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| The cheapTele-Pole was no use to me... |
For a while now I have been pondering what on earth I could do with something that came with our starter kit we bought last year when we first started fishing. Neither pole nor whip, the telescopic carbon 'rod' seemed doomed to sit in the corner of the room with no prospect of leading a full and useful life. I considered adding elastic (just like
real poles) but because it is telescopic it would be impractical to ship in. I then considered making a removable top section. All this was getting far too complicated only to produce something that would never be up to standard, especially when I can buy a much longer margin pole for not much money. At this point I decided to give up any idea of using it to catch fish.
Not being one to give up completely, I had to find another use for it. Discussions on the
MaggotDrowning.com forum, sowed the seed of an idea to use it as a cupping pole. Okay it is not overly long and will only be useful for very close in work, but it has to be worth a try. After all I can't think of anything else to use it for.
The top section of the 'pole' is much too flexible to carry a large cup so that was dispensed with, making it even shorter, now nearer four meters long rather than five. The end of the No.2 section is much too thick to accept standard cups and although I could make my own from plastic containers and aerosol caps there is a limit to how far I really want to go down the
Blue Peter route; a million and one things to do with a washing-up bottle...
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| The tapered handle of an artists paint brush is a perfect fit after adding some shrink-tube |
A visit to my favourite poor-man's tackle shops (pound shops!) resulted in the purchase of a pack of telescopic rod extensions. I bet you never knew that sold those, did you? Well, they don't know either because they mistakenly market them as 'Artist's Brushes'. The tapered shaft looks perfect to be a friction fit inside the No.2 section. As it turned out it passed straight through and fell out the other end - Grrr!
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| The top section was removed and replaced with the paint brush |
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| A cup fits snugly onto the tip of the paint brush |
The next size up was too big but this one was only a whisker too small. A covering of shrink tube not only cured the problem but provided a waterproof finish. The brush now fits snugly inside the second section providing a few inches of extension and a solid tip onto which the cup can be fitted. The brush can be retained complete, you never know when it will come in handy.
See it in use
HERE.
Ralph.
