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Old 01-15-09, 02:14 AM   #1
cassidyta
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Default Teaching my son to cast

My son has interest in learning to fish with a bait caster. Now I torn on whcih way to go about it.
I believe that he will develop confidence in his own abilites faster if I teach him with the revo, but I feel that learning on the older Bantam will force him to master thumb control a lot better.
I learned on the Bantam and while it was a real (no pun intended) pain in the arse, I now know that there is not a reel out there I won't be able to cast effectively.
Currently I am leaning towards the Bantam, but wondered what you all thought.

He is 14 so I am not worried about destroying his young impressionable feelings.....
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Old 01-15-09, 02:29 AM   #2
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Can you teach me first? Then I can tell you which way helped or hurt my feelings the most.
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Old 01-15-09, 03:34 AM   #3
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i learned when i was probably 4 or 5 years old. dad took me out in the yard and i learned on an old abu-garcia round reel. not sure which model of bantam you are talking about and i am not familiar with any of them. but i am sure you could tighten it down enough to start with and then loosen it up as he goes. i remember the first time i threw a low profile baitcaster that had the brakes it was a breeze because i was used to old faithful.
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Old 01-15-09, 03:40 AM   #4
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It is a Bantam ProMag from the early 80's. It was the pre curado (it does have some bakes). I can tighten it down some, but even cinched down all the way it can be a problem. But I do agree that when you switch over to one with better brakes the thumbing is easy.
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Old 01-15-09, 06:17 AM   #5
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Start him on the Bantam.It will still be working in 15-20 years.P N J
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Old 01-15-09, 08:28 AM   #6
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Go with this one:
http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/st...003000_100-3-1

I bought one for my little brother and he loves it. It was his first baitcaster.
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Old 01-15-09, 11:41 AM   #7
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Thanks for the idea The Doc. Unfortunately while it fits his age, I doubt it will work for his size. He is standing about 6' and weighing in at 190.
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Old 01-15-09, 11:59 AM   #8
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I agree, I would start him on the Bantam, but I suspect he'll end up finishing with the Revo.



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Old 01-15-09, 12:01 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by pig_n_jig View Post
Start him on the Bantam.It will still be working in 15-20 years.P N J
I don't doubt that PnJ. I just picked up another one of e-bay for under $25. If it doesn't work as well I figure that I now have spare parts for mine.
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Old 01-15-09, 12:48 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassidyta View Post
Thanks for the idea The Doc. Unfortunately while it fits his age, I doubt it will work for his size. He is standing about 6' and weighing in at 190.
Damn that's a big boy. He should be able to stare the reel into performing right!
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Old 01-15-09, 03:11 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassidyta View Post
Thanks for the idea The Doc. Unfortunately while it fits his age, I doubt it will work for his size. He is standing about 6' and weighing in at 190.
My 11 year old is 5'5 150

He almost weighs as much as I do
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Old 01-15-09, 03:14 PM   #12
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Well, the 14 year old is the small one. The 13 year old is 6'3" 205.
I call the two of them my NFL retirement fund.

I can still take either one fo them when they want to wrestle and srew around, but if they ever try to double up on me I could be in trouble.
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Old 01-15-09, 03:56 PM   #13
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Too much steroids in their chicken :O
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Old 01-15-09, 04:25 PM   #14
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I would start them out on the bantam, I just learned this past summer on a $90 low profile reel aand learning to thumb the spool correctly is huge. In case this helps, what i did first was learn how to work the reel so i just casted side arm for a week or two and then slowly tried the overhand casting and it really helped me understand some of the fundementles, hope that made sense..
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Old 01-15-09, 07:23 PM   #15
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It might be a little costly, but a daiwa sol (jdm: daiwa alphas) or pixy is a very compact reel. I noticed that the more the reel cost the casting become alot easier. I think if you teach him how to fan cast first, he'll get more control over the thumb. Then teach him how to properly cast on the field, not on the lake. I think this would teach him how to properly focus on the reel instead of distance. My .02 cent
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Old 01-16-09, 06:51 PM   #16
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Calais...all im sayin
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Old 01-16-09, 11:09 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassidyta View Post
Well, the 14 year old is the small one. The 13 year old is 6'3" 205.
I call the two of them my NFL retirement fund.

I can still take either one fo them when they want to wrestle and srew around, but if they ever try to double up on me I could be in trouble.
I know how you feel. My son is only 15 months, and he's 30 lbs and 32" tall, which apparently is big for his age. My friends daughter is 3 and weighs the same.
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Old 01-16-09, 11:48 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cassidyta View Post
but I feel that learning on the older Bantam will force him to master thumb control a lot better.
I learned on the Bantam and while it was a real (no pun intended) pain in the arse,
For real? Are you talking about the old green Bantam Curado? If so, it one of the easiest baitcaster I've ever cast with. I never need to put my thumb on the spool when a lure hit the water.

If your talking about other reel then I feel retarded.
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Old 01-17-09, 12:31 AM   #19
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The pre curado. The bantam Pro was gold in color and made in the early 80's.


http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...Name=WDVW&rd=1
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Old 01-17-09, 10:52 AM   #20
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cassidyta, i gave 1fastlaser a reel JUST like that. bantatam pro, gold. great reel.
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Old 01-17-09, 12:24 PM   #21
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I have the opposite opinion. Get him whatever reel you think has the best braking system, screw the brake and/or magnets down tight so he won't backlash, tie on a heavy, wind resistent bait like a big jig and let him fish with that until he gets confident and gets the feel of a baitcaster then teach him the finer points of thumbing the spool and fishing with lighter, non-wind resitent baits like a light crankbait. Whether you're training a pup or teaching a child to fish, set him up to succeed or he'll soon be discouraged. He may not be as motivated in the beginning as you were.
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Old 01-17-09, 12:46 PM   #22
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ok, here is an idea cassidyta. how about taking him to get his OWN rod and reel. let hime pick it out, as long as it is in YOUR budget. ya know what? you do 2 things at once. you feed da monkey and you get him interested at the same time. if he picks out the set up, he is commited, right?


ooops, just saw that jigger says this as well.

anyway, let him pick out a set up and do what jigger says...tie on a heavy bait. show him ALL the features and ow tos. then let him sling it a few times. say nothing when he birdnests, that'll make him feel uncomfortable and not wanting to keep on trying. never yell at him either. take it slow and keep saying that it is ok to mess up. tell him I said that i mess up a thousand times every time i cast mine each day. it is a part of fishing to me. yes i get mad at myself, or the reel, but it mostly cause i ain't paying attention to what i am doing really. get in a hurry to often. but tell him to go easy, slow and he'll get it soon enough.
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Old 01-17-09, 03:33 PM   #23
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I am going to take him with me on my BPS run on Monday. He has some money stored up (just under $100) and I told him he can pick what he wants and I will match his money.

I appreciate the advice on how to show him. I am good at not saying anything to discourage him as he trys things. I also really want him to develop a love for fishing. As he is progressing through high school, I know that there are not a whole lot of things that we will see eye to eye on. So finding something where he and I can spend time together is a big deal to me.

The good news is that even if the boys never get into fishing. I do have one fishing partner here. She hasn't caught a fish yet, but hopefully that will change this week. She loves to get out there and be near the water.

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Old 01-17-09, 06:47 PM   #24
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if SHE is like mine........LOOK OUT BUDDY! she'll start catching fish and you won't, then she'll start telling you where, when, and how to fish. but if you are like me, you won't mind it one bit. yes, i am smiling now thinking about watching her catch some biguns.
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Old 01-18-09, 10:02 AM   #25
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Make him use the bantam. the only way he is going to learn though is to throw it for an extended amount of time... like 4 hours. you might also like to take another older reel in case its a "cutter" when he backlashes. i learned to throw one at the age of eight and for eight hours i threw it and i backlashed maybe couple hundreed times. make sure you will help him take a backlash out though because thats a skill within itself. when we started taking a 24 year old kid last year fishing, he backlashed a lot and always just wanted to cut it so i would go back there and show him how to take it out. HAVE FUN.
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