[Ron]

I would like to get my daughter, age 11, and son, age 12, combos for pier fishing with me and their grandfather. In and around the Sarasota/Bradenton Beach area. Any ideas? Thanks.

 

[Fish Hunter]

Combo for Kids

I would suggest the 8' Ugly Stik and a Penn 104 CS. Solid gear and it will not break the bank. It will also stand up to abuse.

 

[emanuel]

Okuma makes a Metallix combo in 6'6" as well as 7'. The MSRP on them is around 20 bucks and they hold up pretty well. They're great Gotcha plug rods too.

 

[kingfisherman23]

The perfect combo depends on their experience. But you can never go wrong with a Zebco 404 combo (Wal-Mart, $19.99-$29.99 depending on location). Wal-Mart also sells a Surf/Pier Kit with a 7.5 ft Typhoon medium/heavy action spinning rod and matching reel. This kit also includes weights, hooks, bottom rigs and bluefish lures. That is what I had when I started fishing from piers. I still have the rod/reel combo and it works great for blues, red drum and regular bottom rigging. I can cast it about 30 yds.
It also is very tough and will take some abuse.

 

[Smoothbore54]

Re: Combo for Kids

I would suggest the 8' Ugly Stik and a Penn 104 CS. Solid gear and it will not break the bank. It will also stand up to abuse.

This outfit sounds about perfect to Me. Unless one of the Kids is very short. In that case, a shorter rod would be easier to handle.

 

[bluerunner]

yeah i'd get something pretty cheap cause anything can happen on a pier, something big may decide to grab the bait and a rod can get jerked overboard, especially if the kids are young and inexperienced. I remember when my sister was that age she was holding my dads rod and something huge grabbed it. I yelled her name and it startled her, and oops, there it goes overboard. We managed to snag it with a big treble hook and weight we borrowed from a king fisherman, but stuff like that happens very easily. When they get a little more experienced, id get them something a little nicer, but for right now the old "wal-mart special" should work fine.

 

[Axon]

Wal-Mart special all the way. My son has reinforced this to me several times.

 

[nnj surfcaster]

Penn has some nice combos at sports auth. and other stores .They are reasonable priced and pretty well built and easy and light for the kids. I had a penn reel from the stone age which i just passed down to a cousin's son.

 

[Macman]

Ron,

To quote an "Ol' Salt" with grandkids. "Keep your costs down and your pleasure up." A Walmart spinning combo "surf special 7' range" would be a good first setup to go with. Consider: size of person, age, strength and how to carry them. (2 piece are easier in cars) Later if all is well, move up to better equipment. Good luck!

Macman

 

[kingfisherman23]

Ron,
Take a look at the pic board. Spring 2003, pic 9. The combo in the left picture is Wal-Mart's Typhoon Surf/Pier combo. I checked the other day an found that two of these cost $35 total. Like I said, this price includes the pier kit (hooks, bottom rigs, weights, striper/bluefish jigs), full spool of line, heavy spinning reel, 7 ft med/heavy spinning rod. Easy to cast and sturdy, this rod will never end up in the corner gathering dust.