Easiest lure for a 5 year old to cast out and retrieve?

[Dorado]

These guys are good!

 

#1 vote -Beetlespin (great for multi-species, especially slab crappies)

#2 vote - Johnson Silver Minnow.

 

Bottom-line, IMO, avoid trebles with kiddos..........you're just askin' for it

1 hour ago, tholmes said:

Beetle Spin. 

 

 

Tom

My exact favorite color body too. I like a 1/8 oz gold blade too. Always have one of each when I go to a new body of water

[bitsandbass]

1 hour ago, tholmes said:

Beetle Spin. 

 

 

Tom

 

Im going Beetle Spin!  I dont know, but this lure just looks sexy AF.  Really like it hahahaha.  Hopefully my little man can catch something.

 

Thanks for your help.

4 minutes ago, Dorado said:

These guys are good!

 

#1 vote -Beetlespin (great for multi-species, especially slab crappies)

#2 vote - Johnson Silver Minnow.

 

Bottom-line, IMO, avoid trebles with kiddos..........you're just askin' for it

My exact favorite color body too. I like a 1/8 oz gold blade too. Always have one of each when I go to a new body of water

 

What color is this one?  Bass Pro has like a kajillion different weights and colors. 

[OkobojiEagle]

My grandaughter is about 4 yrs old in my avatar,  we were having a blast over some shallow rocks with a popper.  I'd cast to get some distance, she could understand to let the rings disappear and give the bait a little pop, then wait and watch.  The smallies were willing and we had a blast... she's 8 now and still remembers.  She lives 7 hours away and we don't get to do that near enough!

 

 

oe

[NHBull]

Kids always remember putting their first worm on a hook, so I would do that before going with a surface jig.  Kids love casting and seeing a strike is a lot of fun.

.......and a weightless/weedless 4 inch Trig always works

[RoLo]

1 hour ago, bitsandbass said:

This looks interesting.  Never used one.  The hook is facing up so wont get snagged on the bottom.  Seems simple enough to cast out and retrieve.  Neat.

 

Indeed, the Beetle Spin is a well-known panfish slayer of yore, but in my opinion, it is the not

the ideal lure for a toddler. Unlike modern safety-pin spinners that employ an "R" bend eyelet,

the Beetle Spin uses the old-fashioned looped wire eyelet. Depending on wind direction,

throwing a beetle spin in an adverse breeze can cause the line to wrap around the wire eyelet

on every few casts.  Just a heads-up.

 

Roger

 

 

[VolFan]

Zebco 22/ Ugly Stick ml combo from Wally World is what my 7 yr old has been using since he was 4.  He started with an 1/8 oz beetle spin with a white 2" curly grub in place of the green grub that comes with it.  Once he got comfy casting (and I felt safe), I got him a MH rod and started him with square bills and especially a whopper plopper.  He fishes the plopper 90% of the time now.  I also replaced the line on the reel with 15 lb power pro once he graduated from the smaller lures.

[bassguytom]

We use a 4 inch senko with a 3/0 EGW offset worm hook Texas rigged for all our little folks when we switch over from what we call bobber klobbing. (Live bait). They catch a lot of fish with this rig. 

[RMax]

6 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

Anything that won't get snagged will usually require a more firm hookset... For example a true Texas rigged worm

 

I recommend an inline spinner. Mepps to be specific. A true multi species bait that will keep the kid busy. 

 

It's what I tie on when I just want a bite and I have caught bass, crappie, bluegill, pike and channel cat on a mepps spinner. 

 

If you cast and continuously reel there won't be any snagging. 

 

 

Other than that you can try a 4" senko weightless rigged Tex-posed and then lightly skin hooked. 

Totally agree on the inline spinner.  That was my favorite lure from age 8 to 15.  I really enjoyed using the Eagle Claw two way spinner (and still do) with a little plastic grub or piece of nightcrawler on the hook.  This has caught me rainbows, bullhead, bass, bluegill, brown trout, channel catfish, drum.  Beat worm under a bobber every time plus I was able to constantly cast and reel instead of wait. Highly Recommended

These were my greatest multi-species and numbers lures as a kid.

[XpressJeff]

I used to give my kids a small crappie jig (the ones that come in a tube) with a stick bobber up about 18".

 

It got enough action from pull it in that they caught a few and it stayed off the bottom so snag free.

 

Worked pretty good til my daughter caught about a 24" pike. Hilarious!

[bitsandbass]

Guys, will hard plastic crankbaits catch all fish or only specific species?

 

This crankbait at Bass Pro looks like it would be simple enough for my son to cast and retrieve, 1/2oz.

 

Strike King Red Eye Shad Crankbaits

 

[bitsandbass]

 

7 hours ago, tholmes said:

Beetle Spin. 

 

 

Tom

 

I liked that guy's vid.  What color is this one (specific name, I cant find it at Bass Pro)?

[dmainor]

another vote for the beetle spin, color almost doesn't matter  it's such a good lure especially for kids.  Just cast and retrieve and it's enough to set the kid on a lifelong passion for catchin. 

 

Dug

[MainelyBASS]

8 hours ago, bitsandbass said:

Guys, will hard plastic crankbaits catch all fish or only specific species?

 

This crankbait at Bass Pro looks like it would be simple enough for my son to cast and retrieve, 1/2oz.

 

Strike King Red Eye Shad Crankbaits

 

The RES mostly catches Bass and Pickerel, however I have caught trout, salmon, and pike with it. If you do decide to go with a RES, they also make them in a 1/4 oz size which casts a mile because of the internal rattle system. There isnt a need to go with the 1/2 oz for a youngster.

[Dave A]

Beetle spin- YES! Catches everything. 82 cent at Walmart

[jr231]

9 hours ago, bitsandbass said:

Guys, will hard plastic crankbaits catch all fish or only specific species?

 

This crankbait at Bass Pro looks like it would be simple enough for my son to cast and retrieve, 1/2oz.

 

Strike King Red Eye Shad Crankbaits

 

 

 

Really dude ? You're talking about your kid looking off at a butterfly and the inline spinner getting snagged on the bottom... Which is much lighter than a RES... And now you're wanting him to use a 1/2oz bait with 2 trebles ? 

 

Lol and I'm the one "who doesn't have kids" because I recommended a treble hooked lure... 

 

That will catch them all day 

[G-Prime]

I usually use a bobber of some sort with young kids, you can still bobber a senko or a fluke and reel and twitch it, the fish in ponds around here aren't offended at all by that presentation and it keeps me from having to unsnag or retie the kids lure every 5 minutes. My favorite version of this is one of those little crappie jigs under a Styrofoam bobber, they catch fish and have fun and I can fish in between taking bream off their lines. You probably have plenty of stuff that would work fine, if he is just learning to cast, in the spirit of safety and not wanting him to have a bad experience I would avoid treble hooks for the time being, if you've fished with young kids enough you know one of them or you has gotten hooked on wild casts before, a hook in the back will ruin a fishing day real fast for a kid. Floating worms and senkos sink so slowly that as long as he is so-so reeling hes likely to never touch bottom, a light wire hook will do most of the work by itself as far a hooksets go.

[bitsandbass]

Meh Dicks has limited supply of the 1/4oz beetle spins.

 

If you guys had to choose, white/red dot or Black/Yellow Stripe???

 

 

 

 

[VolFan]

Id go white/red dot with those choices, but I'd buy a pack of grubs too.

[Dave A]

You can fish the back half of ripped senkos and twister tail grubs on it too. 

That way you can have them fish with a bunch of other colors

 

Here are pics of some that I poured. Green Pumpkin with blue hilites and orange tips

Edited May 27, 2017 by Dave A
Added pictures

[bitsandbass]

I have some pork rinds for buck tail jigs that last forever. Could I use those?

[Crestliner2008]

Five years old. OK.....do you really want to start them off with an artificial lure? I'd go straight to a worm suspended under a bobber. This way, they can cast, retrieve or let it sit and they will still catch a fish.

 

If dead set on an artificial, then I'd go with a 1/4 oz. Jitterbug. Full of visible action and when hit he/she will be a dedicated angler forever.

[pawpaw]

I try to keep every thing my Grandkids use Texas rigged. I'm afraid of them hooking themselves or others with any open hooks. We mostly use a 4" plastic worm with an 1/8 oz weight and a 2/0 hook. That set up is about as weedless (snag proof) as anything I can think of. If they HAVE to cast and retrieve to be happy we go with the little swimming fluke Texas rigged. We ALWAYS make them wear some sort of glasses as well.

[tholmes]

On ‎5‎/‎25‎/‎2017 at 11:06 PM, bitsandbass said:

 

 

I liked that guy's vid.  What color is this one (specific name, I cant find it at Bass Pro)?

 

 

That color is called catalpa/black stripe. Almost perfectly mimics a catalpa worm, a favorite food of all kinds of gamefish.

 

Tom

[BigSkyBasser]

On 5/25/2017 at 2:13 PM, tholmes said:

Beetle Spin. 

 

 

Tom

 

The first bass I ever caught was on a beetle spin. They are the magic kid lure and the first thing I thought of when I saw this thread.

[mllrtm79]

On 5/27/2017 at 5:57 AM, Crestliner2008 said:

Five years old. OK.....do you really want to start them off with an artificial lure? I'd go straight to a worm suspended under a bobber. This way, they can cast, retrieve or let it sit and they will still catch a fish.

 

If dead set on an artificial, then I'd go with a 1/4 oz. Jitterbug. Full of visible action and when hit he/she will be a dedicated angler forever.

I agree with this, and once they get a little bit of experience casting maybe put on a whopper plopper 90. We did this with my brother's young one, and she was so fascinated by the sound it made that it kept her occupied with it for a couple of hours, then there was a blowup on it, the squeal from her... (she is a bit older than 5 however, 8 I think)