History
Back to the 1960s, in the Shikoku area of Japan. Fishermen were searching for a method to troll as many baits as they could around schools of baitfish that attracted buri (yellowtail).
These fishermen were said to have developed the greenstick technique by attempting to mimic the New Guinea kite fishermen who "danced" their baits on the water surface with incredible results. The fishermen successfully replicated this technique with long green bamboo poles (hence the name greenstick) instead of kites.
The rig worked so well that large hon-maguro (bluefin tuna) would strike the baits with such force and weight they would frequently break the natural bamboo poles.
Dawn of Greenstick
In Japan, in 1971, a full-scale fiberglass (GFRP) fishing rod for professional fishermen was released.
Yukinobu Shibata and fellow fisherman, Mikio Tokuda, recognized the limitations of using natural bamboo poles. They teamed up with Yukio Hamaguchi, a fiberglass manufacturer whose products included katsuo poles and outriggers. Together, they developed a heavy-duty sectional fiberglass pole still known today as the greenstick.
It is made of a new material has stability and reliability. It has rapidly evolved into a full-fledged Greenstick fishing method that applies strength and elasticity.
