pole for 2 yr old?

[fishinphyl]

My grand daughter is only 2 but of course she can do everything herself! So my question is what do you guys recommend for little kids? I have seen the Taz etc. poles, but when we were kids we used the bamboo poles. I would think they would be best because there is no reel. But can you still purchase them and where?

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Phyl

[klbowe]

Phyl, A couple weekends ago I was fishing with a buddy who brought a youngster.
Rather than having the kid fish with a full size pole he bought her a ice fishing rig.

The shorter pole was quite easy for the kid to handle and cast. Less worry about others getting snagged when she was casting too !
The sunfish gave her quite a battle on a 2.5 foot pole too!

[Paul Rohweller]

Hey Phyl!,
I wouldnt be afraid to start your youngin out with a taz/snoopy/barbie pole. We all gotta start someplace. I had bamboo too but soon moved on to a decent spoinning setup as soon as dad figured I was responsible enough to own one. If you cant find a bamboo pole try fleet farm or one of the better sport shops and lok for something called a sunny day pole, I keep one of these in my boat. It telescopes out to 20 ft just like an old cane pole but stores in a 3 ft long area. Made of fiberglass, pretty cool! lol Easier to find too. Happy hunting! Paul

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Paul Rohweller
Pine to Prairie Guide Service
218-962-3387 home
701-261-9525 cell
[email protected]
N.P.A.A. 425
Quality Bait and Tackle, Detroit Lakes Mn
www.scenictackle.com
North Country Outdoors Radio 99.3 fm
http://fishingminnesota.com/pinetoprairie

[delmuts]

what i did with my kids at first was i used an old glass fly rod i had for a cane pole,or some other longer rod. at 2 yrs. old handling a reel mite be a bit much . del

[Surface Tension]

A cane pole may be practical but a Barbie fishing pole to a little girl is to die for. Of coarse you would need the Barbie tackle box and net to go with it.

[fishinphyl]

Hey thanks for all the great ideas.

Surface Tension: You do not know this "girl" if you think Barbie will work. She is definitely not the girlie type! I think she takes after her grandmother. Besides her mom says she can't have Barbie until Barbie gets a real job! Like that would happen.

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Phyl

[Benny]

Well I would suggest you try this one.Buy a nice long Ice fishing rod, put a small or ultra lite reel on it.

I to bought the snoopy poles, three or four of them with in two years time.Took my daughter up to Mille Lacs three years ago when the Walleye were slamming any thing that was put down for them.
She broke all three of them poles in one weekend.

They are fine for small pan fish at best, but any thing that will put up a fight will tear the drag out, pop the reel cover off, then finaly they won't reel in the fish.

I now have a short lite action rod from Fleet Farm for her and she has yet to break any thing on it.

She was 5 when we broke those snoopy poles, now at 8 she can handle an adult fishing rig, but not the long ones we would use.

Benny

[Redlantern]

I think the snoopy poles are frustrating for a kid to learn how to cast. Just too short. Like Benny said, a short, light weight rod is the way to go.

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Erik Torgerson

[wooly1]

The ice fishing poles with spinning reels are the way to go. I've started all four of my kids on them and then graduate them to ultra lights.
Snoopy/Barbie poles are junk disposable rigs. Ain't worth the little money they ask for them.
My two cents.

[Guest]

I just bought my 2 year old a cheepy ultra light spinning combo. Nothing fancy but him and my wife used it to haul in a 27 1/2" eye off the dock this past sunday.

Scott

[This message has been edited by phscotty (edited 06-02-2004).]

[Shorelunch]

I bought my three year old a Zebco Micro. It is a spincast/rod combo. The reel is underneath the rod like a normal spinning reel but is enclosed and has a trigger. The rod is about 4' long.

[GoodToGo]

I have 5 year old twin boys. We started with Snoopy rods and I had neverending problems with the reels and the short rods seemed to keep the hooks at kid eye level. We now have the 4'6" south bend fleet farm combos. The rod length is just right. The spincast reels work better, but will not accept slip bobber knots, so good for panfish, no good for deeper water fish. The buttons also are a little hard to hold in for smaller kids. If I was doing it over I'd stay with a 4'6" rod, but put a micro spinning reel on it.