Shimano Telescopic Rod Question

[Vince Fusco]

A few years ago a very good friend of mine that is a cook on ocean boats bought me a 5.38 meter Shimano Telescopic Rod. This figures out to a little over 17.65 ft. He bought while his ship was in port in Japan. All the righting on it is in Japanese except the word Shimano. It is surprisingly light for its length, and it's a ball to fish with. It Also has a reel seat, although I have never put a reel on it. The tip section is very fast. Could this be a Match Fishing Rod? I  I have tried researching this rod online but with no luck. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Jim Gronaw]

John...my limited experience has been with the 10, 12 and the 13 footers by B&M and Bass Pro. I like each of them for dropping baits on spawning gills or dock hugging crappies. But like David say, the longer poles tend to be unwieldy and can be tough to master, especially from the banks.

I also like the 13 ft Cabelas Crappie pole...about as long as I feel comfortable with. Abney has about 25 different poles from 10 to mostly 16 ft, utilizing the 10 and 12's most often for swamp work.

I use Black Widows for all my instructional/childrens classes on begining fishing classes at the local parks. Most of them are tens' and I restring them often. This year, I'm upping the lin to Magna Thin 10 lb mono in clear, so the kids can land the ocassional 3-4 pound bass they hook.

[John Sheehan]

I am curious about wading a creek and using a pole of this nature to limit casting but don't know if it 'll work out .Everyone talks about using these in a boat or from the bank . I am conceiving wading  a small stream and dapping in snags and pockets .How uncomfortably heavy and awkward that can be I don't know . If it telescopes I'm wondering if it could be effective while your constantly moving and working a stream and getting to pockets and spots you cant cast to.

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

"Telescope" is a kind of misnomer. "Collapsing" would be a better image. Once you release the friction that holds the pole at full extension, the pole pretty much falls in on itself. Tue feature is more for transporting than anything.

Think, if you will, of a light, nimble ten foot pole. Now, stretch out your arm while holding it aahs you add 3 more feet. Lean over and you get one or two more. You've just your reach 13-15 feet...and you haven't added the line yet!
Most streams aren't going to be wider than 25 feet, so you can comfortably reach most any place along either side by wading with this rig...

[Joe Angelucci]

John

Wading does work. I actually used a 5 and 9  foot pole in small streams ( first time this year) and either dapped flies or used very small hooks to bait fish.   I would recommend a carbon fiber pole if your plan on fishing a 20 foot pole for any length of time since fiberglass is pretty heavy. You would be surprised at the reach of a standard 10 foot pole . Since you would be swinging out, you should average about a 18 foot radius. You can either line up or down depending on what you plan on catching. I'm pretty much standard on one lb test test with a dry  fly between #12 - #16, nymphs between #20 - #26 and hooks between #8 - #32. I used size #20 -#32 for micro fishing.

Hope this helps

JDA

[John Sheehan]

Thanks Joe ,for your input .

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

I'm pretty sure those rods are used (at least around here) from boats for shallow spring "dapping" after crappie. There is no reason why you couldn't use them in other ways, though. My ony warning is with the length. From shore, and without adequate clearance, they wanna hang on every twig, bush and rock you encounter. That's why they are best from a boat.*

Given that, once Cupsaw is brought back to pool level and your boat is back in the water, you could go dapping from a quite comfortable distance with one.

* I have a range of lengths with my 4 telescoping poles.
9' UL
10'
13'
15'
Id like an 18-20 footer, but I don't wanna fight with it from the bank.

[John Sheehan]

Ya know Dave I could mess with it from the bank but I was thinking wading shallow water and dapping in creeks. Now I'm thinking its too  heavy a proposition carrying that length around while trying to silently wade a stream .

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

... streams are notorious for being overgrown, particularly in the East. A tenkara rod for the same purpose, by comparison, is not often recommended longer than 10-12 feet or so.
This is simply for the handling ease along congested streams.
It is also lighter and more nimble - one thing those long poles are NOT is dainty!
Have you considered a 2 or 3WT., 7' fly rod?
You could still dip and dapple with it, but also drift, cross current cast, shoot upstream, etc....

[John Sheehan]

Thanks David .I wanted something long and light to dap not cast . I use the 8' flyrod on the stream in mind and it works well .Just thinking about a non casting long pole in certain areas .Appreciate your responses .

 

[David, aka, "McScruff"]

Ah, the old, "one-two" punch.
Smart!

[Johnny wilkins]

At that length it  might be bolognese which is a longer rod "pole" used for fishing over the edge of drops - many times for moving water to hold back against the current. You can fish this the same as a cane pole with the small fish- hook them and then lift them to hand. When you hook something more substantial - it's game on with the super long rod and a reel - you have a bigger advantage on fish making a run - a massive sweeping radius.

Shimano manufactures on nearly all Continents and they had a great affordable take apart pole I was interested in. I have a 12 meter pole which is a ton of fun on catfish and carp it is a blast!