Fishing Rod "Sharky"

Fishing Rod “Sharky” — THE Perfect Beach Companion for Fishing Enthusiasts

• 🖨 100% printable – no extra hardware required (except for fishing line and hooks of course)

• ⏱ Fast print – ready in around 2 hours

• 🧵 Material efficient – under 50 g of filament

• 🎣 Fully functional – thanks to two years of feedback with lots of improvements

• 🚀 Instantly ready – no tedious assembly every time you want to use it

• 📜 Detailed Documentation – printing instructions, assembly guide and tips & tricks ⬇

Sharky is a fully 3D-printable fishing rod designed to be the ultimate ultralight travel companion. Compact in your bag, fully capable in the water. Print, Pack, Catch!

You may also like my other Design: Fishing Rod - Grizzly - optimized for fishing from the riverbank or shore!

Boost Me❤ I put a lot of work into this design and continuously collect feedback for future improvements, so every bit of support is highly appreciated ❤

Impressions from the Comment section:

1. V6 - What's new?

• Optional 6702ZZ Bearing Version

  One of the most requested features over the past year was the addition of bearings. I didn’t expect Bambu Lab themselves to sell deep-groove ball bearings that fit perfectly into Sharky. This optional version uses 6702ZZ ball bearings for smoother rotation, less friction, and a noticeably nicer feel while reeling in your catch.

• Rotating Handle

  The second most requested feature was a rotating handle. Despite the very limited space I managed to integrate a fully print-in-place solution that rotates smoothly. No assembly required, no extra hardware, no supports. Read the Assembly Guide for more information!

• Cable Tie Slots

  The top side now includes two dedicated slots that let you thread cable ties through the body to attach the reel to a stick or similar object — instantly turning it into a proper fishing rod. Thanks to @PapaChez for this idea! See Assembly Guide for reference.

• Additional Improvements

  • Reduced risk of tangling due to extra clearance inside the spool area

  • Forced recessed seam positions on rotating parts, improving mechanical movement even on less finely tuned printer setups.

  • Larger, rounded opening tabs for easier disassembly and a more comfortable grip.

  • Optimized internal clearance around the reel teeth, further improving smoothness of rotation.

  • Redesigned modifier for a stronger, more rigid back plate.

  • Larger attachment hole to better fit hand-wrist straps such as those from Bambu Lab (see also the parts list for reference).

  • Detailed and easy to read assembly guide

2. Printing Instructions

I highly recommend using the Prusaslicer files — all required settings and modifiers are already configured and tested.

I recommend printing this in PETG or PCTG, since they withstand outdoor exposure much better than PLA.

In case you want(need) to slice it yourself, here are some recommendations:

• Set wall generator to “Arachne” or enable “detect thin walls” - otherwise the rotation mechanism of the handle might not work.

• Set layer height to 0.2mm (dimensions are specifically designed for this layer height)

• For screw, pin and tip increase the wall count to 8 and slow down outer wall speeds to ~40mm/s for clean threads.

• load the bottom-body modifier into the part and set walls to 1, solid top- and bottom layers to 0, infill to 20% honeycomb and infill-perimeter overlap to 25%

3. Assembly Guide

⚠Please read the assembly guide carefully before use to ensure proper setup⚠

⚠Disclaimer⚠

Always check and follow the fishing regulations in your area — fishing is not permitted everywhere or for everyone. Make sure you are familiar with local laws, seasons, and size limits before using this device. Because this setup can easily hook very small fish, pay extra attention to minimum size requirements and release undersized catches carefully.

Please fish responsibly and avoid causing unnecessary harm to wildlife at all times. Thank you!

4. How to use:

1. Go snorkeling or diving and bring some bread or other bait with you.
   Once you spot some fish, press the trigger and pull out the hook with a bit of line.

2. Bait the hook – I personally recommend day-old pizza crust.

3. While holding the trigger, manually pull out more line until the bait reaches your desired depth.

4. Watch the fish gather around your bait… and wait for one to bite.

5. If the fish just had a good time snacking on your bait (congrats, you just fed some wildlife!), simply repeat steps 3–5.

6. Reel in your catch.
   Take a picture and share it in the “Makes & Comments” section.
   And of course, treat your catch responsibly and follow local rules and regulations.

⚠To avoid any tangling issues I recommend to always pull out more line manually and not unwheeling line without having tension on the hook.⚠

Pro Tip: If you are having a hard time impressing the fish with your bait, just throw some more of that pizza crust (or other bait) to the fish. In the commotion, they will forget about the hook, and you increase your chances of one actually going for it!

Alternatively, you can also try this technique shared by Pixelplanter (thank you very much for sharing!)

“To cast out put a weight on the line and let about a foot of line. Swing the line in a circle and get it moving quick (like slinging a rock). Press the button when the timing is right and it’ll launch up to 20 feet in the water! Super fun once you get the technique down, don’t put much line on it and be careful of backlash!”

5. Story behind this design:

A couple of weeks ago, I went on vacation and found myself snorkeling in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. Little did I know already (as the hobby fisherman and snorkelist that I am): There will be fish! So, before I left home I decided to pack some fishing line wound up on an old pencil and a little hook with me. After a couple days of snorkeling, I even managed to hook a fish using some old pizza crust as bait. I had the fun of my life watching the hook dangling down from the surface, observing the fish surround the bait and then some of them actually going for it. It quickly became my favorite activity on the beach!

Back home and with just one week until my next vacation to the Mediterranean, this time camping with some friends, I reflected on my makeshift setup and thought to myself that there must be a more elegant way to do this. At least more elegant than an old rusty pencil. So I browsed the fishing contest page and found this beautiful design by ZF Designs. I instantly knew this was going to be awesome. But after a closer look at the original design, I immediately realized that I needed to change some things to suit my specific needs when snorkeling with this device so I decided to design a similar device on my own.

So, I made the following “improvements”:

1. I designed a wheel with ratcheting teeth and added a spring-loaded lever. Now, the line cannot be pulled further unless the lever is triggered, just like the bail on a normal fishing reel.

2. I added small threads to the wheeling pin. Now, it can be screwed into the wheel when the fishing rod is in use but can also be unscrewed and screwed in the other way around into the body to prevent it from breaking off. This also minimizes the thickness of the whole device when not in use and prevents the risk of loosing the pin overall.

3. I increased the wall thickness of the entire body to enhance its stability and incorporated a clipping mechanism so that the whole assembly holds together without any glue. This also allows the device to be opened again in case you need to change the line or accidentally pull the hook completely into the device. I also added a 3D-printed safety screw that can easily be (un-)screwed with a penny of your choice.

4. I reduced the size of the hole in the front so that it is unlikely to accidentally pull your hook into the device, which would require opening the body to retrieve it. To store the device, you can now attach the hook to the small hole in the front and put some tension on the line. The “bail” will hold the tension and this way the hook won't come loose when the device is stored away.

Experience report:

This design was tested last week on said camping trip to the Mediterranean Sea and it worked flawlessly. Even my fishing-inexperienced friends were immediately able to use it and this time we even caught a couple of fish! It was an absolute blast. Definitely recommendable! I would share some photos of the fish, but as every good fisherman does, I too of course forgot to take pictures. The device can also be used from land by pulling 2-3m of line and throwing it into the water by hand! 

I hope you enjoy the design, have fun with it and share your experience and feedback in the comments!

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