One of my friends wants me to build his 4 year old son a panfish rod to fish with a spincasting reel....mostly bobbers and worms to start. It has to be black/charcoal and purple and $50 +/- in materials. Wants cork grips (I turn my own). He wants it to be something he can use as he grows, too. I've only built fly rods and was searching the forum for some advice on blanks, guides, and seats to use, but I couldn't find much. Any suggestions?

try CUI sponsor on the left, valueline blank, componets all good

BIC doug

i just built a rod for a friends's kid that should be born in the next week, I used one of Mudhole's camo blanks. They are perfect for little kids.

[www.rodbuilding.org]

[www.rodbuilding.org]

You might try one of the Batson Forecast E-glass blanks. Glass is pretty tough and the price is right. I just used on of their ultra-light blanks to make a spinning rod for a fourth grader and it turned out very nice.

Jim

William,

From this William, This is my passion in life. To build rods and give them away to children. Since he is wanting something that the child will be able to use for years to come, I would suggest a 5' or 5'6" blank. I agree with Scott, mudholes blanks are awesome. I bought one of the camo blanks to build my youngest brother a spinning rod. They also have the cork grips, and the reel seats in camo to match. You can also get them in black.

Bill in WV

The first rod I built was for a 3 year old grand son for the same application. Get a E Glass rod from Fish Sticks to the right. His dad even uses this rod for mountain stream trout fishing.

Thanks
Keith Lovegrove

Probably go with the 5' Batson E-glass or a 5'6" purple mudhole blank. Any thoughts on guide size, spacing, and handle size/configuration used with a spincast reel? Never used a casting rod this small......

Could build a purple one from Mud Hole. Here is a spin cast rod I built for a girl.
[www.rodbuilding.org]

Take some cues off Jay's rod. On guide size, I'd probably go 10, 8, 6 to the tip. I usually go with the rule of thumb 1 per foot + 1 and the tip, For a 5 that would be 6 guides, and for a 5'6" it would be 7. Or you could stay with 6 if you don't want to use 7. Let the rod tell you how many to use.

Bill in WV

William; I used 10,8 , and 6's SF to the tip with a #6 tip. This rod was 6' , I used 7 guides and a tip, just like Bill Bartlett said. You can do wonders with a Purple blank. Color combinations are many. I used Silver frame guides with Gold inserts from Jan's Netcraft. They are cheap and pretty and a little boy won't wear them out. They are the same guides Berkley has been using for years, just different color.Give it some thought, kids love them.

J.B.Hunt
Bowling Green, KY



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/12/2008 02:02AM by Jay Hunt.