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Posts: 454
| Im looking for suggestions for a combo for my 2 year old daughter. Just looking for something to use for sunnies etc.... To give her a positive first experience. |
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Posts: 149
| Honestly - this answer may sound generic but trust me I have a 2 year old daughter - get her one of the kids combo packs like Dora, Barbie, Princesses, etc. Both Zebco and Shakespeare make them and they are around $15 - $20. I say this for a couple reasons. First, it WILL get thrown or dropped in the water and those little kids combos are made to float. Second, with the characters on them it makes the kids interested in them just as with their other princess toys, etc. Makes it just another toy for them to play with. Most also come with a plastic practice casting plug plus foam targets or other toys like sunglasses, tackle box, backpack, etc so you can practice casting with her. Some also light up or make sounds, again making it more like a toy to them. The closed face reel is small and will fit her small hands better and she can graduate to an open face reel in a few years. The closed face is the easiest for kids to learn to cast with. Finally, as with most toys a 2 year old has it will get abused. Poked into stuff, stepped on, thrown around, etc. At $15 or $20 it doesn't matter if it gets destroyed or if you have to buy her another one a couple months down the road.
If you get one of these you can redeem the offer and get a Shakespeare T Shirt for yourself out of the deal:
http://www.basspro.com/Shakespeare-Barbie&153;-Lighted-Fishing-Rod-...
http://www.basspro.com/Shakespeare-Barbie&153;-Purse-Rod-and-Reel-K...
http://www.basspro.com/Shakespeare-Barbie-Backpack-Rod-and-Reel-Fis...
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Posts: 537
Location: Gilberts IL/Rhinelander WI | I agree with the old "dora" rod. My three yr old daughter loves it. It works fine for panfish. She will be 3 1/2 By the Wisconsin opener and am contemplating letting her try a bigger "real" combo. We'll see what happens. As long as she has a good time and wants to go fishing with me ,I'll let her use whatever she wants. |
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Posts: 177
| Get a spare trust me if that rod breaks up at the cottage you are not going to find the same one and if you do its going to cost a little more. |
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Posts: 663
| The "kiddie combos" are ok for little ones. My experience (with boys) is that the Sponge Bob combo rocks. You even get a Plankton casting plug with it. The only modification I make is to put some decent line on those reels. The stuff they supply on the reel from the factory is like coiled wire. |
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Posts: 201
| Go with Dora for now.
When she gets older and isn't going to abuse it so much get a nice ugly stick combo, or skeet reese kids kit. |
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | Tony, we just retired Sophia's Barbie rod that she had for 2 years. It worked fine...caught walleyes, bass and a couple of tank sheepheads with no problem. Would have been fine for this year too, until I found the neighbor kids playing swords with it. I picked up a Shakespeare "Lady Fish" 4.5 foot spinning combo for her this year, we'll see how that works out. But for a 2 year old, the basic Barbie or Dora rods worked much better than I expected. |
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Posts: 829
Location: Maple Grove, MN | I'd recommend getting one of the better made rod/reel kid combos. I bought a ten dollar Barbi rod/reel combo for my first daughter when she was little and it worked OK for sunnies, but failed miserably when she hooked a nice Northern. Even though the drag was set lightly, the drag froze, the reel popped apart and the line snagged up and broke. My daughter was heartbroken and that was the end of the Barbi rod. So, I then went to Fleet and got her a much better combo for about $20 and she proceeded to catch six Northerns the next time out. 
As for my two girls now, my 11 year old uses an ABU 6600 SSC3 with an 8ft MH rod and my 8 year old uses an ABU 5600 SSC3 with a 7 ft MH rod. They both can cast all day and have a blast catching 3-6 lb Northerns.
Good luck. |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | My daughter has teh Barbie combo. The original like really sucked on this rod. I replaced it with 30# Power Pro and it now cast like a dream and reals in a lot better. I might have went with 20# but had 30# left over from my walleye rig. Last year she caught a 4.5# bass and it went right into the weeds adn moss. Good pull and the bass and about 10# of moss came to shore That woudl not have heppened with the cheap mono. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | My 4 year old grandson has a spider-man zebco combo. He shares this with his one year old sister. No lie, he skips a senko under a dock, sets the hook and hands her the rod so she can reel it in! It is the best thing to watch in the world. Neither one of them really know what they are doing but they sure have fun! Z-man skips that senko about 3 skips too! |
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