Travel spinning rod (Greys Missionary?)

Can anyone help recommend me a fairly versatile travel rod to cover lots of eventualities.

I am looking at the Greys Missionary 6 piece travel spinning rods as they break down into a very compact size and seem to get good reviews. However I am unsure which of the following lengths/weights to go for:

9 foot, 12-35g
9 foot, 40-100g
10 foot, 20-50g

I am off travelling to Oz for 6 months and have no idea what I might manage to encounter. Closer to home, I enjoy shore spinning for mackerel and pollock and it would be a real bonus if I could use the rod on the lakes and rivers for salmon and pike.

Suggestions lads??

Haven't used any of the Greys spinning rods although have a Greys Beach rod which I can't say a bad word about. If you don't want to spend just as much the Shimano multi piece spinning rods are faultless and will handle largish fish without complaint. For less than fifty quid you can pick up a Shakespeare Expedition travel spinning rod. Breaks down to 22 inches in hard travel tube and is well worth the money. Have used mine for spinning, float fishing, macky bashing and trout fishing in Scotland and Guernsey. Good luck on your travels.

I haven't had any experience with those particular rods but I have brought a travel rod over to Oz a couple of times and all I can say is, you won't regret it, they have some fantastic fishing over there. I was was only messing about catching brim, flathead and other small stuff but it was great of fun all the same. I brought my Shimano Beastmaster STC 240/270 which is rated from 10-40gms and its a pretty good all-rounder that I've caught all sorts on both at home and abroad but the problem with travel rods is that I think they always seem to be a bit of a compromise in terms of weight or action but they're perfect for a bit of holiday fishing. Just a thought but if your going to be over there for six months you could always pick up something over there and then stick it in a tube for the trip home.

I'm just a bit confused about rod length and line weight.

I have been told a 9 footer is probably more versatile, is this true? 10 foot can hinder the game somewhat by being too long at times...

As for weight, not sure whether to aim for the 10-40 or 40-100g range. As I say I want the rod to fish a very wide variety of situations and it would be a real bonus if I could chuck a flying C onto it for the odd day's salmon fishing back home.

Thoughts!!

My own thoughts are length is a personal preference, overall, shorter spinning rods seem to be fashionable at the moment. Personally I prefer a slightly longer rod, 9 or 10 feet casting up to 60g to cover rock/pier fishing where potentially you may want to winch a fish over obstructions or up a few meters. The extra length/strength is always a help and a confidence booster in these situations. Obviously you would have to sacrifice a little in the way of finesse with such a rod, however no one rod will ever be a do all. Depending on what type of fishing you will be doing most of, will ultimately steer you in the right direction.

I have used the type of travel rod described chucking heavy lures/float fishing/light ledgering and spinning small mepps for trout, all without much difficulty. You can nearly always use a slightly too heavy rod than the situation calls for, but go the other way and you may rule yourself out of some big fish opportunities, especially in the Southern Hemisphere!!

Bit of a conundrum there, scrob!

Personally, I'd go for a 12-35 over here. But the point made about losing out on some big fish opportunities is very valid.

I reckon the best advice so far is to have a word with someone who's fished out there and buy what you need when you get there. A mate of mine brought back some very respectable rods a few years ago from his holidays, bought for very small money. Mind you, the exchange rates may have changed since and made this not so viable. Dunno, really.

Why don't you drop SAI's Aussie contact JPS an email/pm, and ask his advice? Local info is the way to go.