Sorry, but that's definitely not bamboo. It's some other kind of grass.

As for fishing poles, are you talking about just cutting a culm of bamboo to use as a pole or are you talking about crafting a fly rod out of bamboo?

But, in all the years that I have watched this, it has never produced a tassel. Don't the vast majority of grasses bloom freely? I understand that some bamboos rarely bloom. Although my photo doesn't show any well defined canes, I seem to remember seeing them, maybe, during the winter. I'll take another photo this winter.

I meant the kind of fishing poles that I used as a kid with a line, bobber, hook and worm at the end.

Trust me, I've grown over 100 species of bamboo and am familiar with hundreds more, and that's not bamboo. It's true that bambooS don't flower frequently, but when they do they don't produce tassels. Just because that plant doesn't produce flowers doesn't mean it's bamboo. Many other grasses have canes that sort of look like the culms on bamboo. However, I bet if you go over and take a close look at that plant you'll see the leaves originating directly from the cane, whereas bamboo leaves don't do that: they grow on branches that are attached to the culm. In addition, i'm guessing that the plant you pictured dies back during the winter, and grows back from the ground up each year. And it doesn't leave woody, erect poles like you remember from fishing as a kid. Correct? I can't tell you for sure what the plant is because I'm not an expert on other types of grasses. it's some type of giant reed/grass, and I understand why you might think it looks like bamboo. if you decide to grow it, just remember that a lot of the reeds can be quite invasive, so you'll have to do some work to keep it under control. Maybe you should post your pictures in the Ornamental Grasses forum here on GardenWeb to get more specific ID and information about this plant.

As for fishing pole bamboo,you're probably thinking of golden bamboo (Ph. aurea):

Golden bamboo

Plant asked about is a Miscanthus or non-woody similar grass.

Thank you. I reposted in the perennials forum where the plant was identified as Miscanthus 'Giganteus'.

Either my mind is playing tricks on me or that homeowner previously had bamboo planted in that spot and later switched. Anyway, I am going to buy Miscanthus 'Giganteus' next spring.