time within ten yards of shore. A few tins of sweet corn later I had free-lined the corn for 16 carp one day to about 5lb and 9 in a 4 hour stint to 9lb.
The average being 4lb (ish). The 9lb came to fly as did a few others but the majority, say 70% were all taken on that small Shimano.

Shimano Exage 10/11 ft heavey spin
7 pcs (6 to make it 10 ft)
Should be able to get one for £55.00

Got mine from Birds in Ipswich for £45.00
three years ago (think they made a mistake )

Has been to florida 3 times and held up very well.
At 11 ft it cast 100 grams along way, so would be fun to feather with it.
At 10 ft i have lobed 4 OZ breakaway into a srong tide, the rod held up well.
Have landed a good stingray with it also.

Quality