My lad who is 13 wants to start fishing – he has been with his cousins and enjoyed it.

I am looking for recommendations for a starter fishing kit which would (hopefully) be suitable for fishing at a local lake and maybe off a pier when we are on holiday.

Would like something reasonable but do not want to spend too much in case it is a passing fad.

My experience of fishing is limited to a rod that I got from eating Frosties and sending off vouchers 30 years ago – I guess lead weights are now passe?

Thanks

my son got a set from Argos, i have no idea if it was good quality or not, but he was happy with it.

Not an expert, but I always enjoyed fishing with a spinner as a kid in the sea [you cast out and wind it back in – the spinner hook looks like a wee fish moving through the water so the big fish try and eat it.]
It’s an active sort of fishing – you’re constantly doing something. I can’t really see a kid having the patience for the sit-there-and-wait type of angling, but I guess it depends on the kid.

Possible drawback is that you probably need to keep a close eye on the kid – I used to do it off the rocks with the waves crashing in, so it’s not the sort of fishing you’d just leave a 13 yo to get on with. You could do it off a pier easily enough I suppose.

You’d just need a rod, reel, fishing line and a spinner to tie on the end. If the spinner is heavy enough you can cast it out without needing any weights etc.

Disclaimer: Ages since I’ve done it so possibly talking bolex!

Don’t know if you have one near you, but I got my 12 yo lad a great rod and reel set from Go Outdoors. They do a good choice of spinners and feather lures too. Feathers are great for hooking mackeral from piers and harbour walls. Loads of feathers on the line,and a heavy lead to fire them out. Happy days. 😀

I got my daughter this from Argos,

Good reviews, not caught anything yet though…

Good Old Argos…

first thing you want to do is find out how to tie a half blood knot

http://www.btinternet.com/~kevin.l.j.knight/knot15.htm

I would say a bottom of the range ‘ledger’ rod – good for lakes (carp, tench etc) but should be hefty enough for lighter sea fishing. But really they are two very different types of fishing and need different kit.

And don’t get the rod coolhandluke linked to – you could never fish off a pier with that (if you wanted to land a fish anyway)

Cheers guys,

I will check out what Argos and Go Outdoors have to offer.

Try a local fishing shop. Some of them (well ones local to me so others might do similar) do kits they put together themselves and usually do a discount.

TK Maxx did fishing kits for a while, like a whole setup in a box. It was Fladen gear which I gather is not too shabby. Might be worth checking out your local branch.

What awful advice (not creg). Go to a fishing shop. Don’t buy a freshwater rod for sea fishing for goodness sake.

When i was 13 i was always clambering about on slippery rocks by the sea, had built a rod and had two abu multipliers which i paid for by doing odd jobs.

Try the crc of fishing

http://www.fishingmegastore.com/index.html

Something about 10ft long, probably a pier/rock rod would be ideal. Get a fixed spool reel, not a multiplier.

Sadly not been fishing in years.

Maybe this

http://www.fishingmegastore.com/shakespeare-in2-pier-rods~8536.html

and

http://www.fishingmegastore.com/shakespeare-in2-front-drag-reel~9745.html

For pier/rocks i’d use 30lb line straight through. Once the nipper gets better at casting, and if using heavy (>4oz) weights he’ll need a stronger bit of line at the end to avoid snappage called a shock leader.

If there are a lot of snags use bits of scrap as weights.

Mackerel feathers are great things.

For your freshwater lake fishing a 5m whip rated for a 12 elastic will handle carp up to 10lbs no trouble; less expense and complication than a rod & reel, though admittedly less versatlie too.

Both my partner and our youngest (10) fish with said whips, Middy Impact 4m Margin whips which we bought for £15.99. The supplied elastic was a bit wimpy, so I re-elasticted with a decent hollow elastic rated 12-14. You’ll need some floats, hooks, shots, disgorger, landing net, bait box…

Oops missed the coarse fishing bit in the OP. 😳

I’ve had to downsize my immense collection of fishing tackle over recent years or I could have let you have something fit for purpose..

I’m down to one rod and reel pretty much for all my fishing now and will happily land

Bass
Mackerel
Pollock
Cod (etc)
Eels
Flatfish
Carp
Tench
Pike
Barbel
Bream

all using one of the lightweight Bass/Carp type rods that seem to be popular nowadays and a medium sized fixed spool Carp/Bass reel that will accept up to a 30lb mainline..

these are available most places in a range of prices catering for entry level budgets right through to pro (in a similar way to bikes) but I would suggest that your local tackle shop is the best place to ask..

(I got my first ever outfit as a kid from Argos which included a slection of floats and hooks and weights etc.. I used it everywhere with some success.. as a note of caution though I would recommend encouraging a cheaper hobby cos when you get the fishing bug it can very quickly get more expensive than other hobbies.. such as MTB for example!..)

What awful advice (not creg). Go to a fishing shop. Don’t buy a freshwater rod for sea fishing for goodness sake

Read what I said – I did say different kit should be used (but I was trying to respond to the OP enquiry) but I really don’t think there would be a problem using a ledger rod off a pier. Fair enough I wasn’t very explicit (late night on the phone and couldn’t be bothered typing too much) – I should have said a heavier duty ledger rod – which would be fine for lighter float fishing off a pier.