Patent ID: 7210264

Claim:
A fishing pole in combination with a separate telescopic wading staff, which comprises: (a.) a fishing pole having a proximal end, said proximal end including a handle, and having a distal end with at least one eyelet for guiding a fishing line therethrough, said proximal end both having an opening and a hollow portion extending from said opening and being adapted to receive a separate telescopic wading staff for storage of said wading staff therein, and an inner surface defining said hollow portion of said proximal end having inwardly facing threads thereon; (b.) said separate telescopic wading staff having a top end and a bottom end, said separate telescopic wading staff having a plurality of interconnected elongated segments including at least two interconnected elongated segments that are telescopically moveable relative to one another with a first, fully compacted configuration, and a second, fully extended configuration, said staff including locking means for at least locking said plurality of interconnected elongated segments in its second configuration, and said top end having an outer surface with outwardly facing threads thereon complementary to and engageable with said inwardly facing threads; and wherein when said separate telescopic wading staff is stored in said proximal end of said fishing pole in its fully compacted configuration, the inwardly facing threads threadably engage said outwardly facing threads to retain and store said staff in said proximal end, and when said separate telescopic wading staff is subsequently removed therefrom and opened to its fully extended configuration, said separate telescopic wading staff can be used as a wading staff.