DIY Ultralite Fishing Rod

Awesome Tim, great adaptation. Wish I liked fish/fishing I would surely borrow this idea.

jimmyb

Sweet, very resourceful.

That looks like a lot of fun. Also take a look at a Tankara fishing setup. Its very UL. It uses line like fly fishing line on a telescoping pole, and compresses to about the size of a drumstick. The only gear is about 10 flies, which weigh nothing. I have a post on my blog post below about Tankara fishing. On one trip we had spin casters, fly fishers, and a Tankara setup, and it did as well as the others, and was way lighter.

On our JMT hike catching fish almost every day really helped our food situation.

http://backpackingtechnology.com/backpacking-skills/tenkara-fishing/

I have been eyeballing Tenkara for a while now – and really like what I see. However, I've spent so much on gear recently that I couldn't justify another purchase, when I was pretty sure I could come up with something utilitarian with things I already had.

I hear that. Most people doing the jmt are in too big a hurry, and too UL to fish and carry fishing gear. Adding fish to the diet was a lifesaver for us.

Bob –
"Adding fish to the diet was a lifesaver for us."

I've always thought they were low calorie food.

Any idea of how many fish (and what size) you were eating per day?
And, were they heavily supplemented with oil?

Thanks.

I have a light telecoping pole and I've thought of rigging my trekking pole with a reel seat and a couple line guides, but combining the two is a brilliant outside the box feat. I award you a PhD in Applied Junque!

I don't know the nutritional breakdown of fish, but they at least add some protein, which your body needs to repair muscles. Your body can also convert protein to glucose. When you are starving, and going to bed hungry at night, eating say 2 fish a day is wonderful. We probably had 2 fish each many days.

Thanks Bob.

Very clever Tim! Well done!