Many apologies for the lack of action here on the blog, what with The Tree House Diaries coming out this Monday, building a tree house for a private client, teaching foraging at Safari Britain, a brief trip to Hossegor to see my better half and paddle in the Atlantic with a big piece of foam tied to my leg and planning the next adventure, I have been a bit snowed under to blog about anything worthwhile. I am still fretting over the spring greens and what I can present that hasn’t been done before…watch this space! I have been meaning to post this for a while, so here goes...
Good things come in small packages, especially in this case. When I received my Pen telescopic rod, I was dubious as to whether it was capable of much more than being a novelty item, so I had to put it to the test: I wasn’t interested in plucking small fry out of the water…I wanted to test it on something a bit bigger than a gnat’s twig and berries to see if it could hold it’s own, if so, then it would be a compulsory addition to the rucksack on every outdoor escapade. To give you a few specifics, the rod casing is made from aluminum alloy (light as a feather) is 22cm long and opens up to 4ft in length, should be useful as a poking device if anything…
I won’t make any secret of my nefarious activities of poaching as a child, growing up in the countryside has to have some rule-breaking of sorts, and this was mine. Land boundaries and bodies of water were never off-limits and the added excitement of the possibility of getting caught always added a touch of spice, it was the 12 year-old adrenaline junkie within that always made me jump the fence…after all, I used to think, what are they going to do to a boy? Books like Ian Niall’s New Poacher’s handbook and Richard Jeffries’ The Amateur Poacher didn’t help matters, but they did spur on the imagination and get me into reading in a big way. These days, as a fairly respectable citizen…I tend to stick to the footpath and only shoot and fish where I am allowed. Regardless of how I see myself, from a legal point of view, I suppose I am no longer a boy, but a ‘man’.
Back in the day, it was pretty difficult to conceal an air rifle or full size fishing rod, especially when your main mode of transport is a mountain bike, so when it came to a visit to the water’s edge, the hand line became the weapon of choice. It was quite simply a plastic winder with line wrapped around it and float, weights and hook attached (plus spares in case of breakage) and bait (worms) could be dug up from anywhere. Concealment was easy, either under the tweed flat cap that barely left my head at that age or down the trousers. A number of times when caught and suspected of fishing, I was forced to empty my pockets and much to the landowner’s dismay, there was nothing except the usual garb that litters any boy’s pockets…
The Hand Line: Weapon of choice for the youth of past.
What I would have done to have a pen fishing rod back then! Although the rod is disguised as a pen, it’s blatantly too enormous for anyone to think it was actually a pen, unless they were particularly special. But as I no longer need to conceal fishing rods, it is more the small stature that makes it useful.The only problem I found with the kit is that it has a multiplier reel and for some odd reason, won’t allow you release the catch to cast out, so it is a matter of unreeling lots of line and then flicking it out…which works fine if fishing with bait, but spinning with lures would be out of the question.
A Feeshk.
The first task was to locate a sizeable fish, I know of plenty of chub in a river nearby, so I took my new toy down to make the most of the last few days of the fishing season. After a short while creeping along the bank, a few good size fish came into view, feeding quite happily. This was were I had a few problems sorting out the casting, whilst trying not to spook the quarry, but got there in the end creating a miniscule ‘schplonk’ as the worms and weights slipped into the water. Two minutes later, the rod doubled over in my hand as the bigger of the two fish snapped up the bait, realized something was up and shot upstream. The rod, surprisingly, did hold it’s own…happily. I was shocked at how much pull I could give the fish without feeling the stick was about to fold in half. The best part was, because it is only 4ft long and as light a rod as you will ever find, anything you hook thats longer than a turd will feel like doing battle with a bloody shark! Exhilarating to say the least…
And the cane creaks under the strain...
When it came to landing the fish, I didn’t try and haul it up the bank as that would have snapped the rod in half, instead I took on the Stone Age approach: jump into water and grab fish with bare hands, saves having to carry a net. I think the photos do the rod justice, the chub pictured was about 3lbs tops, anything more than 10lbs might be a little testing, I will just have to wait and see!
For any trip into the wilderness, when you don’t want to be lumbered with lots of fishing gear but still want to have a dabble, this is the perfect tool to snaffle a few breakfast size Brown Trout from a moorland stream or even, if you fancy your chances, a quick flick in the ludicrously priced River Test during Duffer’s fortnight whilst on an afternoon stroll (about this time of year- £200 per day… Spenny fish!).
The pocket pen rod is available quite a few websites, I would recommend www.iwantoneofthose.com; at £24.99 it’s quite the bargain. So there we have it: another permanent addition to the rucksack, although, at the moment, it’s quite snug in the dashboard compartment of the car. Oh yes, and if anyone ever tells you fishing is boring, that’s probably because they’ve never caught a fish…
Ahh..at last, spring is here (sort of)!
Weston out.
wew! now that's quite a caught :D
nice fishing rod. i like it, looks like it's a brand new rod. nice! wish i had a time to fishing too. *sigh*
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnrLOyY2EhY
BASS gone WILD by Penfishingrods.com™ 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4T8qT5q-V0
BASS gone WILD by Penfishingrods.com™ 3
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Posted by: Michael | May 28, 2010 at 09:47 PM
Michael - you are a shister sir. That is all.
Posted by: Kieran | June 17, 2010 at 04:45 PM
I completely agree and I just wanted to say that I really like your blog. Is it fishing based?
Posted by: Termination Letter for Employee Dismissal | August 16, 2010 at 09:39 AM
Great post i found it useful where you stated the rod may break if you try reeling in 10 pounds
Posted by: Edward | August 10, 2011 at 03:28 PM
New World Record 21 lb Carp caught on a 5' 3" Pen Fishing Rod Goliath by http://penfishingrods.com
NEW WORLD RECORD FISH For Penfishingrods.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzxjzkidVMU
Posted by: Michael | October 01, 2011 at 04:27 PM
Great artical I found entertaining. Fishing with anything thats ultralight does make smaller fish fill like a whale but that is what its all about the thrill of the fight.
Posted by: Jeff | December 04, 2011 at 01:34 AM
Great review!
I love the telescoping rods.
Another option I have seen is the "Yo-Yo". It is little more than a plastic spool to wrap your line around, but I see many people using them.
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Posted by: FishingCharter | January 30, 2013 at 04:18 AM