Put your rod away first!

[CRB]

Put your rod away first in your trunk, bed or hatch back.
Don't put it on your roof.
Do it before changing out of your waders!
It could save you money and grief from your wife.

 

[troutbert]

That's a good habit. I learned the hard way.

I lost a Sage RPL+ rod by not following that rule. And it was my favorite fly rod. I had won it at a Trout Unlimited raffle.

I just left it somewhere. Probably leaned it against the car or against a tree and drove off.

Another time I leaned a rod against a vehicle, then we drove off. But for some reason it occurred to me that maybe I didn't put the rod away, and I checked the case and it was empty. So we drove back and found the rod along the road, undamaged.

 

[KeviR]

^ happened to me once, too. drove back and found...nothing. Which means
1. - It didn't break
2. - Somebody else took it home.

Yes, I learned the put-it-away-first lesson the hard way.

 

[tomgamber]

Put your rod away first in your trunk, bed or hatch back.
Don't put it on your roof.
Do it before changing out of your waders!
It could save you money and grief from your wife.

Because it's there I almost always lean mine up against the rear view mirror on the driver's side so I can't get in the car without seeing it. Mirror is a guarantee that it won't fall over.

 

[redietz]

Because it's there I almost always lean mine up against the rear view mirror on the driver's side so I can't get in the car without seeing it. Mirror is a guarantee that it won't fall over.

If I absolutely must put my rod down before putting it away, I'll lean it on the windshield and hold it down with the wiper.

 

[tomgamber]

On the wiper is good. Anything that doesn't conflict with the possibility of making one more cast.

 

[JerryC]

I lost a rod because I put it on top of my car and forgot about it. Not sure where it fell off but I went back and looked. I didn't find it. It wasn't expensive. I built it myself, but had to build another one to replace it.
The first thing I do now is break down the rod and put it in the back of my small SUV. Once I get the rest of my gear off and in the car, I settle the rod on top of it before I drive off.

 

[dc410]

The last thing I do is put together and string up the rod before leaving my vehicle and heading for the water. The first thing I do upon returning to my vehicle is break down and case the rod. I am just about ridiculously regimented about this procedure. Putting aside forgetting about it and losing it, many rods are broken around vehicles all the time just from setting it here or leaning it there, especially if fishing with other folks and their is a lot of activity around the vehicles.

 

[Swattie87]

Because it's there I almost always lean mine up against the rear view mirror on the driver's side so I can't get in the car without seeing it. Mirror is a guarantee that it won't fall over.

+1. While I am not religious about putting the rod away first, I am religious about this being the place I lean my rod, when getting back to my vehicle.

Typically I put the rod there while I fumble with getting my keys out of my pack to unlock the car. If for some reason I forget to put the rod away, I can’t get in the vehicle to drive away without moving the rod. The roof is a strict no no.

 

[GeneBeam]

The roof is a strict no no.

Not because I haven’t been tempted on putting a rod on my vehicle’s roof but because being as short as I am I couldn’t put any rod on the roof of my SUV without a step stool. Then again laying on the ground is also a big no no.

 

[Bamboozle]

I have a set routine that I NEVER deviate from and NOTHING gets done including peeing, having a beer or putting anything else away until my rod & reel are safely stashed and the beer doesn't happen until EVERYTHING is put away because I know me.

When I am fishing alone, I have a rod/reel holder I made that attaches to my SUV on the driver's side. My rod goes in that while I cut off the fly, reel in the line and start the disassembly process. Once the rod & reel are safe in their tubes & cases, the other stuff gets put away one item at a time WHERE IT BELONGS in the gear bags in the back of my SUV.

If I am fishing with others in a single vehicle, I wait with my rod in my hand until everyone else stashes their gear before I'll start, or if I get the opportunity I'll stash mine first to reduce confusion and the urge to put things down where I could forget them. When I fish after dark, I check around the car with a flashlight before departing.

Conversely, when arriving at a fishing spot, my rod is the LAST thing I take out of the car when getting ready. Early in the process I'll attach my rod holder to the car and when I have everything else ready and on me, I'll put in my rod & reel in the holder while I string it up. When I'm done, I secure the rod in the holder and have a beer or two.

When I'm done with the beer, the rod goes to my hand while I take off the rod holder, toss it in the back of my car, close the door & lock the car.

I never lost or left a single item of tackle behind using this method...

...even after the beers!!

 

[wildtrout2]

Since I fish mostly remote streams, my rod gets put back into it's tube before I make my way out. So, no chance for breakage. My reel gets put away in a vest pocket. The rod tube hangs from the loop on the back of my vest, where some guys would hang their net. This way, it's impossible for me to forget it when I'm leaving. It also allows me to be hands free when hiking/climbing in and out.

 

[Canoetripper]

I am lucky in that I have failed to adequately secure my fly rods in my fly rod vault(I spent $400.00 on this for many a reason). I could have lost thousands of $ in fly rods do to having my head up my a$$ going from point A to point B.

Not any more. The first thing I do now is put the fly rods in the rod vault and make sure I lock it. I don't go from point A to point B until I know that all(4) of my fly rods are locked and loaded in my fly rod vault.

 

[DaveKile]

Put your rod away first in your trunk, bed or hatch back.
Don't put it on your roof.
Do it before changing out of your waders!
It could save you money and grief from your wife.

Best tip I had to learn for myself. I drive off with my sage rod on the roof leaving the Little J. I did find it on Rt. 45, but not before a car ran over it and the reel. Lost the reel, but got the rod repaired. Stupid move on my part years ago. Buying a rood rod carrier now.

Put your rod away first.

 

[BruceC2C]

Many good thoughts and practice routines here.

From the world of GREAT/ MUST HAVE ACCESSORIES...photo attached of my Magnetic Rod Holder that is a SUPER MUST HAVE & ALWAYS USE for me...regardless of time , location , conditions, ect.