Abstract: A fishing rod including an elongated, hollow, generally tapered cylindrical rod portion comprised of a plurality of blanks having their ends telescopingly connected to each other, and a holder portion to which a reel is mounted and including a universal guide for guiding fishing line from reels of different sizes into the hollow of the rod portion with a minimum amount of rubbing friction against the line and without exposing the line to any sharp edges that might cut the line or cause the same to bind. The reel is secured to the holder portion by an over-center cam lock mechanism which urges a rigid plate with resilient cover strip into tight clamping engagement with the reel base mounting plate sandwiching the latter against the resilient cover strip and a wall portion of the holder.