Bass fishing for kids

[island bassin]

My son is 7years old and would like him to start going fishing with me as of next year. What would you reccomend as the first combo?

[Carrington]

a cheaper 5' ugly stick spinning combo would be perfect, thats what i started on

[Carrington]

it will probably only cost you like 30-40 dollars if that.

[islandbass]

Long time, no see the other ib!!   :)He is definitely ready for a spinning set up, but I can tell you with good confidence that he can definitely learn how to use a casting reel.

My daughter learned to use a casting set at 6 1/2 and she liked it better than a spinning reel until now. She has become a drop shot fanatic and insists that the better tool is a spinning setup.

The advantage of teaching him to use a casting set up is that you will probably not have to spend any extra $$ on another reel and let him use one of yours. As for the rod, I found a 6' rod for very cheap. I think it was like a Daiwa Strike force and it was only $12.00 or so.

If you go spinning any reel in the $30-40 range like an abu garcia cardinal and rod like a lightning, cherrywood or amp, basically in the same $30-40 range should be more than sufficient.

$30 abu g spinning reel, $18 cherry wood = happy daughter and simple drop shot rig.

This was her first time trying a casting rig at 6 1/2. The first words out of here mouth were, and I kid you not, "Papi. This is so much easier to use than the other (ie, spinning reel) kind of reel." The only thing I can say about her comment is, "That's my little girl." ;D She's 11 now.

[Jigfishn10]

My son is 5 and I started him on a Zebco 33 at the beginning of the season. It was paired up with a 5'6" rod. He praticed in the yard for a day before we went to the pond the next day. He asked to use my baitcaster that day and never went back to 'ol 33. I just picked up a baitcaster for him for Christmas.

[Nibbles]

I would say a Zebco 33 with a 6' MF rod so he can get a feel for how to cast first. I say 6' because he will eventually move onto 7', and having a longer rod initially will make the transition easier. I started on a 5' spincast combo and got too used to short rods, and to this day I still am not very comfortable with rods over 6'6". Probably has to do with the way I cast - I got used to short whippy rods so I cast predominantly with my wrist and with one hand. Once he learns how to do the overhead, underhand wrist flick, underhand backhand and the pitch you can probably move him to a baitcaster.

Onto baitcasters, since we seem to be discussing them as well...

I would look into a mid-tier Daiwa with Magforce Z. If you set the spool tension and Magforce Z right, you can essentially swing the rod hard as heck without really thumbing and still get virtually no backlash. At least, that's what I do with my Fuegos and 3/8 oz. spinnerbaits when shore fishing.

I would suggest an Exceler for his first BC.

[Lund Explorer]

I've started all my children and granchildren with a simple spinning rig. 

A shorter fiberglass rod takes a little more abuse than graphite and costs less.  I like to start them with a Cherrywood rod that you can get for around $20.

Match it with a smallish sized light spinning reel.  Keeping the reel small will limit the weight of the overall rig.  It will also limit the amount of line they'll have, but until a child figures out how to keep all of the line twist to a minimum, it's cheaper on refills of line too.  Also, get a good reel thatis smooth.  If it comes with a spare spool, keep that handy already spooled with line in case you need to do a quick swap-out of the water.

I always let the kids practice with their new fishing combo at home as well.  Instead of using a practice plug, I used an old crankbait with the hooks removed as it seemed like they felt more like they were fishing.  Don't ask....

The biggest thing when starting a kid out fishing really isn't the gear though, it's the time spent fishing.  At first, it won't take long for them to get bored if they aren't "catching".  You may want to have a backup plan for bluegills or perch.  They bite faster which keeps younger minds interested. 

Good luck, you're becoming part of a large fraternity of parents that have built memories that will last your son a lifetime!

[island bassin]

Thanks guys , much appreciated 8-)

[piscicidal]

My daughter is seven. She uses a ML spinning setup about about 5' long. She has no problem using this outfit (On this particular day she had me down 6 fish to none, before I wised up and put a senko on...)

I work the trolling motor in the front of the boat, casting forward. I set her up in the back of the boat, drifting a weighless senko behind. She will almost always catch fish doing this (always important when fishing with a seven year old). Now that she is getting more experience, she is wanting to cast more and more...

[Red Bear]

i wouldnt recommend a zebco 33 for bass fishing. i was using my 33 one day bass fishing in a pond, a little 1 pound bass hit it so hard it stripped the main gear inside. seriously, for a kid, i would just get them a $20 spinning combo from walmart. and actually, i got a $20 lightweight shimano spinning combo from k-mart several years ago thats holding up just fine...

[farmpond1]

While a spinning reel takes, perhaps, a few minutes more instruction and a little more practice, I strongly recommend a spinning rod/reel combo over a spincast setup.  I remember many years ago starting with a Zebco 202 and "graduating" to a 33 but I detested nearly every minute of it.  The line gets tangled so easily in the spool and the drags stink.  I think The only advantage I can really see (and it's slight) is that spincast combos may be more ergonomically correct for little hands.  But with ultralight spinning reels, this isn't really true either.

[mikeeasttn]

Started my 5 y/o grandson out with Shimano Symetre spinning reel a year ago.  It took him longer to learn to cast than with a closed faced reel but now he sits the rear seat and uses my Calais and Curados without a lot of "professional overruns". He is not getting the distance he got with the spinning reel but is getting better every trip we make.  In fact I am now relagated to using the junk rod and reels while he fishes our best tackle.  Now if I can just teach hm to run the electric motor I can set the back seat and enjoy myself.

[PFangler]

I would say go with a spinning setup 5' to 6'. If you want something inexpensive Shakespeare makes an Amphibian combo which comes in two very cool neon colors Orange and Green. The rods are 5'6 so it's very manageable for a kid and it's prespool for $19.99. You can beat that kind of price. My nephews lover their combos and they have held up great for the past few month. Ugly stik isn't a bad way to go either because the rods can handle the abuse kids tend to inflect on things.

If you use a baitcast reel something fun to try would be the Shakespeare EZ Cast. I have seen a couple of videos on youtube and it looks great. I wish I would have seen this before I bought the Amphibians since my nephews want to fish a baitcast reel but get frustrated using a traditional baitcast reel and end up going back to their spinning combos. The EZ Cast is like a set of training wheels for baitcast reel. 

[Red Bear]

I would say go with a spinning setup 5' to 6'. If you want something inexpensive Shakespeare makes an Amphibian combo which comes in two very cool neon colors Orange and Green. The rods are 5'6 so it's very manageable for a kid and it's prespool for $19.99. You can beat that kind of price. My nephews lover their combos and they have held up great for the past few month. Ugly stik isn't a bad way to go either because the rods can handle the abuse kids tend to inflect on things.

If you use a baitcast reel something fun to try would be the Shakespeare EZ Cast. I have seen a couple of videos on youtube and it looks great. I wish I would have seen this before I bought the Amphibians since my nephews want to fish a baitcast reel but get frustrated using a traditional baitcast reel and end up going back to their spinning combos. The EZ Cast is like a set of training wheels for baitcast reel.

i have a couple shakespeare combos that have held up very well. one a spinning and one a spincaster(which happens to be my lucky setup, go figure). both are the tiger models and have longer rods though. my shakespeare spincaster is an older model though, the new ones are junk if you look at them, the spinning reels aint bad at all though for the price. both cost around $20 for the combo.

[L a r r y]

I started my daughter out with a barbie pole when she was 3.  Then moved her up to a 5.5" baitcaster, and she is loving it.  I thought of moving to a spin cast, but she has small hands and it would be hard for her to grasp ahold of the line.  She's gotten pretty good, but there is still the misdirected cast that will go to the left or right instead of straight out in front of her.