Telescopic rods???

[wailua boy]

Aloha Ohana.
I've been in the process of moving and all my poles are in storage. I was thinking about purchasing a telescopic pole or travel pole but most I've looked at have been very light weight. Does anyone make a decent medium to heavy telescopic or similar pole? I'm hoping to buy something of decent quality but not too expensive since I'll soon have my poles shipped out and likely won't need a break down pole for long. Thanks for any help and tight lines.

[Bryan Young]

Aloha Wailua Boy,

What type of fishing are you intending to do with the telescopic rod?  Asia has some really amazing telescopic rods but is really dependent on the type of fishing you will be doing.

Bryan

[wailua boy]

Thanks for reply Bryan. I'm visiting and rehabbing my shoulder in the San Juan's(Decatur Island)for the next 6 weeks. I've mainly been shore casting and relearning how to cast all over since I fractured my shoulder a while back. Seems to be plenty of rockfish action but unfortunately they are in a closed season. I also plan to do some freshwater fishing down the road, if I get the chance

[philaroman]

Asia has some really amazing telescopic rods but is really dependent on the type of fishing you will be doing.

very true, but usually lighter & EXPENSIVE! 
if you go that route, look for older Korean stuff for good "bang-for-buck"

not much telescopic & approaching heavy-duty / good quality / affordability
years ago, Cabela's had cheap tel. glass Surf, that were supposedly reasonably strong
& OK for carp/cat FW, but inherent bad placement of cheap guides

IMO, prob. 3-pc. Inshore 7'-8' sounds best:
 Med. better for FW/versatility;  MH better for SW/size
 Fast (or faster) better for mono; Mod-Fast (or slower) better for braid

[Dominick]

Black Pearl has some pretty nice two piece rods.  Dominick

[smnaguwa]

Saw this on ebay.

[oc1]

From what I've seen, multi-piece rods are a lot more refined than telescoping rods.  With telescopes there can only be a guide at the end of each section unless you get the funky sliding guides..  Travel rods can be as compact as you want them to be but it gets sort ridiculous with more than four pieces.  

[Donnyboat]

Some one brought me a telescopic rod as a present, once, I took it out to sea, washed it when I came back, & the guide rusted of in 4 n a half minutes, as Dom said the two piece rods maybe the best, cheers Don.

[ReelFishingProblems]

Here in Israel at my local beach all anyone uses is telescoping rods. When I went to the closest tackle shop I could find we had a discussion about it. The owner asked why nobody sold them in the states (his family lives in NJ) I said I thought it had to do with all the segments effecting the strength and action. To be honest I really don't know how all the sliding segments effect it, and it seems to work for anglers here. There are so many options. I plan on buying one just to try it out. Not all of the telescoping rods are Chinese companies, but not sure if they are made in China.

[Tiddlerbasher]

Aside from Tenkara style fishing (yet to try it) I would not give a telescopic rod house room. Multi piece, 4/5 segments, would be (and is) my choice. I have several you can travel anywhere with them as they will pack into a suitcase. Flights in the UK (and Europe) do not allow fishing rods (and reels with line on) as cabin luggage - they are classed as potential weapons (like I'm going to stab someone with a $900 fly rod). What about a laptop across the head or strangled with a belt
Rant over.
Have a look at the Shimano Exage STC range - I have several of these from the BX range (they are my goto non fly travel rods).

[smnaguwa]

I did some fishing and went to fishing tackle stores while I was teaching in Japan. Telescopic rods are especially popular for shore fishing as fishermen there often take the train to the seashore to fish. As with almost all fishing tackle, there is a wide variation in quality. Shimano and Daiwa market excellent telescopic rods and the price matches the quality - a high end rod may be $200-300. I bought a 9 ft rod shore fishing and 8 ft trolling rod that handled mid-sized(3-15#) California delta stripers. I have also used telescopic rods in Hawaii for oio(bonefish). The only downside to telescopic rods is it is harder to clean and dry.

[foakes]

I guess I am old school — but I want moving parts on my reel — not my rod.

Even the higher end telescopic rods are flimsy feeling compared to a sectional rod.  Plus, I would always be waiting and aware of something going haywire when a big fish is on.  A little too gimmicky for me.

And, it is nearly impossible to clean them up properly after fishing, as is always recommended.

A good branded and proven sectional rod would be my choice.  Fenwick, Wright-McGill, Kunnan, etc.

It is not necessary to spend $200 or $300 for a lifetime travel rod.  Much of the mystique and higher prices of the rods like Sage and many of the newer rods have to do with marketing to a certain segment of the angling consumer — ie: Yuppies who choose products based on the mistaken perception that the higher the price — the higher the quality.  The marketing guys are "fishing" for these folks — and they are pretty successful.

The guy who goes to Jackson Hole, has likely already spent several thousand dollars on name brand stuff to impress his buddies — all of the while secretly picturing himself as Brad Pitt, in "A River Runs Through It".

All of that is OK — but I would still recommend keeping it solid and simple by choosing a great, proven travel rod in 2 to 4 sections.

IMO.

Best, Fred

[jurelometer]

No matter how high quality the telescoper,  the wall section thickness  blank section diameter and taper are limited by the requirement that each section can nest inside the next.   This makes it hard to design an optimal blank for many situations, and makes it hard to build rods for higher weight classes.  The big plus to a telescoper is how short they can pack and how quickly they can be assembled and rigged for fishing.

[Contrarian Alert!] Having said that, for most styles of fishing, a rod doesn't have to be very good to do a more than adequate job.  I have caught small tuna, roosters, GT, etc on a a dirt cheap telescoper that I packed carry-on as a backup.  Had to make a couple replacement guides from safety pins, but no big deal.  The limiting factor to the size of fish that the outfit could handle was not the rod, but the Ambassador 5000 reel.

For multi section light saltwater rods, don't  forget to include Daiwa and Okuma on your list.   All of my larger conventional travel rods are Okuma Nomads. There were  some screaming deals on the Nomads not too long ago, and even at regular retail, the Nomad Xpress rods are a bargain.  Look for the Inshore Xpress models for light saltwater.

And don't get me started on Tenkara.  Sort of the fly fishing equivalent of slow pitch jigging.  

-J

[foakes]

Dave is right on the Okumas —

Good value — solid rods, they perform very well.

I use the 7' 6" SST 2-piece rods for trout trolling.  11 guides, light and well balanced, good backbone, sensitive & tough.

They work well with a Penn "9", leadcore, and a Speedy Shiner, Thomas Bouyant, or custom rigs.

Sportsman's Warehouse generally has them for $59.99 — but I check online and walk into the store — they do a price match for between $51 to $54.99.  Generally buy 4 at a time — and always keep two for myself.  Friends buy them from me when they need good recommended trolling rods.

The rest of the Okuma line is also excellent for HD salt, casting, trolling, fly, spinning, or baitcasters.

Best,

Fred

[philaroman]

the Nomad 7' 4-pc (3-pc w/ TWO DIFFERENT TIPS) looks pretty nice & BIG SALE:
https://www.tackledirect.com/okuma-nomad-inshore-travel-rods.html