After a lot of looking at what turned out to be cheapo telescoping rods I bought a nice Cabela's V1200 graphite, telescoping 6 ft. light spinning rod. It weighs 3.1 oz.!!

It looks fragile at the tip section but boy that sucker has a nice, smooth curve to it when arched. No flat spots, unlike take-apart ferruled rods. It's model # TPS60L. BTW, collapsed it's only 19" long and because it's telescoping it doesn't need a case, just the rubber tip "condom" to hold the sections in place.

I had a nice old (20 years old) Penn 420ss ultralight spinning reel that I put on. I'm sure there is a better, lighter Shimano UL reel out there but the Penn is still a good reel W/ a 5.1:1 retrieve ratio. But unfortunately it weighs 8.9 oz. but still it's about what other good UL spinning reels weigh these days.

Also I put white nail polish "indexing" dots on both sides of the joints so the line guides always line up correctly. The total unit weighs, W/reel & line, 12.1 oz. Notta too bad.

Yes, a 6 ft. rod may seem short to some fly fishermen out there but it's dandy for UL spinning. Are there better telescoping rods out there?? I want a telescoping rod for the ease of fast deployment.

Now, what nice selection of light lures for trout do you suggest?

Eric