Dakota Carry-on rod and reel case

[Troy Basso]

When it comes to fly fishing gear there are numerous companies that offer good items. There is, however, one company that has actually designed gear that looks great, last forever, and is seemingly laid out by fisherman. That company is Fishpond. All of their offerings are, in my humble opinion, the best designed gear available to the angler today. The new item for 2009 that caught my eye is the Dakota rod carrier. The Dakota is advertised to carry up to four 4peice rods in their socks on one side and reels, fly boxes and other terminal items on the other. The opposing side is compartmented by three removable dividers, which are held in place by Velcro. The beauty of this case is that it can hold all that gear and still come in under most of the airline carryon baggage dimensions. It is also advertised  very humbly as mine, pictured here, is holding 6 rods comfortable in the half set up for rod storage. Its holding two 10wt’s, two 8wt’s, one 7wt, and one 5wt. I could probably get one more in there and still fasten the straps but six rods is about 4 more than I normally carry anyways. Keep in mind I am only using half of the case for rods!  Where I come from, that means the case can potentially hold 12 rods comfortably. Now that’s not what the case is designed for but it does have lots of rod holding capacity. The side opposite the rod straps can hold over a dozen reels and spools combined.  The dividers allow you to customize your storage options to fit your gear. The width had to be thought out as it’s built to hold everything from trout weight reels to some approaching Blue water sizes. My Tibor Everglades fits comfortable in the reel compartment with some room to spare. As pictured I have six reels, two fly boxes, and leader wallet, lanyard loaded with tippet, spare sunglasses, and spare hemostats. That’s enough stuff to salvage a fishing trip in the event your stowed baggage ends up in a different state than you.
 Coming in at around 179.00 this bag is a bargain. You can see their entire line at www.fishpondusa.com.


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[jarrod white]

Sweet, I love fishpond products. I was wondering how much protection the case provides , and is it rigid?

                                  JW

[Troy Basso]

Yes it is. That said I would run it over with my truck, but I wouldnt hesitate to run it over with my boat trailer or 4 wheeler.

[grumpy]

I hope Santa Claus reads this thread or seed my WISH LIST[b at the shop

Grumpy

[Troy Basso]

All BS aside Grumpy I have a room full of rod carrying items and this one is the cats meow. You get yours in at the shop yet?
 

[Leo deMonbreun]

Thought it was pretty slick when the Rep showed it to us a week or so ago, love some of the features, and would like it better if it was a hard shell case:

    *  Rugged 1680 ballistic nylon fabric
    * Signature waterproof, molded bottom
    * Adjustable, removable padded shoulder strap plus carry handle
    * Adjustable, padded, removable interior dividers for reels
    * Lidded, padded compartment holds up to four rods in their socks, depending on length
    * Three mesh interior pockets
    * Three laminated see-through/spill-proof mesh exterior pockets for keys, phone, airline tickets, etc.

That Overland Trail rod case is pretty cool too.  The tube is actually expanded polypropylene rather than PVC which makes it a lot lighter than other tubes I have seen to carry multiple rods.

We have them coming but don't have them yet.