My 7 & 10 yr old have been fishing for a few years now with spincasting gear. I just bought 2 fly rod/reel outfits from Beans. I had a hard time deciding between the 7’ 5wt and the 8’6" 5wt.
Ultimately I went with the 7’ outfit. Thinking the shorter rod would be easier to learn with.
Now, I’m now wondering if I should have gone with the longer rod it being a little more versatile and they probably would get more use out of it down the road.
What do you all think?
P.S…For $75 it’s a great investment. If they decide they don’t like it I can always donate the rods. Plus Beans is giving away free casting lessons with every rod/reel outfit purchased, can’t beat it.
I think they’ll be fine. I fish with a 7’-0" 1wt, and I’m 6’-1" tall. I also fish a 6’-6" 2wt with no problem. My primary summer rod is a 7’-9" 3wt. They have nothing to compare to, so they’ll adapt easily. As you said, you can always upgrade if they want longer rods, and the price is definitely right.
I started out my 12 yr old last year with a 8’6’ 5 wt St Croix. He was having problems with his backcast on the longer rod, not only catching every tree and bush on the creek but also whip snapping off flys. This year I handed him an old 7’6’ 5wt Browning rod I had hanging on the rack. He’s been doing a much better job casting it on the small streams here in SE PA. He doesn’t seem to have as many problems with the shorter rod snapping off flies.
By the way if you don’t currently tie flies, you better learn, otherwise your kids will bankrupt you. I tie up a minimum of 3 flies of every pattern to give my son we go fishing knowing he is going to decorate the trees with 2 out of every 3 by days end. I will also tell you that watching your son catch his first trout with a fly is the best experience a fly fisherman can have.
I taught my 8 y.o. grandson this summer on a 7’ 4wt cane rod and he did just fine. For his birthday I bought him a Cabela’s traditional 7’-6" 4 wt and again he did well with it. I think anything between 7’ and 8’ in either a 4,5,or 6wt will be perfect and also would not rule out a 8’-6" rod but would suggest something shorter.
PAangler is correct in that they will catch many moore trees than fish :lol:
Another good choice is the St. Croix Triumph 7’6" 6wt. It is built as a youth rod with a slighter grip than the other models.
I looked at the previous Premier model in the same size and weight and liked it so much I bought one for myself for light bass and panfish work in tight quarters.
I think I made the right choice, just wanted some other opinions. I’ve tried to do some casting
lesson’s with them but I always get the usual " I know Dad I know". So I’m looking forward
to the free casting clinic that I mentioned in my first post. I figure kid’s almost always listen better
to people other than thier parents…
PaAngler…been tying for over 20 yrs now. They’ve been doing a little of the own but
I know I’ll be doing most of it for them for at least a few more years…
I taught my 9 year old son to fly cast on the closing weekend of our season using a 2-3 weight 7 foot 6 inch rod loaded with SA ultra 4 in WF4F line. It was a nice length rod and light for him to handle and he was casting to a distance of between 15-20 feet. Callum ended up catching and releasing 3 fish drifting and swinging a nymph. He was one happy boy and now is waiting for our season to open again and has my/his 2-3 weight rod ready
Sounds to me like Callum “earned” the rights to that outfit. Time for Dad to build/buy another one for himself. I still have, and use, some of my Dad’s fishing equipment, and plan to pass it along to my son some day (if he ever gets off the computer long enough to go fishing).
My son just came into the lounge room where I was checking some fly gear and asked me if his rod and reel were checked for the opening season. As you can see he has accepted owership of both already I got the twig rod and reel out and we both cleaned/polished the line and placed a new leader explaining why and how, Callum was now happy and ready to go
