I always have micro jigs in the back of my car. Well — almost always!
One of my sons has a pond on the property of the home he recently bought. Of course, I can’t visit without he and I making at least a few casts.
Last weekend we started out trying to catch bass. Me with topwater and him with a YUM Dinger. He had one fish on but didn’t land it. Nothing for me. We both had bluegills and green sunfish pecking at our bass lures, though, and we wanted to catch something, so we decided to downsize.
My car “fishing kit,” which consists of a pack rod, a light spinning reel and an ice cream bucket with miscellaneous lures and terminal tackle in it, always includes at least a couple of packages of Bobby Garland Itty Bit baits. Or at least it is supposed to. To my surprise and dismay, there were zero Itty Bit packets in the bucket that day!
The kit doesn’t have a formula, and its contents change a lot. I’m often throwing things in and grabbing things from it, and if I grab something from the bucket and put it in a vest pocket one day, it might end up getting put away in the basement instead of going back in the bucket. So I can see how it happened. Still, there are usually multiple Itty Bit packets. That’s the closest thing there is to a standard item.
There was one packet of 1/48-ounce Itty Bit Jigheads, and my son found a single Itty Bit Slab Hunt’R loose in the bottom of the bucket. He tied that on and and I rigged one of the little jigheads with just the tail section of a Bobby Garland Mayfly.
Those did the job fine, and we managed to catch several bream and one shiner. I felt very ill equipped with no Itty Bits packages in my bucket, though.
Earlier this year, I added a pack rod combo to the stuff I always carry in my car, and now I can’t imagine ever not having a “car rod.”
For the past six months, I’ve immensely enjoyed keeping a quality travel rod in back of my car — all the time. In part due to the convenience and in part because it fits so much of the fishing I do, I’ve used my car rod combo extensively for the amount of time I’ve owned it.
I had previously carried a cheap telescopic rod combo in my car — just in case opportunities arose — but it didn’t cast well and wasn’t great for working lures or landing fish. So, what I found was that I was just driving it around. I always grabbed a different rod for a trip, and even if some chance to fish came up, it generally wasn’t suited for the task.
I’ve also tried just keeping a regular fishing rod handy in my car, but even a two-piece rod gets in the way and always seems like it’s just waiting to be broken.
My Travel Rod & Reel
My car combo consists of a DAIWA Ardito 7-6 medium-light three-piece spinning rod and a DAIWA Fuego 200 size reel. I typically keep it spooled with 6-pound mono, but 4 or 8 would also fit nicely if the situation called for going a bit lighter or heavier. The rod is rated for 4- to 15-pound test and 1/8- to 3/8-ounce lures.
The rod came with a tube, which is important. That keeps it protected no matter what other junk I’m tossing into back of my car. Three pieces keep it short enough to fit neatly in the car hatch, but it casts as smoothly as a one-piece rod, from my standpoint.
I do a lot of stream wading — whether for trout, bass or whatever chooses to bite — and quite a bit of fishing from pond banks. This combo is the perfect size for many of the lures I throw and is at least suitable for a pretty good selection of the lures I’m apt use.
I don’t claim to be a super techy gear guy, but I know what feels good and works well. The rod’s fast action makes it easily to deliver accurate casts, even with small lures, and the reel is smooth. After half a year of fishing this outfit, I’m completely happy with how both rod and reel perform — casting, working lures and landing fish.
Add a Rod to Your Car
Shoal bass and travel rod and reel
My intent wasn’t to spin into a review, though. Although this particular travel rod combo has served me well, and I absolutely would recommend it, more important is the general principle of adding a travel rod and a small selection of lures to the stuff you keep in your car.
Because of mine, I’ve done quick fishing outings that I otherwise wouldn’t have — when I found myself near water on other types of outings or passed somewhere interesting on the way to or from somewhere. Having a rod I’m comfortable with and a few favorite lures handy makes it very simple to stop, even if it’s only to make a handful of casts and scout a spot for another time.
Beyond that, it’s one less thing to think about when I’m gathering lures and other equipment for a day on the water. Several days this summer and fall, I didn’t pack any other rods or reels. I just put that one together upon arrival.
The primary consideration in picking out a travel rod to carry in your car is an assessment of the kinds of situations you’re most apt to encounter. I’m an all-species angler and my day-to-day local efforts include a lot of fishing with small lures. Therefore, the medium light spinning outfit suits my needs perfectly. However, if I mostly fished for bass around thick cover or maybe fished in saltwater on a regular basis, I’d want a heavier rod and bigger reel.
Finally, I also mentioned handy lures. I keep that part simple. I carry an old ice cream bucket in my hatch that stays filled with a selection of soft plastics, jigheads and floats and a little box of my favorite hard baits. There’s no exact formula, and the selection varies from time to time, but if I find myself in a situation where I’d really like to make a few casts, I want to have the stuff I need to do just that!
Fishing on Foot 