Buy It And Try It: Rocket Fishing Rod

At the Big M Fishery, they can almost guarantee you'll catch a fish in
one of their stocked ponds in just a matter of minutes. Families have
been coming here for more than a decade.

Scott Davis has been teaching kids like Joe Sorber how it's done, and
he's agreed to try my rocket fishing rod.

"I've seen the infomercial," Joe says. "I pretty much want one."

First we attach the hook, and then it's time to bait it. We're going
for catfish today, and catfish like chicken liver. We put the hook
with chicken liver inside this bobber capsule, which appears safer
than having a loose hook flying around.

Then you load the capsule into the rocket rod, pump it, and launch.

The infomercial claims the capsule opens up and releases the bait
after it's fired as far as 30 feet. Ours didn't go that far.

Joe tries again, but we only get about 10 feet this time. We sit back
and wait for a bite. Not much happens.

Eventually Joe decides that he should reel it in. But each time you
reel in, you have to put the bait back into the capsule, which can
take a minute or two.

Joe casts again, but it still doesn't reach the middle of the pond
where he thinks he has the best shot of catching a catfish.

I decide to give it a try. It's pretty simple to use, but it only goes
about 10-feet for me, too. After waiting a while, the fish don't seem
to like me either.

We decide to give up on the catfish and head to the blue gill pond. We
use a smaller hook and some nightcrawlers. Joe keeps trying with the
rocket rod, and I use a regular pole.

Neither of us seem to have much luck, but just a few minutes later, one bites.

Joe thinks the rocket fishing rod is easy to use, but he's not happy
with how far it casts out.

"It goes a couple feet," he says. "Doesn't do good."

Scott thought it was a pain having to stuff the bait and hook back
into the capsule each time we reeled it in.

"Just get a regular fishing pole, they work best," says Scott.

And with that, we call it a day.