As many of you know, I consider a wading staff to be my most important tenkara accessory. If fact, I consider it essential to the success of my fishing trips. Without a staff, I am very unbalanced which in turn affects my fishing, and this only seems to get worse as the years go by.
The wading staffs I rely on are homemade and made from a push broom or rake handle. They are inexpensive and have been very durable over the years. But one thing they are not, and that is transportable. There have been times when I needed to take my staff on a trip, but it would not fit in the allotted space. So, I had to leave it at home and that affected the success of my fishing trip.
I’ve tried a couple different brands of collapsible wading staffs over the years. I’ve used a Folstaf Super Wading Staff and a Simms Wading Staff. I’ve even used an old trekking pole. All work well enough, but each has its issues. I’ve had some issues with the Folstaf not breaking down easily and the Simms oscillating violently in the current. The trekking pole isn’t strong enough to hold my weight in heavy currents. So, over the years I’ve been looking for a robust, stable, and not too expensive collapsible staff that I could take with me when I didn’t have enough room for my wooden staff.
Well, last summer I got a visit from Conrad Estrem, a tenkara friend of mine from the other side of the state. I took him fishing in Teton National Park. We fished a high gradient stream that has a slippery stream bed. Before we got in the water, he unfolded his wading staff. I had never seen one like it before! It was a collapsible staff, but much more robust than the ones I’d used previously. Called the Riverstick custom wading staff, I was impressed by its construction and decided to look it up online.
The Riverstick Custom Wading Staff is made in British Columbia by Rick Humphrey. Each one is custom made from robust materials, and is designed to last a lifetime. One of the unique features is the rubber tip which is actually a tire valve stem! Here is what Rick says about his wading staff:
“The heart of the staff is the extremely durable, heavy-guage 6061 marine-grade aluminum tubing and machined inserts. A unique practical feature of the staff is that all other components: the grip, and bungee cord are easily found in most hardware stores, The tips are rubber tire valve stems… Yes, tire valve stems… They are very durable, don’t get stuck between boulders, are found in any automotive store and. in fact, I could not have designed a better rubber tip. This allows the staff to be totally self-maintainable, and virtually able to withstand a lifetime of use. The hammer loop holster has proven to be the perfect holster, allowing the staff to be easily deployed, or replaced, with one hand. The staff comes with a nylon wrist strap and stainless ring just below the grip for clipping onto a retractor to let it hang extended. At 1 lb 10 ozs, it is solid, and built to last.“
I’m not sure why I never found this wading staff on my internet searches, but possibly it was because Rick doesn’t have a website. He sells the staffs by word of mouth. Yet, his staffs have quite a following, particularly among the adventurous fly anglers of the Pacific Northwest. I can testify that this collapsible staff is well built, robust, and very stable. I’ve been very impressed, having used it numerous times since receiving mine. It opens quickly, stays open, doesn’t oscillate violently in the current, holds my weight easily, and is easily folded when not needed. Thank you, Conrad, for showing me this wonderful wading staff (and thank you, Rick, for making such as great staff)!
Rick uses a hammer loop belt holster to confine the staff when it is collapsed. This makes the staff easy to carry and for those who don’t need it all the time (like I do) it keeps it tucked out of the the way, yet readily available for deployment. And using a rubber tire valve stem for the tip bumper, how clever is that! These are durable, and yet readily available and replaceable, if needed.
If you are interested in purchasing one of these robust wading staffs, contact Rick via email. He will need to know your height so he can make it the correct length for you. My staff cost $120 USD plus $20 USD for USPS shipping. He’s located in Canada, and I have no idea if the price will change due to current US-Canada trade fiasco. What a mess (the trade war, not the wading staff)! I’ll keep using my wooden staff most of the time, but I’m glad I have this staff for times when I can’t take my wooden one. I’ll be happily using the Riverstick custom wading staff for years to come!
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I started using wading staffs around age 35. I saw several friends and other fishermen take what I considered to be un-necessary or, at least, preventable, nasty falls while fishing. I said to myself, “yeah, I’d like to prevent that as much as possible.” I am now 75, still fishing three times a week from May to September, and I’ve only had two hard falls over all of these decades of fishing. I attribute that to being generally careful, sensible in my wading (especially in rocky environs), and having my trusty wading staff with me whenever I wade. I’ll try this to see how it serves.
I am now in the 60-plus crowd (there’s no going back!), and a good wading staff is very useful! I can certainly sympathize with Tom. Thanks for posting this!
Thanks for the great writeup Tom! I’m always glad to hear people are happy with my staff, as that’s the most important thing to me.
much appreciated !
Rick