Wisconsin’s St. Croix Rods is one of the few American companies that has shown a long term commitment to travel series at various price points, and for a wide range of situations. My friend Jesse Simpkins at St. Croix set me up to talk to two of his engineers: Jason Brunner, Director Operations; and Gavin Falk, Engineering Supervisor.

After my near travel rod calamity returning home from Mexico in November, I started a semi-obsessive search for the “ultimate fishing travel bag,” one that would securely accommodate enough clothing and tackle for a week of fishing, plus a 33-inch rod tube – without being considered “oversized” by the airlines.

As I’ve tirelessly researched the Japanese travel rod market, I’ve continued to unearth new brands and products – some exceptionally purposeful, some decidedly odd.

I’ve already written more than I ever thought possible not only about multi-piece fishing rods, but also about how to get them from Point A to Point Z. Whether you’re backpacking, flying, driving or riding a mule, if you arrive at your fishing destination with broken sticks it can be an absolute disaster. For most of us, a standard, non-descript, one-color tube or case will suffice, but if you like a little bit of style in your carrying mechanism – and you’re willing to spend a few extra dollars – there are higher-end options available.

In my search for travel rods able to handle swimbaits that I came across the Cast Division Beaststick, a 6’9” rod made specifically “for the most brutal fishing you can get all over the world.” After watching a number of their videos, I acquired one, and I’ve been testing it out over the past few weeks.

Part of our collective prejudice against rods with two or more pieces no doubt stems from childhood memories of ferrules that underperformed. If you had one of those old school bargain basement combos, then at some point you likely had one come apart at an inopportune time – either while making a cast or fighting a fish.

If you’re going to the Andamans or Christmas Island or the Galapagos, there’s not a Tackle Warehouse next to your your lodging, and some outfitters require you to bring your own gear. You’ll need more than one rod, too, not just because you might be using varying techniques, but also because otherwise if you break your rod early in the trip you may be out of luck.

Within their US market, they only offer a limited number of travel options – specifically the Ike Signature Series Travel Casting and Spinning rods. While that selection may initially seem limited, the four-piece rods come with two different tip sections to provide two different actions. At $149.95, that’s a remarkably good deal. If you go to Abu-Garcia’s Japanese page, however, there are a wealth of multi-piece options.

While I don’t meet many U.S. anglers who heavily rely on travel rods, there are a surprising number U.S. brands who make and sell three- and four-piece rods suitable for placing in your luggage or carrying onto an airplane.

Multiple manufacturers have developed complete, self-contained kits for fishing on the go. They all contain at least a rod and reel. Some contain a protective case as well. Still others include line, terminal tackle, and/or a few lures. They’re great if you’re going on a business trip and there might be a small lake or river behind your hotel. They’re exceptional if you take long bike rides or hikes and might like to make a few casts along the way.

Swimbaits require special gear. When it comes to truly big baits, you can’t depend on most lodge/outfitter sticks, nor are they likely to provide the lures themselves. That means you have to come up with strategies to get your stuff to where the bass live. Full-sized rod tubes are an increasingly difficult proposition, and when you’re talking about rods 8 feet or longer, the odds get slimmer, so you need to find alternatives. That may mean three- or four-piece sticks.

Because the travel rods we already own are mostly from mainstream manufacturers, we’ve yet to try or embrace what we’d characterize as “enthusiast” versions. We owe a debt of gratitude for the term “enthusiast” to our friends at the Tackle Tour media empire. Even if they didn’t introduce it, they certainly popularized it in fishing circles.

Now that I’ve caught the bug and gotten over my fears that multi-piece rods would feel subpar, I’ve started to explore additional options. If you look to foreign markets like Japan and Europe and Australia, there are many more models than you can find here – including some at bespoke prices – but for purposes of this piece I’m going to limit it to items that are fairly easy to acquire within the U.S.

I’m going to try, over the next few months, to figure out whether the juice is worth the squeeze on three-, four- and five-piece rods. I’m going to fish around home with nine of them that I’ve acquired and try to give you an honest report on their performance. Maybe I’ll be disappointed, but I might be satisfied enough to integrate them into some of my regular rotation.

I know that the one-piece purists among you will shudder, because I used to be one of you, but I’ve started to come around and I’ve amassed a selection of travel rods, but most of them are pretty generic in terms of action: 6- to 7-foot medium action spinning rods, and 6’6” to 7’6” medium-heavy baitcasters. This is the first one that has a specific purpose, in this case throwing big baits. It might not handle true giants like the Mother Chaser, but it’ll handle anything up to about 4 ounces exceptionally.