Telescoping Rods

Anyone have any recommendations for a telescoping rod? I am planning a few backpacking trips for next year and want something smaller than I can get in a 2 piece rod. Amazon has a number of options but it seems a bit hit or miss.

Telescoping rods are the kind of thing you are likely to find hanging on a display board in the sporting goods section at Walmart or your local hardware store.  They are not an upscale item.  Orvis does not sell telescoping rods.  But I have a couple of pretty nice "Telecast" telescoping rods sold by Quantum Fishing, which is a Zebco brand, which I use when fishing from a whitewater kayak. See https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=13913.msg151981#msg151981 and https://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=14090.msg153356#msg153356. 

When using a telescoping rod, wipe it off carefully before collapsing it, and don't lay it down on the ground if you can avoid it.  If you get sand inside one of the joints, it can jam that joint in place permanently. The reason I have two Telecast rods is because one of the joints on one of the rods is stuck in place and can't be collapsed.  The rod still works fine, but it doesn't collapse all the way.

If you can't stand the idea of fishing with a hardware store telescoping rod, Orvis sells a four-piece fly rod for $498. https://www.orvis.com/p/recon-5-weight-9-4-piece-fly-rod/2TL7.  And if that isn't classy enough for you, they also sell a bamboo 3-piece eight foot rod for $3,296. 

All the telescopic rods I ever owned (3) were opportunistically bought in places like Goodwill, Deseret, Value Village (not necessarily one on each store!), nevertheless they have never failed me (knock on wood) on many trout adventures and salt outings with my daughter, mainly flatfish but also a pink salmon or 2. One is a Shakespeare, another a Eagle Claw, can't find the 3rd one.
In addition to the usage suggestions by pmmpete, I would add to carefully extend and collapse the rod, contrary to popular belief they are not lightsabers and extending them in a quick draw action often results on sections getting stuck (some of the reasons they find themselves in thrifstores). If a section gets stuck it helps to put the offending section in the freezer for a while, the temp differential between sections helps unstuck them (don't ask me how I know). Since you mention planning to use them next year, sounds like you may have some time to find some good deals in thrifstores or online!

If you want a functional high end travel rod that breaks down in 4 pieces the. Get the st croix triumph travel rod. I've got a couple and they are fantastic. Very sensitive for a 4 piece.

https://stcroixrods.com/products/triumph%C2%AE-travel-spinning-rods-2020

Santiam all the way. Local rods, fantastic quality, great family.

Thanks all for the food for thought! I don't mind the idea of a 4 or 5 piece in a tube, I think it would probably work out pretty well actually, and I also like the idea of telescoping rods all in one "piece." Since I am trying to convince the wife to fish more maybe I will justify a purchase of both and pick which one I like more 

I have one what I bought for taking on camping trips. The Shakespeare, but I only used it once. I caught 5 trout from the bank at Detroit, but the reel what came with it fell into several sub-assemblies, none of which was designed to be replaced or repaired.

One day I will find it, and throw a generic spinning reel on it, as a "keep in the truck just in case you find a stream" rod.

Yes, the reel that comes with the yellow telescopic Shakespeare is crap, but the rod is decent, I have paired mine with a quality ultralight reel and the setup works wonders.

Ugly Stik multi price travel rod for spinning or casting. Have one of each, stashed in my deployment trunk.  I think Okuma makes them too.

Doesn't look like a lot of US. companies are,making telescoping rods a priority anymore. Not saying you can't find them, just they're now getting rare.  If you don't mind buying" foriegn"  the German made DAMs are reliable ,,reasonably priced , and easily found with a googly search. ( DAM Record, for instance) I've had 7 and 9 foot medium spinning rods when stationed in Europe, and a pair of 12 foot surf and jetty rods when working  in Kuwait and Dubai.  Never had a section stick that couldn't gently be coaxed into submission by twisting.

If you want a functional high end travel rod that breaks down in 4 pieces the. Get the st croix triumph travel rod. I've got a couple and they are fantastic. Very sensitive for a 4 piece.

https://stcroixrods.com/products/triumph%C2%AE-travel-spinning-rods-2020

This is the rod I settled on after asking the same question.  Have had it  several seasons now and am really happy with it.

I have looked at travel rods since (pre-covid) traveled a bit for work to remote-ish areas usually with bodies of water.   Travel rods seem to fall into two categories: incredibly cheap and crappy, or overpriced/high end.    I never ended up buying anything, but I think I would go for one of the multi piece rods over a telescoping, even if its a bit more setup/break down.    The Santiam rods look nice, are not too spendy and support a local company.   Otherwise the Okuma SST travel (though I feel like the tip section on these rods is just begging to be broken) or the uglystik GX2 travel seem to be reasonable compromises.    Pair any one of them with a 500 series or 1000 series reel and would have a pretty light weight setup.

The other option I considered for backpacking was getting a 5 or 5.5 foot 2 piece rod as it would collapse down to be the length of my pack and be somewhat protected. 

Depending on what type of water you are thinking of fishing, have you considered a Tenkara rod?

The reason I went with a telescoping rod rather than a multi-section rod for fishing from a whitewater kayak is the simplicity of deploying a telescoping rod, which is a one-piece item.  I can leave it rigged with a reel with the line through the guides and a lure or fly on the end of the line, and just take it out of the cockpit of my kayak and extend it out.  I didn't have to juggle and assemble several sections of rod, which would be connected by line if I left the reel and line rigged. 

If you want to travel or hike someplace with a compact rod, can assemble it and rig the reel and line once you get to where you want to fish, and can leave it assembled until you are done fishing, a multi-section rod will work fine.  But for fishing out of a whitewater kayak, or when hiking along a river where you need to repeatedly deploy and pack up your rod, a telescoping rod is the way to go.

Here's a couple pictures of fishing from whitewater kayaks on the Little North Fork of the Clearwater River, a IV+ river in the Idaho panhandle.

If it were me, I would rather go the 4 piece travel rod route. Most come with a small tube case or sock. Alot better quality, more sensitive, smaller diameter blanks. Only down side is if you pack it up you have to take all the line off. Size wise there wont be much difference in a 4 piece 7ft rod and a telescope rod.

pmmpete has some good points, even if I have never done white water kayakfishing, a similar situation is when you hike between alpine lakes, where you hop between lakes and creeks and fish along the way, deploying and stowing gear within a short time. I had trips with the family to The Enchantments, the first trip I took a multipiece rod, which hampered me in the ability to fish to sighted fish along the way as we were hiking in, after that a telescopic was great, leaving the multipiece only for the fly rod. That is, setting and disassembling the rod, line, lure etc between spots was a hassle, and takes time from fishing when the opportunities are short, particularly if you go with kids (sometimes attention span is not too long...). Having a telescopic rod rigged up takes 2 seconds to deploy and stow back. For a multi-piece travel rod, I have great experiences with the Fenwick travel rods, medium or light, warranty has been good to as after I made a 4 piece into a 5 piece rod they send me a new one.

Depending on what type of water you are thinking of fishing, have you considered a Tenkara rod?

I have! And actually have been looking at them regardless, the wife caught me watching tenkara youtube videos and informed me not to purchase one for myself (my guess is she has that in mind for Christmas.) I am interested in it for sure, for the purposes of backpacking I **THINK** I would want a full rod/reel setup, but hard to say. I guess it could depend on where I am going and what sort of waterways I expect to be near.


Really interesting discussion here on the merits of both options. I can see benefit to both, under most circumstances a 4/5 piece rod would likely be just fine, but the telescoping option would be nice as well in some cases. I guess it all boils down to "it depends" like I mentioned earlier. I still think I will likely purchase one of each to try. For species I would imagine it would mostly be trout in smaller creeks/streams, although we do camp often and I find myself traveling from time to time where a "freeway" pond catches my eye, in which case panfish and bass could be targeted as well, either way I think a medium or medium/light rod would suit me just fine.