Rod and reel for 4 year old

[moguy1973]

My wife and I think it's time for my 4 year old daughter to move past the princess rod and move up to a more substantial set up mainly for the fact the reels that come on the kids rods are junk and more frustrating to get to work than anything. I've found an Ugly Stik Jr set up that has a 3 1/2' rod and a reel that can be changed out if need be and that seems like the general consensus that the reel is junk.  Are there any 4 foot-ish decent rods out there that aren't ultralight?   I have an old trigger under spin cast Diawa reel and 4'6" ultralight to use now but I don't think it would work that well for her because the rod is rather flimsy.  

[Gavin]

Mud hole makes some nice 5'6" blanks. Made for my daughters, could help you build one if you have not. Good friends with Tom Hargrove. Could spin a custom grip to fit your kids hand on his grip gizmo.

[rps]

+1 on Mudhole options. Build one for her. She gets a better rod with a powerful memory attached.

[jtram]

Ya mudhole but golly their shipping cost is enough to make me angry.

[momule]

I suspect your 4 year old will be just fine with an off the shelf Walmart selection. Who are you buying the rod to satisfy anyhow, you two or her? Keep the rod and buy a Zebco underspin reel. The reels are fairly bulletproof and the rod will still be fine for her. After all, she is only 4 years old and having a rod made for her is, at least in my opinion, an indication that her parents are losing sight of the big picture.

[moguy1973]

We are mainly buying it for us for ease of use.  She can't cast a worm an bobber yet without us worrying she will hook herself so we are casting for her and letting her do the rest.  The barbie/princess pole reel just doesn't cut it 90% of the time, both in distance needed or even getting it to cast at all.  Really all I need is a decent shorter rod that fits her size right now because I do have a spare Zebco 33 laying around that would work fine for her.  Not seeing much that isn't custom or a lot of $$ that is around 4-4.5' long that isn't ultralight.

[Milo]

Go with a longer rod, I found that my son now 6 had an easier time casting the longer rod because he could use a nice easy cast and still get the bait out further than the short rod that he had to really fire it to get the distance. using a Zebco 33 and 6 ft rod now. Next step for me is to get him using a regular spinning reel vs the push button.

 

Milo

 

[Milo]

I do like the ugly sticks for kids, less breakage. Took him and about 6 friends last Friday to Des Peres park fishing and had one rod get stepped on and broke, was a cheapo so no big deal but non breakable still better with little ones. They all caught fish and had a blast so all was good.

 

Milo

[JestersHK]

They used to sell a short rod series zebco dock demon I think it was called.  They were a step up from the kid themed ones.  Reels were still nothing to write home about, but were serviceable and could be replaced.  

As a testament to they don't make them like they used to all 3 of my kiddos have gone through my original zebco snoopy rod combo from circa 1986 LOL.  rebuilt the reel a few times, but it just keeps on going.