I just flew to Florida and back for 5 days of fishing. I carried on a rod tube (40" or so, 2-piece rods) and a bag full of my reels and tackle. I had a pair of small pliers in my fishing vest that I also had in my bag and they checked everything when I went through security on the way down, but not on the way back and I never had a problem at all. Indianapolis Airport and Tampa International.
We had a good couple of days down there, the weather was fantastic.
You can check out a little about it on our club website. www.tristatefishing.org
WAR