Fly fishing christmas for a 7 year old

pcray1231

pcray1231

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Jan 31, 2008
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Lebanon, PA
My youngest boy (will be 8 in a month) is fishing obsessed. Been mostly bluegills and pond/lake stockers, he's ok with a spinning rod and has his own. Did a little surf fishing this summer (I cast the rig, he does the rest). But he is starting on streams and dreaming of bigger trips. And of fly fishing like daddy.

Getting him waders and boots for christmas. Thinking about getting him his own fly rod outfit. I'd assume something manageable, like an 7.5-8 footer, softish action would be ideal? Then when he gets older he can get something longer and faster but it can still be a useful rod in his quiver. Anyone with young kids have advice?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
 
Just one on the way Pat, but my thoughts would be similar to yours. 7.5 - 8 ft, 4 or 5 weight. (It’s getting harder and harder to find anything heavier than a 4wt, 8 foot or shorter though.) Graphite, middle of the road action wise. Relatively inexpensive.

Redington Crosswater combo would be the first thing to come to mind for me. Good rod, and decent enough reel to get started with. $100ish. Comes in 7’6 4wt and 8’6 5wt options, nothing splitting the difference though. The 4wt would make a fine starting Brookie rod when he’s older.

I’d also check ebay etc for used older (2000’s era) Orvis Clearwaters. They used to have some 5 weights between 7.5 and 8 feet. I have one. Good rod, on the medium side of med/fast. They probably run $100ish used.
 
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pcray1231 said:
My youngest boy (will be 8 in a month) is fishing obsessed. Been mostly bluegills and pond/lake stockers, he's ok with a spinning rod and has his own. Did a little surf fishing this summer (I cast the rig, he does the rest). But he is starting on streams and dreaming of bigger trips. And of fly fishing like daddy.

Getting him waders and boots for christmas. Thinking about getting him his own fly rod outfit. I'd assume something manageable, like an 7.5-8 footer, softish action would be ideal? Then when he gets older he can get something longer and faster but it can still be a useful rod in his quiver. Anyone with young kids have advice?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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I would recommend a shorter glass rod for two reasons.

1. A Short strong/flexible glass rod will prevent broken tips when holding net in one arm and skating in the fish with the other. Durability is big with kids for sure.

2. When I have taken first timers out for lessons they inevitability wind up waving the rod back and forth without a proper pause to load the device or allowing the leader to unfurl behind then. Stiff to medium action rods don’t bend/pull back as much with the leader unfurling behind. Nothing slows down a beginner like glass. I teach “pop to a stop” to get the deceleration/pause emphasized so it does not become like will ferrel dancing with a ribbon streamer from the movie old school. The loading is felt much more on glass with that slow action and they are getting more feedback in their casting arm on when they should start the forward acceleration.

I think a 7’6 glass rod for panfish and small trout will slow down his casting stroke and result in less wind knot filled leaders. Also since its glass every sunfish feels like a run away dump truck. Also, in the summer I fish size 10 Atlantic salmon Bomber flies at dusk on small mouth, redbreast, fall fish, rock bass, channel cat streams on 2x-1x and if you get a 12” small mouth on that rod the kids going to fall in love and be talking about it for days.

Price point for a kids first rod is always a discussion. You won’t want to get them a helios with a hardy perfect attached obviously. I’m going to get a lot of flack for this but I have a 7”6 max catch 3wt soft glass rod I do the above with and fish for small stream trout with that I LOVE. have had it for 6 months no issues. Hit my bluegill pond on my property with it off the dock nightly when its warm. There are a lot of options in quality above that but seems like your dropping some decent cash on the other stuff so just threw that out there that thats one of my favorite rods and i have sages, orvis mid range price points, TFO’s, and some other decent brands. Very exciting time can’t wait to get my kids their first fly rod. Hope little guy enjoys the heck out of it.

Max catch rod mentioned above is 75$ I feel like I got more than I paid for onviously its not a 500 rod but check it out.
 
Find a Redington CT 580-4 or 586-4 on sale. Usually can find them for less than a hundred bucks on sale and it's a rod that they can learn on and use for years to come. I'll even give you a rio mainstream line or something similar for free to get the little guy started. Cheapo Cabela's or Bass Pro reel is good enough for now.
 
I have a son just a few months younger. This morning, while making vegetable soup, he somehow destroyed a solid stainless steel whisk that I am pretty sure survived a world war.

He gets to fish with a $20 Abu Garcia / White River combo I found on craigslist for now.
 
My grandson used my Bass Pro White River 6 ft 3 inch 3 wt He was under 10 when we started. I think that whole set up rod, reel and line was around $100.00. I know they have some combos for even less that would work. That set up is a real nice small stream set up for an adult as well.
With very little instruction he was catching sunfish and later trout on dry flies. I really just explained that he had to get the fly drifting like the bubbles on the water. He figured a lot out on his own after that.
 
I'm not saying this is the way to go, but it's something to consider. My dad bought a Vince Cummings 7' 5/6 wt fiberglass fly rod for me when I was about 8 years old in the 1970s. I don't know exactly what he paid, but I'm nearly certain it was less than $50. Maybe $35.

Fast forward almost a half-century, and I still own the rod, and it's in very good condition. I could probably sell it for 10x what my dad paid for it, but it is the last rod I would ever sell.

Along these lines, here is a fiberglass rod that your son could be proudly fishing with 50 years from now. I have no connection to the seller. I just happened to see it for sale shortly after I read your post today:

NFC Iconoglass 8' 5wt
 
Also consider a rudimentary fly tying kit. That’s a great age to start making simple woolly buggers and green weenies. It’s a damn shame you can’t get honey bug material anymore because they’re as easy to tie as a weeny and more effective than just about anything else I’ve ever fished with (especially on wild browns).
 
I would stay away from light line rods. I have some experience with younger kids learning to fly fish and they do much better with 5 & 6wts. Go with a short rod if you must, but don't handicap him with a lighter line weight when he is just learning to cast.
 
Echo gecko. It’s a really nice rod. I fish it all of the time and it’s a blast to fish. The best part is when I broke a tip echo charged me $25 to replace it.
 
If you want to be a great dad, you give them your favorite rod. It'll mean more to both of you. 🤣🤣. Then you have a reason to get a new one
 
shakey said:
I think something fun fit inexpensive is fine for an eight year old .
Eagle claw featherlight is an ideal place to start.

www.sportsmans.com

Eagle Claw Featherlight Fly Fishing Rod - 7ft, 5/6wt, 2pc

Eagle Claw Featherlight Fly Fishing Rod - Featherlight Fly Rod, Aluminum Oxide Guides, glass blank construction, cork handle, light action.
www.sportsmans.com www.sportsmans.com
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Another vote for a glass rod. They are 7-8 year old proof in regards to accidental breakage.
 
My father-in-law made rods for all five of his grandsons (to be gifted to them on their 12th birthdays). Pretty sure the blanks are 4 or 5 wt, medium-fast, 8' long (Matrix, from Jann's Netcraft). The rods are 2-piece with no snake guides - only "speed guides" as Dad calls them. My boys are in their 20s and 30s and still use them, even though one rod had 2-3" of tip broken off when it was jammed into the stream bottom by mistake. Thankfully, the next size tip guide was a good fit.
 
Whatever you decide rod wise, I think it’d be cool to get him like a $25 gift card to Cabelas or TCO, and to go with him and let him pick out some flies. Go over the different basics (dries/nymphs/streamers) with him and let him pick some. I was always fascinated by all the different flies in those cases as a spincasting kid. Be cool if he catches some fish on ones he picked himself too.
 
IMO get them what you would fish! If you wouldn’t fish it why should they 😀. I never worry about breaking a rod they are made to fish. Joe E
 
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