For anglers, driving usually beats flying

The conclusions I make these days are based on my personal combination of snap judgments and experience.

Because I travel a considerable amount during the warm months, I am often conflicted as to whether I made the right choice in my mode of transportation. My decisions are also based on the time I have for a particular trip.

I am at a stage in my life where I no longer rush to get someplace and try to knock off 800 miles in a single day. I weigh that factor with what I have to contend with when I walk into either O'Hare or Midway airports.

I extensively fish the Fox Chain, the Fox River, Deep Lake, Bangs Lake, Rend Lake (in southern Illinois, as well as Lake of Egypt and Cedar Lake). These are all driving locations, as are many of my favorite destinations in northern Wisconsin.

And I'll stretch the rubber band to include northern Minnesota and Ontario as well. Toss in northern Michigan for trout, and the mix is just about complete.

But when I am invited to fish the flats in the Florida Keys for bonefish and permit, or cruise the inshore shallows for tarpon off Costa Rica's eastern shorelines, I am forced to deal with the elements of good and evil inconveniently located at just about every major - and a few minor - aerodromes.

And in the summer of 2014, air travelers were handed an invitation to pay yet more money (an extra fee to go through security) to help subsidize TSA, the Transportation Safety Administration.

Those of you who fish and fly will probably know what I am about to say is not a surprise, especially when you have carry-on rods and reels and have to succumb to the orders of the TSA screeners.

In the Dallas airport, I had a small nail clipper dangling from my neck. One screener wanted to confiscate it, even after I told him I used it to cut fishing line. There wasn't any file, sharp edge or blade hidden in it, but I still had to toss it in a box with all the other contraband.

I was headed for the Florida Keys when a TSA employee at O'Hare checked my fly reels and told me to strip the fly lines off two reels and deposit the lines in a box.

To this day I am still at a loss to understand how my fly lines appeared to be a threat. They cost $150.

For the record, I am a Type II diabetic, and have to check my blood sugar 2-3 times a day with a device called a glucometer. The process involves using a tiny injector-like pen to pierce a finger and then I gently touch the drop of blood with a blood-sensitive strip that subsequently goes into the glucometer to be measured. I carry it with me wherever I go to make sure I avoid diabetic shock. That wasn't good enough for one TSA checker.

"Whatcha do wid this thing?" she asked.

I explained, but she didn't get it and then wanted me to toss it in the proverbial contraband box. The supervisor who came over looked at her and tried to explain the situation and eventually wound up passing me through.

I fully understand TSA and its affiliated security people help keep us safe. But after all of this and what today's angling flyer and general public has to endure, I tend to lean toward the steering wheel again, and allowing some extra time to get to my domestic destination.

• Contact Mike Jackson at angler88@comcast.net, and catch his radio show 6-7 a.m. Sundays on WSBC 1240-AM.