Best rod and reel setups for little kids?

[steelfish]

Alex, nice side hijack.  Your daughter is adorable!

thanks Bryan, she will kill me if she know that Im posting pics of her when she was 3yo

on that pic she was using a cheapo shakespeare alpha reel, I recall changing many reels but the rod kept going strong, no reason for a nice 2500 sized expensive reel for a 5yo that will having it knocking on every rock

[oc1]

You're a good dad Alex.
-steve

[Gaujo]

Well thanks for all the replies, I'll post back what I end up with.

[Gaujo]

Update for 2025! 
My 3 boys are now 6,5,3. Best for multiple littles I found are the telescoping cane poles, this surprised me.

Older two learned to cast and have now outgrown the dock demon due to its shortness and limited cast distances. I've upgraded them to about a 4ft rod and this has been perfect for them.

My boys all LOVE fishing, and I love taking them. Biggest caught his first largemouth last time we went out.

[slosh]

I'll second the cane poles for panfish, can't beat em!

My boys went dock demon > spinning dock demon with a cheap ultralight > regular spinning tackle > baitcasters.

Thank to them I made a deliberate effort to find a good spincast reel, and I find myself picking up some of those options if I just have to scratch that itch. Something cathartic about using a big ole spincast reel on a vintage pistol grip rod to bounce a purple culprit worm along the bottom of a pond.

[CI_Seawolf]

The old Daiwa spin cast reels are a little better than the Shakespear or Zebco variants.  The Daiwa reels had a little roller sleeve on the pick up pin to help with line twist.

[MarkT]

When my boys were 3-4 I started them with snoopy rods they got for Christmas. They caught a lot of bluegill from a dock and had a great time!

[quang tran]

https://a.co/d/05Ayn45X

I think this is easy for kid to fish on dock ,match with a heavy Ice rod

[Patudo]

The OP's kid will now be close to their eighth birthday.  How time flies...

But a cane pole is hard to beat as far as the original question goes. Bring em in with some chum and drop down a piece of squid or something.  Tuna pole and line in miniature! 

[Gaujo]

Yes OP here and and update is due.

My eldest of 3 boys is now 7, and his first catch was an auspicious eel! I found that all spinning rods are hard for little kids and they couldn't cast relably until about 6.  IMHO, the best rig is a telescoping crappie pole!

[MarkT]

I'm in SoCal and by the time my youngest was 6 he'd learned that only newbies fish with spinners so he was all over conventionals and baitcasters by then.

[Gaujo]

I'm in SoCal and by the time my youngest was 6 he'd learned that only newbies fish with spinners so he was all over conventionals and baitcasters by then.

I need him to train me then because I never figured out baitcasters. 

[happyhooker]

Unlike what seems to be the most popular history, I never started out with a spincast reel/rod.  Dad was a baitcaster man, probably because that is what he had always used around New York harbor as a kid and young man.  So, I had a buck ninety-nine baitcaster as my first reel, which did not really do me any favors, but, at least, I was fishing.  My thought is that, if a kid has any dexterity at all, get them as simple a spinning reel/rod combo as you can find, with a lightweight spincaster as a 2d choice.  A lot of adults never move past a spincaster and seem to still enjoy fishing, so, who knows? I think a spinning reel the ultimate goal, but, again, lots of folks like spincasts and baitacasts into late adulthood.

Frank

[Reels_penn4life]

I started with my dad's 710z. His baitcasters which I could barely cast. They were Penn squidder and surfmaster.  Mitchell 386. And gold Penn 940. Had some smaller penns. 716z and 714greenie. It's about the memories and lessons. I still have all his reels though he's gone 30yrs now.