The Hunt For Big Fish with Larry Dahlberg

Monday I am flying southwest to Florida. I plan to do some fishing on Lake Okeechobee so I want to bring my poles. I have looked up the regulations and I can have a carrier up to 3 inches in diameter and 91" in length. Can I just use some PVC or what? Who has experience with this?

Just go to Lowes/Home Depot and have the associate cut you a piece of PVC to the desired length. There are different types of PVC with varying wall thickness, so pick the one you like. Buy a standard end cap for one end and rubber cement it on. Buy a threaded adapter to cement on the opposite end, and also buy the threaded endcap that screws into the adapter threads. The associate will help you, it's very simple. Make sure the tube is 6" longer than your rods so you can put foam or newspaper inside to cushion the rod tips.

Dan Hannon you are the man! Great idea with the threaded end!

And be absolutely sure to put enough padding in each end so the rods can't slide back and forth. THey often get broken when a handler slides the tube across the floor and it hits a wall causing the rods inside to break. I also put them in so every other rod is facing opposite direction, leave tips about a half inch shorter that the butts and tape the rods together. That way even when they slide the only thing that can crash against the inside of the tube are the butts.
good luck
L

That's a great tip about the rod placement so only the butts stick out!

Unfortunately I learned my lesson(s) traveling with rods the hard way. Back in the early 90's I had a super duper heavy duty pvc tube I'd made in the style you described. Seven six + by eight inches diameter out of the toughest stuff available. It was a pale green color. It worked great for several years until it was taken out of the cargo hold of an airplane that had just descended from 40.000 feet and 45 degrees below zero and dropped on a tarmac. It shattered but the rods were ok!
I had 4 aluminum flyrod tubes with rods in them taped together that got literally sheared off just above the butt! I asked if they got caught in the propeller!
I've found that flippin stick type telescoping rods or two piece designs with the joint just above the handle so they break down to less than seven feet saves lots of hassles with the airlines. The rules usually have to do with total inches, diameter added to length. Sometimes you get hassled, sometimes you don't.
I have a friend who does lots of international fishing who uses a golf bag transporter and fills it with two piece rods. Rules on golf bags are liberal!
good luck,
L.

I travel everywhere with rods. I have 4 piece rods that I carry on with me. I do not trust any airlines with my expensive rods. The only time I have to check my rods is coming out of Brazil. Go figure. My one and two piece rods don't travel with me.

I have also experienced nothing buy headaches travelling Internationally with long 1 piece rod tubes. Have had TSA take a saw to the unlocked case while heading to the Amazon. Had them run over a case with a forklift to only name a few. I switched over to shorter 2 piece rods and carry them on the planes. Travel all over the world and no problem as of yet. If your set on the 1 piece rods make sure to contact your airline to see if allowed. A few years ago when heading to La Zona on LAN, I found out a few days before the trip that the max allowed checked piece was slightly over 50 inches or it would go on their cargo plane. Good luck getting those items on time . Also most of the airlines have placed expensive fees on oversized items . Again make sure to check the airlines before a big problem arises!
Best of luck
Bob Daly