Which baitcaster rig or spinning rig would you recommend?

for a young man who has only used closed face reels?

Wanting to get a rig as a birthday present for this 12 (soon to be 13) year guy.

He will be using it for bank fishing as he does not have access to a boat.

I would go with a spinning rod. Unless he has someone who can spend some time teaching him to throw a baitcaster, a spinning setup will be much easier to master. Plenty of good brands out there and everyone will have their own opinion on that but I would say a medium-medium/heavy 7 foot rod with a 30 size reel would be his bet for being able to do a little bit of everything. Maybe a good 6 or 8 lb flourocarbon line to go with it

I made the transition from closed face to spinning reel when I was around 9. It was an ultra-lite for pan fishing and walking creeks and rivers. Fast forward 30+ years and I still prefer spinning reels. I am looking at getting a bait-caster but it is hard for me to get away from my roots. I started with a Mitchel spinning reel but they are not are not made like they were. I like Okuma reels and have fished them for years. My grandpa always used Diawa and Shimano but I got buddies that like Lews and Pflueger. If you get a 30 or 300 series he can fish from 6lb to 20lb line. Most will tell you that braid is the way to go on Spinning.

Good luck and that was my 2 pennies worth.

More than anything thanks for showing a kid the outdoors.

I would go spinning. Make sure you don't get a big 3500 or 4000 size reel. I use a 3000 size. Maybe a med/hvy rod or med depending on the brand. Something that is versatile. The pflueger president is probably the best reel for the money but there are a good amount of combos already set up if you want to that route. I bought one of the Abu Garcia Ike combos for our daughter and it did well.

I would use a spinning setup for now when out on the water. He is ready to learn to use a bait caster in my opinion. Practice with a baitcaster at home and take it with you when you go out on the lake. Fill the spool and pull out a little more than a cast worth of line and tape the spool. Reel it in and let him have at it. That way he only backlashes what’s not taped. Use 10 or 12 lb line. Heavy line will loosen on the spool easier. This is the way I taught my son to throw one at around 8 years old. He is 14 and throws one better than I can now. It will be frustrating for him but won’t take as long as you think.

Lews Orange Crush combo. Either style

Go to cabelas and get him a lews combo, along with a 1 oz weight and have hum practice and pracitce till he has it down. Thats the way I learned and never looking back. Tighten the drag and break as tight as they will go and he will get it.

great tip! Cdawg is about to start learning how to cast a bait caster. This should make it alot easier, thanks for sharing

$160 is too much for me right now. Thanks though. It looks great.

spin:
Kast King Sharky III spin reel and a BPS graphite series rod. I think I have about $60-70 in my son's rig and its nice.

Cast:
H2O express Mettle reel with Berkley lightning rod or BPS graphite series. Again $80 or so for the set up.

You can get Pfluger President spinning reels for around $50.. depending on the size. a 20 or 30 Series would be about right. For a starter Rod, Shakespeare Ugly Stick.. whatever length and action you want.. probably in the $30 range. The reel is really good.. it can move to a better rod in time.. but nothing wrong with starting out with an Ugly Stick.

BD

I am not sure but Academy had the combos on sale for 25% off. Lew's Wally Marshall Speed Shooter 6 ft 6 in ML Spinning Rod and Reel Combo is $60 I think at Academy. I picked up a Eagle Claw Skeet Reese Spinning Combo for a buddy's kid for $39 at Wally World. I was surprised at it and may get one for me as a truck rod.

Get him a Shimano Aldebaren on one of those $350 G Loomis rods!!!

But really, get him like a Lews American Hero rod/reel combo from academy, or even an H20 Xpress combo

Oh something that my grandpa and I did was to sit on the porch and place a coffee can, old pot and a 5 gal bucket in the yard at odd yardages. then we would see who could get the best out of 10 on each one. We did that off and on all one summer. It made me a better caster and made for good clean competition. I think the one that did the best got ice-cream or something like that.

Spend $130-$200 bucks and get him a Lew's combo. They are worth every penny. They have 3 or 4 to choose from.

If that is to much, go to Academy and get him an H20 reel (40-50 bucks) and 25-30 dollar MH rod of your choice.

Go with Spinning Rig! Medium action. Academy is a good choice.

Get a medium action spinning rod for him. Check out the new Berkley Lightning Rod & Daiwa spinning reels. Great budget friendly set up