It even bonds oily steel. The resin is Shell Epon 8132 and the curing agent is number 3164. There are polyurethanes out there that are suitable for the rod maker. Most are European in origin. They are a mess to work with because of the nature of the operations that we perform on our materials.
Polyurethanes cure from the ambient moisture in the air.
As one handles the glued rod sections things get increasingly sticky. Water will wash off the uncured resins. Boat builders tests indicate that the cured resin is not stable when immersed in water. The bond strength after immersion is in question too. But, in their favor these shortcomings should not deter the rod maker from giving PU s a try.