Gear Review: Fishpond Grass Sticks Wading Staff

USA-made, from mostly natural materials, the new wading staff from Fishpond & Grass Sticks, is different from the competition in many ways. Photo: Rick Mikesell

I am getting old. I have reached the point in life where my balance is not as sharp as it once was, no matter how hard I pretend otherwise. A recent night on the water punctuated this. One bad step on a loose rock and I went down face first into an urban stream that no one would describe as clean, rocky mountain water. I had left my new Fishpond Grass Sticks wading staff in the truck, because the plan was a quick in-and-out stop on the way home. Had I brought it, I would have walked out dry rather than limping back to the car soaked, scraped, and annoyed at missing a night of fishing.

I have leaned on my net for wading support before when things get sketchy, but that only works in a pinch. As soon as the current catches it, the whole thing twists, tries to pull out of your hand, and the process ends up chewing up the net’s butt, which can lead to an eventual failure. After that fall, I decided that it is time to use a wading staff . . . all the time.

Don’t think that just because it’s made of bamboo that its fragile.

A Colorado Story

Grass Sticks is a small team in Steamboat Springs that started in a garage when founder and ski coach Andrew Beckler wanted a ski pole built to last a lifetime. After testing every material he could think of, he settled on bamboo, discovering that its strength, flex, and sustainability lined up with what he wanted to build.

The team still handcrafts everything in their Steamboat shop. They come from engineering, carpentry, and design backgrounds, and they test gear in the same mountains and rivers that shape their daily lives. Fishpond worked with them to turn that approach into a unique new wading staff. According to Fishpond, the bamboo has a strength-to-weight ratio similar to steel, and the finish is designed to handle years of hard river use. The staff also includes a contoured rubber grip, a secondary lower grip, a webbing wrist strap that can connect to the Confluence Net Release, and a carbide tip protected by a removable rubber cover.

The author uses the staff to navigate slippery rocks. Photo: Rick Mikesell

On the River

This staff is lighter than any aluminum or carbon staff I have picked up, and the advertised strength shines as truth on the river. I leaned into it from high angles, jammed it between rocks, and put more pressure on it than I needed to. It never over flexed, splintered, or cracked.

The grip is adapted from Grass Sticks ski poles and feels secure and comfortable in the hand, a marked improvement on the low-density foam coating many competitors use. The lower rubber grip is equally useful in shallower water, when two hands help with balance, or when climbing in and out of steep banks.

The wrist strap is well built. You need to clip in deliberately, but it works. Fishpond’s signature orange on the grip is bold, but I understand the reasoning. Set a natural colored wooden staff on the bank and it vanishes. This one is easy to find. It also floats, which is reassuring when the river decides it wants to borrow it.

The double grip comes in handy when you really need support.

I’m six feet tall, and the 53-inch length feels natural to me. It plants where I want it and never feels unwieldy. I handed it to my wife on the lower Colorado River. She does not love scrambling across big rocks, and the staff gave her enough stability to get down the steep rocky banks and to fish comfortably from the river’s edge. She is 5’9”, and the length worked well for her, too.

I’ve mostly used the wading staff with the rubber tip, which has handled the slick bowling-ball rocks of the Colorado, the moss-coated stones on the Roaring Fork and Eagle, and the sand and decomposed granite of the South Platte. I tested the carbide tip as well, just to see. It bites into rock with authority, and I expect it will be valuable once winter ice becomes part of the equation.

Storage is where there is a bit of compromise with this design. Because the staff does not collapse, you cannot tuck it into a belt pouch. Clipping it to a wading belt works until you face downstream and it pushes against your legs behind you. It also catches loose line. Wedging it between your pack and your back, as you would do with a net, works best and is what I have settled on, although it can still hook a narrow tree gap or a tight bit of brush. This is simply the cost of choosing a single-piece staff.

Because the staff doesn’t fold, you need to be creative in how you carry it. Photo: Rick Mikesell

Why Bamboo Works

I am a fan of the story behind this staff: made in my home state of Colorado, built by hand, and using a renewable material with natural properties that make it ideal for this application. Bamboo is incredibly strong, and it carries its own character as a once-living material. It reminds me of the quiet soul you find in bamboo fly rods. Fishpond leans into that aesthetic through a rich marine-grade finish and a clean brand mark burned into the shaft.

Getting older is no fun, frankly, but a good wading staff takes the uncertainty out of moving water and uneven edges. The Fishpond Grass Sticks staff brings that confidence together with Colorado craftsmanship and a renewable material that feels right at home on the river. I will still fall from time to time. That is part of the game. But this staff has already made those moments far less likely. I am not interested in rolling the dice and getting sidelined from time on the water again.

Check Out the Fishpond Grass Sticks Wading Staff Here