Anybody else use a cane pole?

[Pferox]

I stopped for lunch break over at one of the boat ramps, and was watching this nice lady usin 3 cane poles with bobbers pullin up bluegills, eater cats, and a keeper bass all in less than a half hour.
I had to go over there and talk to her. After she realized I wasn't fish and game, bein in a uniform, and truck with flashers and all she was quite informative.
She showed me how to rig one with split shot and a bobber, slidin weight and bobber, and free lined bobber.
She was usin what she called fish dogs, they are little "sausages" made from fish intestine as the casings, and stuffed with chicken and beef livers, then frozen and sliced into different sizes depending on the fish. She also talked about many other live baits she likes to use when she can afford to buy or can catch.

Periodically in the conversation she would say: "when yalls po, ya don waste nuttin.

This made me think about how we talk about all of this expensive gear we use to catch fish and many days come home skunked, and the people with the poles are luggin a 5 gallon bucketfull of good eaters home.

Then I really got thinkin, yea you get alot of time to think when sprayin ditches.

When I was a kid, my first rig was a cane pole, my dad and I caught many eater cats and bluegills on em. We looked like Andy Griffin and Opey when we went fishin. 
Seein a cane pole always brings back fond memories.

I always carry a collapsible 10ft pole mainly for bait when live bait fishin, although I don't use it much. I tend to reach for a little rod and reel instead, and complain when I can't catch bait, proly cause I'm castin out too far or something.

They are popular with the Speckled perch crowd also, usually fannin em out set at different depths driftin on boats, they call that spider riggin. I have even caught 4 to 6 lb bass on em when fishin for speckled perch.

A modified pole which I know as a snatchin stick was used to catch large fish in the early commercial fishing industry, even in salt water. Lures were used with em, either jigging or swimming them back and forth with the pole.

Modern fiberglass poles are light, simple to operate, and a collapsible one can be carried along with your rods quite easily, a 16 footer or longer, when pitched properly can get your bait or lure out quite far.

Does anybody else use these, and if so what techniques or experiences can you share?

[Kal-Kevin]

As for the cane pole, have one in the rafters in the basement that has been there since we moved in. Use too fish with it when we were young one many many years ago. As with you dad and I went fishing with them but gave them up for zebco back when? Our's were rig with hook, line and sinker just straight as everyone did back then, nothing fancy.

I remember one of those trip to but the old guy I saw was bullheading, no hook just a needle. He would take the line thread it though the needle, thread that though the worm he planed to use. Take off the needle and loop the line using the sinker to make and hold a loop. Then he would cast it out and let it set, after the bullhead eat the worm he would lift it in, and hit it on a tree next to him. Off comes the fish then he would start the whole thing over. When I talked to him he said the bullhead can not let go till it was out, that is why you need a tree to release it.

[Dug]

I have a BnM pole company 13 foot black widow fiberglass cane pole I use occasionally when I am fishing for Speckles.  Generally I put on a slip bobber, a split shot and a small tru turn hook and bait up with either minnows, crawlers or wax worms.  Can't beat it for pulling in a mess o crappies.  In fact I was fishing earlier today with it.  Caught 12, brought home 8 eaters.   It's relaxin and productive.  I think a heavy bass or cat would stress it though.


Doug

[Pferox]

Dug, I have a couple of those poles also. I usem for Specs also. There times spec fishin we catch more cats then we do specs, it will handle a pretty good sized cat, and the line will usually break before the pole does. Except when you put 30lb braid on it.......oops. 

[Dug]

I stick to the 15lb Spiderwire stealth 

Doug

[Fishaholic]

Along the Kankakee, you can sometimes see the "old school" river fishermen with a 19' telescopic pole rigged with around 12-20" of stout line on the end...the way they fish it is to rotate the rod until all the line is wrapped around the tip, then they snake the end of the rod into some of the thickest snags and rotate the rod until the line drops the fly or jig down to where the fish are hiding.

I've seen the old timers of the river catch not only some gigantic cats this way, but they manage to get their share of lunker bass and some really big pike too!

[Lipripper]

Use to use them when I was younger and now use a 12' jigging pole for Crappies 

[dimockcarp]

I still carry one to this day for bluegills, and use them honestly every other time when the fishing time goes down. I usually take a slab home easily... Sometimes the best way to fish is the easiest. KISS keep it simple stupid.

[Pferox]

You're right there Dimo, they are kinda versitile too, I always have one in the truck, sometimes if I've got a couple minutes of free time, I can take it out and fish and always catch somethin, if nothin else but to pass the time away and unwind.

When its collapsed, it is so unnoticeable, and they are so inexpensive that I don't worry about em being taken although that hasn't happened yet.