Boys Toys - III

Pocket Pen Rod & Reel

I will start by saying the rod is broken. It snapped halfway along the rod. No idea how. That may be the good news, because it means more stuff I can throw out and simplify my tackle box.

For all the traveling I do, I thought this might be neat – or at least cute. After putting some braid on, I tried casting with it. Nothing happened. So it turns out one has to hand pull it out – just like a drop line, but not as convenient. Perhaps at a small “tourist” pier, with 6’ to the water.

But then looking at the reel and trying to reel line in, you can feel right away you will get carpal tunnel syndrome for the tiny amount of leverage you have on the reel. It is smaller than a spool of thread, maybe the diameter of a dime. This is way beyond ultra-lite.

So in the spirit of Mythbusters, I have to say this is a WoM – waste of money. It might have worked if they had chosen fibreglas and a spin reel, but this is really a toy.

For travel, the best I have found is a Rhino 4-piece rod that packs down to 22” and expands to 6 feet. I have an old $10 Shimano spin reel I use; so the whole thing cost me $5 more than this toy.

N.B. – I have looked on the web for the same Rhino rod I have and have NOT found it; instead there is a baitcast rod with a trigger grip. I bought mine last year at Dick’s Sporting Goods, but have not seen them since.

Probably a distant second would be the Pocket Fisherman, with which I was able to cast, but unfortunately, was unable to change the line without it no longer working ... actually, just could not get it back to together.

Boys Toys - I

Rocket Fishing Rod

I don’t believe I have ever seen a toy that so takes advantage of the vulnerability of the Y-chromosome-challenged as the Rocket Fishing Rod, a gadget that combines a fishing rod with a shotgun. Blast and cast. As the saying goes, more stuff in tackle shops is designed to catch fishermen, not fish, and the idea behind this item is irresistible. Unfortunately, I have to say, take a deep breath, avert your eyes and pass along. This is one toy not worth the $30 – the price of a pretty good combo.

The idea is to hide a lure in a cigar sized tube, insert it down the barrel, pull back on a pump action, press the top and the safety simultaneously, and off it shoots 30 feet in the air, plopping the cartridge/bobber and dropping its cargo. It is possible it might actually do just that, but don’t count on it. First, the cartridge is supposed to hold a hook or lure, a weight, and probably 12-18” of leader, which has to be rolled up and stuffed inside. Problem #1 is don’t count on being able to cram all that into the cartridge; problem #2 is that the cartridge is supposed to open and is pretty useless if it doesn’t. In trying to figure out how to fix problem #2, you discover problem #3, that the line doesn’t reel in unless you hold the line taut at the front, while resting the rod on your gut and reeling. Strikes me as a pretty awkward way to fish. The line is spooled on a spincast-like reel with a small nipple on the side that supposedly turns to reel the line back in. With good old monofilament, coming off like a slinky, the line slips off the nipple. With all that slack line, while I am trying to get the line to catch on the reel, I could never have brought a fish in – even if the cartridge had opened and actually dropped its payload.

I really tried two days to get this item to work, due to the other Y-chromosome problem of not wanting to take anything back. When the pump action refused to lock, I just had to bite my lip and say enough, back to the store.

I still miss the idea behind the rod. Maybe if the cartridge were bigger, like a grapefruit, and didn’t need to be pushed down a barrel. Maybe it could be adapted to launching carp bait. As it is, this could be the most frustrating and disappointing birthday present one could give a fisherman.

(Other names are: Fogo Rocket Rod Jet Cast Safe Fishing System, Spin Master Toys Rocket Fishing Rod – all As Seen on TV!)