This fall, I loaned one of my cheap fishing poles to my cousin for a halloween costume. Not too suprisingly, when the pole was returned the lower half had been cracked as to not be cast-able anymore. The cork handle and top of the pole were still intact and entirely functional. I assumed that I had thrown it away, but as I was cleaning my house one day, I lifted a couch and VOILA!
My new ice fishing pole.
It was incredibly easy to make the conversion, I used a few common tools and writing this article has taken longer and required more thinking than making the pole!What I used:
Adhesive (superglue)
Hacksaw (with masonry blade, but any saw should do the job)
Sandpaper - 250 grit aluminum carbide
Time
Taking the hacksaw, I cut the pole about 4" above the cork grip. I didn't want to cut it too short the first time, and I think it should be more stable with a few inches of overlap between the poles. My Dad's poles were cut right above the cork grip, so anything in between should work as well.
The cut left some nasty little metal and graphite things sticking out that were too sharp and dangerous. The sandpaper smoothed these out quickly.
I put adhesive inside the handle, where the upper pole would go. The upper pole fit inside the handle with about 2mm of extra space around it, just perfect to be filled with adhesive. I put as much adhesive as I could inside, and pushed the upper pole in until it fit snugly against one of the bulging wrappers for an eyelet.I made sure to align the eyes to the correct position with respect to where the reel would go, and set it aside to cure.
