With Full Metal Hinges & Genuine item

Great product, nice and compact for easy transporting and carrying and very well made

Below are my first impressions of this item, before actually using it, pending a later user review. Background to why I purchased the item....... It was somewhat an impulse buy, having had many years ago a similar, yet very much smaller, fold-up fishing rod that fits into a cars glove box. That item, like this one, was invented, patented and produced in the USA, to satisfy the needs of American men mainly, who are sports hunters and fishers. The intention was to always have handy a fishing rod when a suitable fishing hole was found on their travels. I never did get any satisfaction from using that first little fold-up rod and I soon disposed of it. This item seems to be a very big leap in the evolutionary concept of the original idea and as I will be going on holiday later in the year to the Channel Islands, I decided to purchase it. To me the option of the travel case was a no-brainer, as it would allow me to pack it in my suitcase neat and tidy, with everything inside. Whether I will actually use the belt facility of the bag is doubtful, but is a typical American pleaser as they like that sort of thing. We Brits on the other hand, tend to fish in the same spot, rather than wander all over the place - if used on a boat, the belt idea would in fact be detrimental to finding hooks and spinners easily! Having read the reviews and watched various videos, I had already come to the conclusion that as I wanted to use the rod for sea fishing, the loaded line was probably, a) not strong enough and b) not long enough. Therefore I went to ebay and found that the Amazon distributor that I bought the rod from, was selling on there a spare reel spool for £2.99, so I bought one with the intention of loading it with line of sufficient breaking strain. This I have yet to do, but it seems a much better idea to have two spools - one for sea fishing and one for fresh water fishing. The product user leaflet suggests that the original spool should not be taken off, even though it does explane how that is done. Anyone who has any sort of a brain and takes care should have no trouble in taking out and putting back a spool, then threading the line where it neads to go. There apparently has been much misuse of this product - i.e. flexing the rod manually to test it's strength and careless folding back into the storage position, with the result that the manufacturer has had to deal with lots of warranty claims and complaints. As a consequence, rods distributed now include many warnings and extra guidance on how best to use the rod. Ok - the rod and black bag arrived in good time and my first impression was that it looked a quality product that may indeed live up to the manufacturers hype and videos. Very stylish in appearance, not retro in any way. The bag is big enough to carry enough floats/hooks etc for a casual fishing experience, but would not be big enough for a serious fisherman who is used to carting around enormous amounts of gear. My intention is to take along a few sea floats, range of hooks, weights and spinners/lugs, plus a couple of rigs - this bag is big enough for that, plus the rod of course. With the rod inside the measurements are approx 16 inches x 7 inches x 3 inches deep with a minimum weight of 2lb - adding tackle will increase the weight. Unfolding the rod, AFTER reading the instructions, gave no trouble whatsoever and the extended rod seems to be just right for the job in hand. It's not by any means a beach caster, capable of dumping a 10 ounce weight hundreds of yards over the breaking waves, especially if you use the included line. The user guide by the way says that if you find that the line is not long enough (my estimate is that there is approx a maximum of 75 to 100 yards at breaking strain of 5lb loaded) then knot the new line to the old and real it on to the spool. This I think is just asking for trouble with sea fishing as who knows what is going to take your bait. Even a couple of pound bass is likely to pull like hell and when at the place where both line strengths are knotted it will just rip them apart. Much better to load a fresh spool or take off the old line and load with the breaking strain for the job. I estimate that the spool will take approx 250 yards of 10 - 20lb line, as modern sea lines are much finer these days - much like mountaineering rope is no longer as thick as a saveloy sausage! Folding the rod back into the storage position is also easy - however, you must take care and heed what the guide says about the top eye, as some careless people have broken it clean off. This is a precision made piece of kit that will do the ok job, but not if you treat it like a toy and play games with it! AT THIS STAGE I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS PRODUCT.

very disappointed , do not be fooled by the tv adverts online, this is a cheaply made toy, my rod does not clasp shut so if a fish was on the end the rod would pop back to folding position, not what you want to deal with when you've snagged a fish, also one of the eye holes has broken, and i have been careful with this product so get a proper rod and reel instead and don't waste your money on this s***

looks rather frail and don't think it will be up to the use I want. would return if I could.

found instant fisherman to be very good ,fits in your suitcase easily.You have to be carefull and read the instructions before attempting to use as you can damage it .i thought it would be rubbish but it is a great usefull piece of kit ,happy fishing

I purchased the instant fisherman as i was heading to the Lake District on hols,not intending to fish but wanted something light and compact just incase.After visiting the Beartrix Potter museum i decided to try my luck on lake Bassenthwaite,after fishing for about 1hr i pulled in this bute of a rainbow.weighed in at 3lb 7oz.Now using instant fisherman for all light fishing trips.

Rubbish rubbish rubbish x1000

Disappointed with this as a gift for my husband