| Tight Lines and High Tides

One of the best things you can do for your children is to instill in them an appreciation for the outdoors. Introducing them to fishing gets them outside in the natural world, teaches them a unique set of skills, enhances dexterity, and is an opportunity for you and your kids to spend valuable time together. You can nurture other qualities, too, like patience, confidence, and independence. With so many benefits you’ll want to choose the right fishing pole for your kid so the experience is positive, and your kids look forward to getting out on the water.

When choosing a fishing pole for kids, the biggest criteria to consider are length, weight, and ease of use. Rods designed for children are lighter, shorter, and have kid-friendly features that make learning the sport of angling easy and enjoyable.

There are no hard and fast rules about what length pole a child should use, but there are helpful guidelines. We have suggestions and tips to help you make the best choice when picking out a fishing rod for the younger set—keep reading to learn about fishing poles for children and how to choose the right one.

How Do You Pick the Right Fishing Pole for Kids?

There are a few ways to introduce kids to fishing, one of them is to purchase fishing poles that are kid-friendly and designed for their size and abilities. The best fishing poles for kids share a few common factors when it comes to design, here are a few things to consider when looking at poles.

Length of Rod

There is a “general rule” in fishing: the shorter the person fishing, the lighter and shorter the fishing pole. There are expectations for this rule—however, this rule makes the most sense when thinking about what length rod to choose for your child.

Rods for kids from ages 3 to 10 range (approximately) from two feet to five feet. Consider the following advice when making your selection:

For 3 to 5-year-olds, a 2’ to 3’ rod is suitable.

With the 6 to 9-year-olds, a rod between 4’ to 5’ will work.
10-year-olds (and up) choose a fishing pole over 5’.

What length you’ll end up choosing will depend on your child’s age, height, and ability to manage the rod—the key thing to think about is their comfort and level of experience.

Reel Style

The reel style will either be a spincast or a spinning reel. The spincast has a push-button function that throws or casts the line from a fixed spool, keeps the line tangle-free, and is an excellent user-friendly choice for beginners. Once they get the hang of this type of reel, they can advance to other reels, like the spinning reel or fly reel, both of which take a bit more practice and finesse.

Weight

Weight is also an important feature. The pole should be lightweight so that your child can easily cast the line out into the water and reel it back in. The lightest rods will be made of plastic materials that aren’t durable, so consider a composite rod or one made of fiberglass, these choices are both light and durable.

Other Helpful Things to Consider

Your small fry will be going after small fry—many rods for kids are designed for smaller fish like crappies, bluegills, and smallmouth bass, or if saltwater fishing, snappers, or other small fish.
There are rods designed where the line runs inside the rod’s shaft; these “tangle-free” rods are great for toddlers (3 to 5-year-olds).
Most fishing rods for youth are sold as a rod and reel combination. Many of these set-ups come with the basic gear to get rolling—extra hooks, sinkers, bobbers, and a tackle box. Purchasing what you need in an entire package is an excellent way to ensure you and your kid have what is needed to start fishing.

Now that we’ve covered the basic information about choosing your youngster a fishing rod, let's look at some great choices for each age group.

Top Fishing Poles for the Youngest Anglers

Here’s a look at rods in the two to three-foot range that are excellent choices for the 3 to 5-year-olds.

The Zebco Dock Demon is made from durable fiberglass that comes with either a spincast or spinning reel—the spincast reel (push button) is the best and easiest reel to choose for your beginner angler. This 30” rod comes with just a pre-spooled six-pound line, so you’ll need to make sure you have (or purchase) all the add-ons for your fishing adventure. The Dock Demon has a boatload of rave online reviews, and many who buy this rod for their kids enjoy using it so much that they end up purchasing another one for themselves.
The Kid Casters No Tangle Fishing Combo is an excellent choice for beginners who benefit from a “tangle-free” rod—the fishing line goes inside the 34” rod rather than on the outside for a mess-free casting experience. This fiberglass spincast rod comes with a practice plug, so your youngster can get a feel for casting, when they are ready to go fishing, there’s a bobber and a safety hook. This rod is a stepping stone-type rod that safely introduces your child to fishing.
Another easy-to-use beginner rod is the Shakespeare Catch a Monster Kit Spincast Reel designed to give the youngest toddlers a fun and exciting way to learn how to cast. At 2’ 6” this rod with its practice casting minnow will delight and entertain your kids while introducing them to fishing.

Top Fishing Poles for 6 to 9-Year-Olds

Moving on to the next group of youngsters, and the top choices in the four to five-foot range.

PLUSINNO Kids Fishing Pole is a portable, telescoping, lightweight spincast rod and reel combo that comes in 3 lengths, 3’.94”, 4’.92”, or 5’.91”. The Plusinno is constructed of epoxy with soft EVA and plastic and comes with everything your youngster needs to begin their angling adventure—even a Kid’s Guide to Fishing. This all-in-one fishing kit also has a carry bag and tackle box. Adults that have used this rod are impressed by its sensitivity and action, you know you have a winner when parents have commented on the performance and quality of a child’s fishing rod.
Shakespeare Customize-It Fishing Rod Combo, at 4’ 6” this 2 piece (customizable) rod comes with either a spincast or spinning reel and is designed for both right and left-hand use. The rod is white and comes with 170 stickers to give it your own personalized look, and you can draw on it with markers and paint pens. There are comments that the pole is high-quality and well made but that the fishing line that comes with it needs to be replaced.
- This Shakespeare Customize-It line also has a kids tackle box that comes with stickers to decorate it with
Youth Fishing Rod & Reel Shallow Series by Wakeman Outdoors is a 4’ 2” fiberglass rod with a spincast reel that weighs 1.15 pounds and comes with an 8 piece tackle kit. A very durable entry designed with a trigger-style handle covered in foam for a secure grip, a great all-around great starter rod, reel, and tackle kit for a reasonable price.

Top Fishing Poles for 10 and Over

For the ten-year-olds and above, here are the top three picks:

Ugly Stik GX2 Ultra Light is a lightweight rod that comes in different sizes from 4’8” (ultra light-weight) to 7’(lightweight). A graphite-fiberglass mix, with a spinning wheel, this rod is an excellent choice when you are ready to graduate from beginner poles.
Zebco RAMSC532 Rambler Spincast Combo – The Rambler is a 5’ 3” telescopic rod that was designed for both left and right-handed use, and had a handy built-in carabiner for hands-free portability—the size is perfect to bring along camping, hiking, and kayaking. There is a whole family of Zebco Rambler rods for every age group and ability level.
A great choice for when your youngster is ready to advance to a specialized type of fishing, like for example, fly-fishing is the Wild Water Fly Fishing Rod and Reel Starter Combo. This kit has it all to get your kid started fly fishing: a fly rod and reel, fly box, and carrying and storage system. This set-up is a reasonably priced entry-level package (with fly fishing instructions) that ensures your advancing angler is prepared for their first fly fishing adventure.

These are the best choices for the three groups, and now that you have a better idea of which rod works best for your youngster, here are some things to think about when you are actually heading out on the water with the wee ones.

Tips for When Fishing With the Youngsters

There are things to consider that will make your time out on the water fishing much more enjoyable—for both you and your youngsters.

Pick a calm body of water for your first attempts at fishing. The fewer distractions, like wild wave action or fast river rapids, the better the experience will go. You’ll be able to focus on the fishing and not the elements.
Make the fishing experience part of a day out boating, at the park, or the beach; if they lose interest, you can just move to another activity.
Keep an eye on your child’s progress, make sure they are challenged by a new fish species, a new rod, or a new environment to keep them on their toes.
Be patient and don’t force things, there is skill involved in figuring out how to use a fishing pole. Every kid will be different in how quickly they catch on.
Keep the gear simple, and tailor the activity to their attention level, the experience of trying to catch a fish is way more important than the equipment.

The bottom line when fishing with your kids, especially the younger ones is to make fishing fun and exciting, don’t force it. You’ll get a good idea soon enough of how much time they can handle out on the water and their ability level.

We do have some suggestions on how to introduce your children to fishing using equipment you already own. While it’s great to get them their own gear, sharing your fishing rod in order to ascertain their interest is an excellent way to get them involved in fishing.

Can Kids Use Regular-sized Fishing Rods?

We wanted to point out that while you can purchase your younger kids their own fishing pole, another excellent way to introduce them to fishing is to use your own equipment and guide them through the process. There is so much you can share with them over time that will slowly expose them to the sport of angling, and in a natural way, prepare them for when they do get their own fishing rod.

For example, I do a lot of beach fishing with my kids. I have two daughters, one 4, one 6, and a newborn baby boy. I haven't started teaching the newborn how to fish, but he's already coming along with us to the beach. However, I do take my daughters to the beach, and I simply cast my line out into the surf, put it in the rod holder, and when we catch a fish, let them reel it in with the rod secure in the rod holder. This way, they can stabilize it with one hand (with my help), and reel it in with the other. They have a blast and we don't have any special gear.

Another way of teaching a child to fish to consider is to use a regular rod with a spincast reel and attach a bobber and a baited hook. Help them bait it, cast it, and let them keep an eye on the bobber, and assist them in reeling it back in (hopefully with a fish on the hook)—this technique would work great with the 6 to 9-year-olds who already have had the benefit of some fishing experience.

You don’t need specialized fishing equipment to teach your kids how to fish using your own fishing gear and it’s a great way to get them out on the water with minimal investment.

Frequently Asked Questions

At what age can kids actively participate in fishing?

You can expose your kids to fishing early on, as soon as they can hold a rod, one like the Shakespeare Catch a Monster Kit can help them learn how to cast in your yard or your home. A great age to get them started with guidance and supervision is around 3 or 4 when they are physically able to manage a small rod.

Can small fishing rods catch fish?

Yes, any item (even a tree branch) of any length that has a line with a hook attached to it is capable of catching fish. Adults that had experience with the shorter rods we mentioned above commented on how impressed they were with the performance of rods designed for youth.

What’s the best way to introduce your youngsters to fishing?

Like with most activities that you are trying to share with your youngsters, a patient and slow approach usually works best to keep them involved and interested. Making a game out of teaching them to cast (with plugs) out in the backyard is one way to help them learn the art of casting or just bring them along when you go fishing and show your kids how to hold a rod or reel a fish in will get them “hooked.”

Conclusion

Teaching your kids to fish has so many positive benefits, and the memories that you’ll be creating will last a lifetime—ensure that their initial fishing experiences go well by making sure they have a fishing rod that they can manage and matches their ability.

If you're pretty new to beach fishing, read through our article on Getting Started with Beach Fishing for Under $250.

Tight Lines Y'all

Picking the Right Fishing Pole for Kids