Cane poles

[Brian-Mn]

Might be dating myself here. I'm looking for info on using cane poles 14' to 18' long. I will attach 50# Dacron line and a leader.
My question is.... how long should the line be? I remember my grandpa "rolling" the line up on the pole when he put it away,but i have no clue as to how long the line was.
This will be used for trolling for Pike only.
I'm relying on the older experts to help me out here.
FYI the 16 year old kid at the bait shop had never heard of a cane pole until i asked for one.

[Suzuki]

I'm pretty sure not much longer(if at all) than the length of the pole otherwise it would be unmanagable. Actually I'm certain they were no longer and usually shorter than the longer poles. That gives you plenty of line for the depths usually fished with can poles.

[Brian-Mn]

Thanks Mike,
Wasn't sure anyone would have any knowledge about cane poles or if they would ADMIT to being old enough to have used them! LOL
I sure would like to hear some stories about guy's letting the poles go and just follow the pole around until the fish got tiered. I heard things like that years ago and i'm not sure if they were just fish stories or true.

Anybody else?

[HAIRY POUT]

Try an e-mail to Steve Fellegy that use to be one of his favorite ways to fish for big pike.
Terry

[Shellback]

Check out the different lines of crappie fishing poles, they're not cane anymore, but there's a large selection of glass or graphite telescopic poles. Cabelas and BPS has them. I've got a pair of 10' and a pair of 12' rods, but I put a small reel on them just for a place to wind up the line when I collapse the rod.

as i recall, the line was the length of the pole. i started with them about 50 years ago.

[itry]

I learned to fish with a cane pole in the south. You want the line 1-2 foot shorter than the pole. We always tied a slip knot at the tip and then tied the line solid about 1/4 of the way down in case a big fish broke the pole.

[Suzuki]

We used them when I was a kid but only on the pontoon since that's the only place they fit!! The real trick is swinging in the fish.

[j9f]

I used to have a couple I fished from shore with as a kid. They looked like bamboo and you twisted the line around the pole. At some point I had two that were telescoping. They also had a cleat or something like you find on a cheap ice fishing pole to wrap the line around. In that case you could spool up a lot more line.

[Peter H]

I am only 38 and I remember fishing with 14 to 18 foot fiberglass (cane) poles with my grandfather for walleye while tied off to a bog in 12 to 14 feet of water or perch fishing in the weed pockets.

The line WAS a bit longer than the cane pole but not by much. That is the reason for the "wrap" on the pole as you remember. You basically wrapped the dacon line around the pole take up the extra length. If I remember correctly, we always put on a mono leader on the bottom too.

The idea the cane pole is you can set the bait right where you want it to stay reguardless of wind or current. You could alway place your bait in the "zone" and keep it there.

I love those memories of my grandfather and that style of fishing.