Blowguns are illegal in many places too.

Speaking of hiking sticks though if you were to carry a good bamboo or willow pole as a walking stick it could double as a hobo fishing rod and wouldn't take up any extra space.

Personally I prefer the real thing. Telescopic rods can be pretty good these days. When I'm backpacking I carry a 4 piece 6'6" Rhino rod in a map tube. Both cost me less than $35 combined. I use a hand-me-down level wind bait caster I got from my dad and a fly fishing tackle box which also holds my snare stuff. A little bulky but very light. I keep 2 Speedhooks and a couple of Pickerel rigs in the tackle box so that I can improvise a killer night line using the 20lb test I tote for gear repair.