For the past several years I have donated a rod to the local hospital for their benefit @#$%&. This year they asked if I could build a pair of them; father and son. No problem. Now I'm looking for ideas.

A good all around spinning rod or casting rod (freshwater, bass/walleye) is what sells the best for them. I am considering another of these around 7' again and possibly one a little lighter in action and a little shorter for the "kids" rod. I have no idea what age the kids are exactly but have been told between 8-12ish so I am keeping my boys in mind. Might be doing a package if I can swing it.

Possibly thinking of building matching rods. Possibly mirror images of each other ? Any ideas? I have until October so time is not a problem this year.

Thanks
Vic

Father and son celtic symbol looks nice if you can sqeeze it onto the butt section or the father and son hands symbol.

I am making identical rods for both of my grandsons. I each 5' spin cast rods and 1 each 6 1/2" spinning rods same blank, same reel seat, the only thing I am changing is the colors of the wraps. One likes red the other likes green, so I am going to use black wraps with red and green trim respectively. They will be special since the blanks and reel seats are no longer made. Lucky me!! I still had a couple of each that I have loved over the years.

I've built a bunch of first rods for young nephews and have found that an underspin reel is easier for them to handle and learn on than the old standard "button on top" closed face reels. Another advantage is that they can upgrade to a regular spinning reel later on. Some advice I've found useful is to not build a childs rod in a particular childish theme such as some cartoon character because next year they may not want to use the rod simply because they've outgrown the cartoon. Building the rod to closely match Dad's rod makes it more grown-up and more likely to be used for many years. A current year penny (or quarter or whatever) in the butt cap is always cool. A father/son fishing graphic can easily be incorporated into both rods and would look great in a set of Billy's outstanding EVA composits.

Suggest checking google images for "father and son", ask permission from the owner of an image you want to use, and when you have that, make a decal of the image. May take some editing. If you need help with that, let me know. Use the same image on both rods. I agree with previous poster about not going juvenile as even the son's rod will be a treasure he will use for a lifetime. If he takes care of it.

I would make rods exactly the same, a matched set. Spin is more universally used, so do spin. More likely demand for spin rather than fly or cast.

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