Telescopic Rods

[ShenandoahAngler]

I am looking at getting a ML spinning and a MH casting rod in the near future to add to my arsenal. The only thing is that I tend to keep all of my gear in my car. I live in an apartment with no storage space and since I have an Outback I always have my fishing gear ready to go in the back. I have always had two-piece rods, but have been considering telescopics.

 

I've been looking at the @KastKingUSA BlackHawk II so far and was wondering if anyone had any experience with these and whether or not they really do have the one-piece feel to them.

 

I'm also curious if there are any other potentially good telescopics out there to look into. I know this is probably sacrilege to some on here, but I have to rely on travel rods at this point in time.

[FrankN209]

steinhauserfishing has them and scott martin advertises them on his channel. I'm not sure if they're any good. 

[fishwizzard]

Daiwa has a line of telescoping rods called the "B.B.B." or "Triple B" line.  I have one of the casting rods from it and like it a lot.  

[govallis]

19 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

Daiwa has a line of telescoping rods called the "B.B.B." or "Triple B" line.  I have one of the casting rods from it and like it a lot.  

Where to buy them?

[fishwizzard]

25 minutes ago, govallis said:

Where to buy them?

The internet

 

A lot of the JDM sites have them, they are on ebay, and even on Amazon occasionally.  I think I did buy mine on amazon, but make sure to check pricing first as Amazon can be all over the place. 

[govallis]

14 hours ago, fishwizzard said:

The internet

 

A lot of the JDM sites have them, they are on ebay, and even on Amazon occasionally.  I think I did buy mine on amazon, but make sure to check pricing first as Amazon can be all over the place. 

Thanks, but cannot take the risk of ebay and Amazon's 3rd party sellers, too many fake stuff.

[NYWayfarer]

I have one. It's one of the few Kastking products I have that I do not care for.

 

On the con side: The rod has a combination of fixed and "floating" guides. The floating guides are not mounted on the rod and that's part of the problem. They have to be adjusted constantly. Any bend in the rod, including casting, tends to move them.

 

It is a chore to get all the guides lined up once the rod is extended. Takes way too long even with the lines they have on the rod to help you. I would rather carry a 2-piece rod than have to deal with the set-up on this rod.

 

On the pro side: Once extended it does have a 1-piece feel to it. It casts well and can handle catching a fish. Nice looking rod as well.

[fishwizzard]

44 minutes ago, NYWayfarer said:

I have one. It's one of the few Kastking products I have that I do not care for.

 

On the con side: The rod has a combination of fixed and "floating" guides. The floating guides are not mounted on the rod and that's part of the problem. They have to be adjusted constantly. Any bend in the rod, including casting, tends to move them.

 

It is a chore to get all the guides lined up once the rod is extended. Takes way too long even with the lines they have on the rod to help you. I would rather carry a 2-piece rod than have to deal with the set-up on this rod.

 

On the pro side: Once extended it does have a 1-piece feel to it. It casts well and can handle catching a fish. Nice looking rod as well.

A lot of the higher-end telescoping rods have floating gides.  It’s a good feature as it allows more flexability in guide placement rather then having to slave them to the exact length of the sections.  It also allows the rod to break down shorter overall and to use less sections.   

 

Idealy, all multipart and telescoping rods would have aligment marks to make setup faster, but I rarely see that feature.  I keep meaning to add marks to my BBB, but have never gotten around to it. 

[Fishingmickey]

     Dunno if this will help or not VB. I have a couple of Fenwick methods three piece rods. One is casting and one is spinning. They came with two extra sections so you have two different actions for each rod (five pieces total each rod). The spinning has medium and a medium heavy sections and casting rod has medium heavy and heavy. The really good thing I like about them is that if you break a section on a trip your not down a rod, you have a back up on hand.

 

     I also bought a brand xIII *** not to be mentioned travel rod (casting) and it's pretty nice too. Diawa also makes a three piece travel rod in spinning and casting. All of the above rods come with cases. 

Regards,

Fishingmickey 

[govallis]

12 hours ago, NYWayfarer said:

I have one. It's one of the few Kastking products I have that I do not care for.

 

On the con side: The rod has a combination of fixed and "floating" guides. The floating guides are not mounted on the rod and that's part of the problem. They have to be adjusted constantly. Any bend in the rod, including casting, tends to move them.

 

It is a chore to get all the guides lined up once the rod is extended. Takes way too long even with the lines they have on the rod to help you. I would rather carry a 2-piece rod than have to deal with the set-up on this rod.

 

On the pro side: Once extended it does have a 1-piece feel to it. It casts well and can handle catching a fish. Nice looking rod as well.

I know exactly what you mean - I too hate those floating guides. I have no problem with fixed guides and no problem to align them.

[govallis]

I used to dislike multi-piece rods, such as the Shakespeare Travel Mate pack. Now I like them, because I can make it 2-pc, 3-pc or 6-pc. Most of time, I unplug it to 2-pc for fast un/plug. When I carry them in a Yoga bag, I unplug it to 3-pc. When I really have to put this rod into a small bag, I unplug them to 6-pc.

 

BTW, the Travel Mate Pack 6'6" is a good one. Quite light at 4.75 oz, action is perfect, ceramic guides. The telescopic version is crap - soft like noodle, guides are like with the ceramic inserts removed, and actual length is only 6'3".

 

The 7' multi-piece is supposed to be medium light, but it is more like ultra light. It is 5 pieces - cannot make even 2-pc or 3-pc. When I break it into 2, it is too long to get into the car. But its building quality is much higher, with a good reel seat, a nice hook keeper and a bottom rubber. Even slimmer. I really love the 7', but it is too soft for casting lures and packed length is too long (18.5").

[BassFisher22]

I am no rod expert but I have had a bit of experience with telescoping rods. My friend had one and I decided to try using his. I instantly didn’t like it. The guides wouldn’t stay straight, it wasn’t super sensitive, and it wasn’t balanced at all. 

It might not be a problem depending on the brand. I would recommend going for a three piece rod. I have heard good things about the Fenwick Travel Rod. I am pretty sure St Croix and other brands have them as well.

[soflabasser]

I do not like telescopic rods since they seem to be very fragile compared to 2-4 piece rods. I prefer 4 piece rods for my out of state fishing trips and 2 piece rods for leaving in the back of my car. Get the multi piece rod that meets your needs the best.

[govallis]

5 hours ago, BassFisher22 said:

I am no rod expert but I have had a bit of experience with telescoping rods. My friend had one and I decided to try using his. I instantly didn’t like it. The guides wouldn’t stay straight, it wasn’t super sensitive, and it wasn’t balanced at all. 

It might not be a problem depending on the brand. I would recommend going for a three piece rod. I have heard good things about the Fenwick Travel Rod. I am pretty sure St Croix and other brands have them as well.

I don't have the problems you listed. The guides always stay straight. A graphite telescopic like the Quantum Telecast is still quite sensitive compared to $20-40 non-telescopic rods. Yeah, they are not balanced, because their handles are usually not insanely long like all non-telescopic rods (except Shakespeare Durango), which is one of the two reasons why I use exclusively telescopic rods. I really, really hate long handles; I can live with an unbalanced rod, but not with a long handle.

[govallis]

4 hours ago, soflabasser said:

I do not like telescopic rods since they seem to be very fragile compared to 2-4 piece rods. I prefer 4 piece rods for my out of state fishing trips and 2 piece rods for leaving in the back of my car. Get the multi piece rod that meets your needs the best.

Telescopic does not necessarily mean fragile. Even a cheap one like Quantum Telecast, Shakespeare Travel Mate or Eagle Claw Pack-it are as firm as a 1-pc rod. They might break like other 1-pc or 2-pc rods, but they never break at the joints. The joints are actually much stronger than the blank, because that's where the guides are bonded to.

 

But you must be careful each and every time when collapse, to not break the guides. Once you know how to do that, it becomes second nature like driving a manual car.

[soflabasser]

I have own telescopic rods before and they have disappointed me. They are much too sensitive and I would not trust them on a powerful gamefish. I do trust my 4 piece travel rods since they have proven themselves to me on my fishing vacations. Multiple piece rods also have a better reputation in lasting longer than telescopic rods.