And Boy Does it Catch Fish!

Still shopping for the fisherman on your list? Give them a blast from the past!

I recently learned that the Popeil Pocket Fisherman is still produced and sold. First manufactured in the 1950s, the Pocket Fisherman is a compact spincasting rig that folds down to a mere 9". Extend the plastic arm with a guide that serves as a rod and you're ready to chase the big ones! You'll never again find yourself by a river saying "If only I had my rod!" With one of these tucked into your dashboard or purse, any trip can become a fishing trip!

If you grew up in the 1970s, you may remember the TV commercials for these, where a frenetic announcer shouted something like my last three sentences over video of men in boats landing improbably large fish on these stubby little toys. Like a lot of the other Ronco/K-Tel products of that era, they became a punch line, something no one but the hopelessly taste-impaired or unabashedly rednecked would buy, or at least admit to buying.* But they're still around.

Part of their appeal (like that of so many other mementos of Generation X childhood) probably lies in their retro goofiness. Recently, this vintage 1972 model sold on EBay.
Parting with this sounds like a practical decision, but I can't imagine anything but nostaligia or a mania for kitsch behind the purchase. Or the purchase of a new one. The convenience factor is really not that great--even in large pocket, it would be rather clumsy--and what little there is would be more than offset by the rig's limitations. A 1 1/2 foot rod makes casting very awkward, and this rod has the sensitivity of a tent stake, making it hard to detect bites if fishing with bait, or to play any but the smallest fish. The Pocket Fisherman isn't cheaper than conventional fishing gear either. New ones retail for about $40. For that price, you could get a very serviceable spinning rod and reel combo. And seriously, ordinary gear does not take up all that much room. If you want to fish on the go, it's easy enough to keep a rod and a small bag with a reel and some tackle in your car or in a bike pack.

Yet there's no novelty in those things, no aura of can-do space age innovation, nor is there the promise of wetting a line with the mere flick of a wrist. With a Pocket Fisherman in hand, you could be as self-sufficent as the castaways on Gilligan's Island, who you were watching in between commercials for these, and for K-Tel hit compilation LPs and custom potato slicers with the bonus Julienne fry attatchment (honestly, can't you see the Professor rigging one of these out of a coconut and a bamboo shaft?). They will be as eternal as Brady Bunch reruns.

*Full Disclosure Statment: One Christmas while growing up, I received a K-Tel Fishin Magician (12 fisherman's tools in one!) and a Budweiser Lure.
Believe it or not, there were times when the Bud lure caught a lot of fish. I'll leave it to FTR readers to decide whether I belong in the "hopelessly taste-impaired" or "unabashedly rednecked" category.

Hope Everyone has a Merry Christmas.


Tags:Fishing; Pop Culture; Christmas