First Fishing Pole

[Wolakrab]

A Zebco 33 spincast on a 5' rod. Easy to learn how to use, and he can catch a pretty big fish without it being destroyed.

You may even want to consider a shorter rod....less likely to find the bushes and low branches that way.

[RI Builder]

Well I got him a 5' Ugly Stick with a Zebco 33. Despite the fact that the pond way in the back of the yard does not have any fish in it, and that it was pouring rain on Sunday, Cam still insisted on going out back and casting his new pole. He had a blast. Now for the real thing.

[rchanner]

Well I got him a 5' Ugly Stick with a Zebco 33. Despite the fact that the pond way in the back of the yard does not have any fish in it, and that it was pouring rain on Sunday, Cam still insisted on going out back and casting his new pole. He had a blast. Now for the real thing.

Might be time to stock that pond!!

[HOTSPOT]

I still have my first fishing pole. Zebco 33 on a fiberglass two piece rod. Still the standard for "first-timers."

[Sidewinder]

My son turns four on Sunday, and he wants his own fishing pole this season.

What set-up would you get?

When my son was five I bought him a Zebco Spin Cast and an Eagle Claw rod. No big loss if dropped over the side and real easy to use. Advanced to a better Shakespear spincast on the same rod. He's forty-two now and has my old Montauk and Mitchel reels.

[nate44]

Zebcos are great but what about a cane pole!!!!

Thats what I started with and still have one for pan fish!!!!

[Fishin_blues]

Need to be careful with the kids Zebco combos (mickey Mouse I think). I had purchased two of them for my kids. Only one of them made it to a second fishing trip. Inlaws bought a couple more of them (I wouldn't have). Again they broke after anow more than two uses. I then bought a couple of kids Shakespeare combos (the 3" rods). They were a great set, very well made for the price. Never had a problem.

My first reel years ago was a Zebco, and my parents had several zebcos without any problems. There was one small plastic piece in the 4 mickey reels that broke - non repairable. Hopefully they fixed this problem but I wouldn't touch a low end Zebco now.

For a 3 to 4 year old, I would stick to the 3 foot rods. A 5 foot rod would be very tiring for an average 4 year old if he fishes for more than a few minutes - not counting that the tip on a longer rod would probably stay in the water anyway.