Custom rod for a 5-year old

[mornesm]

What would be a suitable blank length and weight for a 5 year old? I was thinking of building my daughter a rod that she can play or practice with, but it must also be able to catch fish when she gets the hang of it.

I bought her one of those Redington Form practice rods a while back (impulse buy). I think its about a 4- or 5 foot rod…

http://www.redington.com/fly-fishing-gear/form-game-rod


She enjoys it as a toy or practice rod, but there is no reel seat, only a handle (so its not like dad’s , and the line storage is a 'problem'). Now either I could try and remove the Redington’s handle and replace it with a new handle and reel seat, or I could build her an actual custom rod that she could use for a few years. I thought it would be a nice little project to present her with her very own custom made first rod – whether she actually later takes up fly fishing or not…

If I replace the Redington's standard handle with a handle and reel seat, I need to know if it is actually possible to remove the handle without damaging the blank.

If I do go for a new blank, it will have to be very entry level. Or even an older rod made new...

Any suggestions?

[Korrie]

WOW, what a cool dad.

i would suggest a shorter rod.
The swing weight momentum etc comes into play with a longer rod.

An inexpensive route to go would be to check if one of the fly shops do not have a 9" #4 or #5 rod or so that is broken just above the grip.

Strip the blank sand down and you have a blank.
Then build the rod from there.
A soft rod which loads easy, is probably the way to go.

if you want to go for a new blank, a glass would probably be the answer as it is softer.

[Andre]

Don't spend too much, its going to get broken or abused. A 5 year old it just too young to have any sense of preserving a fragile item.
When my kids were very young, I used a very short spinning rod, it was one of those combo toys, and they played with that, even managed a few small fish.
I know that your daughter isn't like all the other kids, shes special... (everyones kids are), but there might be a small possibility that she might just be normal like every other kid, and wont really appreciate what you put in her hands. Nice thought though..

[BenzoV]

I'm sure I saw somewhere (might have been on the rodbuilding forum) someone taking one of these cheap kiddies 2 piece rods (the bright ones with the metal ferrule and plastic handle etc.) and converting it to a fly rod and was quite pleased with how it turned out. It's fiberglass I believe so should take a bit of beating as well.
I've been looking at them in the shops and wiggled a few. Some are rather stiff, so you'll need to look around a little for a nice soft one. Or you can take a stiff one, paint it red and call it Sagie :tongue:

[Bryan]

Looking at that Redington you could probably do something like this with the existing cork handle:

rod112.jpg

Then you would just need to work out how you keep the real seated in the groove: something elastic or cable ties as a slightly inelegant solution maybe...??

[Bryan]

Or Stealth also used to do a rod called a Small Fry that was lighter, shorted and with a thinner grip. If you can find some old stock of this somewhere maybe.

[smallstreams.co.za]

Go around fly shops and collect all the old rods you can get. Try to match a fast tip with a slower mid-and bottom section. I found this to work well for my boys. Youngest (6) is now using it - comes in as a 3-piece in 7'.

[edd]

What I did for my son was take an old xplorer rod and had it cut down on the grip side and a new grip put on.

Cost me R150 and works like a charm, that's if I can keep him interested for longer than 5 min, he's only 3

[Korrie]

As mentioned, an important factor is to keep them interested.
they want action the whole time.

For a 5 year old girl, you do not want monster fish all the time.
Tiny nymphs under an indicator will provide lots of fun
The indicator is visual and the tiny/small nymphs will make sure she catches lots of fish up to 30cm in shallow water where she will be safe
Plus lobbing the nymph and indicator rig diagonal upstream is not difficult and let it drift down and across.
Guranteed to catch fish as most small SM yellows will hook themselves.
PS: willing to donate a couple #18 and #20 PTN etc if you want.

[mornesm]

Thanks all for the suggestions and inputs. I'll investigate the options further. Hopefully I can post something of the outcome here in the not too distant future...