Best Fishing Rod in Bangladesh

Fishing Rod

A fishing rod is a long, flexible rod used to catch fish. At its simplest, a fishing rod is a simple stick or pole attached to a line ending in a hook (formerly known as an angle, hence the term angling). The length of the rod can vary between 2 and 20 feet (0.61 and 6.10 m). To entice fish, bait or lures are impaled on one or more hooks attached to the line. The line is generally stored on a reel which reduces tangles and assists in landing a fish.

Traditionally rods are made from bamboo, while contemporary rods are usually made from fibreglass or carbon fibre. In contrast with nets, which are usually used in subsistence and commercial fishing, fishing rods are more often used in recreational fishing and competitive casting. Fishing rods come in many sizes, actions, lengths and configurations depending on whether they are to be used for small, medium or large fish or in different fresh or salt water situations. Various types of fishing rods are designed for specific types of fishing. Fly rods are used to cast artificial flies, spinning rods and bait casting rods are designed to cast baits or lures. Ice fishing rods are designed to fish through small holes in ice covered lakes. Trolling rods are designed to drag bait or lures behind moving boats.

History

Judging by stone inscriptions dating back to 2000 BC,fishing rods go back to ancient Egypt, China, Greece, Trinidad and Tobago, Rome and medieval England.

Fly fishing

Trading card of the Ustonson company, an early firm specializing in fishing rods, and holder of a Royal Warrant from the 1760s.

The art of fly fishing took a great leap forward after the English Civil War, where a newly found interest in the activity left its mark on the many books and treatises that were written on the subject at the time. The renowned officer in the Parliamentary army, Robert Venables, published in 1662 The Experienced Angler, or Angling improved, being a general discourse of angling, imparting many of the aptest ways and choicest experiments for the taking of most sorts of fish in pond or river. Compleat Angler was written by Izaak Walton in 1653 (although Walton continued to add to it for a quarter of a century) and described the fishing in the Derbyshire Wye. It was a celebration of the art and spirit of fishing in prose and verse; 6 verses were quoted from John Dennys's earlier work. A second part to the book was added by Walton's friend Charles Cotton.

The 18th century was mainly an era of consolidation of the techniques developed in the previous century. Running rings began to appear along the fishing rods, which gave anglers greater control over the cast line. The rods themselves were also becoming increasingly sophisticated and specialized for different roles. Jointed rods became common from the middle of the century and bamboo came to be used for the top section of the rod, giving it a much greater strength and flexibility.

The industry also became commercialized – rods and tackle were sold at the haberdashers store. After the Great Fire of London in 1666, artisans moved to Redditch which became a centre of production of fishing related products from the 1730s. Onesimus Ustonson established his trading shop in 1761, and his establishment remained as a market leader for the next century. He received a Royal Warrant and became the official supplier of fishing tackle to three successive monarchs starting with King George IV over this period.

Technological improvements

The impact of the Industrial Revolution was first felt in the manufacture of fly lines. Instead of anglers twisting their own lines, a laborious and time-consuming process, the new textile spinning machines allowed for a variety of tapered lines to be easily manufactured and marketed.

Frontispiece from The Art of Angling by Richard Brookes, 1790

The material used for the rod itself changed from the heavy woods native to England, to lighter and more elastic varieties imported from abroad, especially from South America and the West Indies. Bamboo rods became the generally favoured option from the mid 19th century, and several strips of the material were cut from the cane, milled into shape, and then glued together to form light, strong, hexagonal rods with a solid core that were superior to anything that preceded them.

Other materials used, were Tonkin bamboo Calcutta reed, ash wood, hickory, iron wood, maple, lancewood, or malacca cane. These products were light, tough, and pliable. Rods were generally made in three pieces called a butt, midsection, and tip. The butts were frequently made of maple, with bored bottom; this butt outlasted several tops. Midsections were generally made from Iron wood because it was a thicker strong woods. Tips were generally made from bamboo for its elasticity which could throw the bait further and more accurately. Handles and grips were generally of cork, wood, or wrapped cane. Many different types of glue held these sections together, most commonly Irish glue and bone glue. This was until hilton glue, or cement glue, was introduced because of its waterproof qualities. Even today, Tonkin split-bamboo rods are still popular in fly fishing.

Until the mid-1800s rods were generally made in England. This changed in 1846 when American Samuel Phillippe introduced an imported fishing rod the first six strips of Calcutta cane made in Bavaria where Phillippe was importing Violins that he passed off as his own hand work. Split-cane rods were later independently produced after Phillippe started to sell the imported rods to a New York retailer and then copied by Americans Charles Orvis, Hiram Leonard and Englishman William Hardy in the 1870s and mass production methods made these rods accessible to the public. Horton Manufacturing Company first introduced an all steel rod in 1913. These rods were heavy and flexible and did not satisfy many customers. The next big occurrence in fishing rods was the introduction of the fiberglass rod in the 1940s and was developed by Robert Gayle and a Mr. Mcguire.

Boron and Graphite rods came around in the 1960s and 1970s when the United States and United Kingdom invested considerable research into developing the new technologies. Hewitt and Howald were the first to come up with a way to lay the fibers into the shape of a fishing rod by wrapping them around a piece of balsa wood. However, by 1977, boron fiber technology had been muscled out by the cheaper material graphite and was no longer competitive in the market.

Rods for travelers were made with nickel-silver metal joints, or ferrules, that could be inserted into one another forming the rod. Some of them were made to be used as a walking cane until needed for sport. Since the 1980s, with the advent of flexible, yet stiff graphite ferrules, travel rod technology has greatly advanced, and multi-piece travel rods that can be transported in a suitcase or backpack constitute a large share of the market.