Dan Kadota, who once played high school football with Norman Kagawa at Torrance, was waiting to board the American Angler June 15, as one of the chartermasters for trip sponsor Zucker's. Dan, who reps for several companies, had a wad of new graphite rods in wraps with him. They were long, very light rods.

I'm the designer," he told Bill Roecker, "and we call these Old School Guys Fishin' Stiks."

Dan said the new rods are built for 20 to 80-pound line, and seven to nine feet in length.

"The lighter rods are all graphite," he remarked, "and the heavier ones are graphite-composite. They all have AFTCO roller guides and Alps reel seats, with long foregrips so you can put 'em on the rail.

"These rods are meant to be fished on the rail," said Dan, "or under your arm. They're not meant to be high-sticked. Don't take 'em up over 45 degrees, straight out, because you can't put enough pressure on the fish that way. They work best if they're fished down at about 60 degrees. We measured those forces."

We'll hear more about the rods and how they work after Kadota comes back, perhaps.