I am trying to get my two daughters (5 and 7) into ice fishing. The more they want to go, the more I get to go!
I am building them both a rod this fall and want to know which reels are the easiest to operate for kids. Some reels I have are fairly complex and tangle easily. I am looking for ease of use and consistent performance.
Anybody have feedback for reels that you, or more importantly your kids, have had success with?
My son started fishing young but I’ve always had him use a shimano sienna 500. Easy and cheap. And probably the best go to ice reel for any one
Similar to BC, started with what I am using which is a smaller Pfluger president.
I started my son off with a Pfluger spin cast but he didn’t like it because it was different than what I had. So I switched him to a Pfluger President and he has been happy since. He will be 7 next month and he started using the President when he was 2.5-3 years old.
Just make sure to keep it fun so they will want to keep coming out. 
Fishing rods and reels for the kiddos get forgotten and broken easily. I learned to concentrate on the extra curricular activities on ice, shovel for some ice hockey, tiny rinks they love, minnow dissection , football, tea party with hot cocoa, etc.
The activity is being outside and having fun on ice, fishing is just something else to do for them while out there. Hopefully they get into it, but if they don’t it’s still good times.
Spincasting would probably be the easiest. Push the button….turn the crank.
My kids use spinning reels though. We use Abu Garcia Cardinal SX 5’s & 10’s, Shimano Sienna 500’s and a Sedona 1000. I also just got an Okuma Avenger ABF 30b (with baitfeeder switch) for pike. I don’t see my kids having any troubles learning that. Kids are smarter than most adults lol.
Spinning reels are easier for kids to learn in the winter because they aren’t casting. Flip the bail….close the bail….turn the crank. Not far off from push the button….turn the crank. Having them manually close the bail each time will also teach them proper practice for when they do start casting with spinning reels.
Pretty much any decent size 500-1000 reel should work well. Might have to consider replacing the gear grease with some quality reel oil if you plan on fishing outside a shack to reduce stiffness.
I’ve found that children impact my FK/M(fish kept per minute) significantly, which also impacts my PoFFWF(Proportion of Freezer Filled With Fish) negatively.
On most days I see a 50-75% reduction in FK/M with children on the ice. Given that fishing is about keeping as many fish as possible, I’ve made the tough, but fair, decision to use my children as pack mules and bait fetchers primarily.
The result actually goes the other way, I’m able to increase my FK/M by 20-30%!!!
keep in mind bobber stops tend to get stuck up in spin cast reels.
Spinning reals exclusively for my children. They all started by 3 years of age. By 4 they have the reels mastered. Dad has learned that by 5 I better have a flasher for them or I’m fishing blind. I add another flasher and on we go. They are only young once and we thoroughly enjoy our time on the ice when we are well equipped and keep icing fish.
my 3 boys all started with underspin reels and quickly picked up spinning reels from there….they’re extremely cheap and more durable
Thanks all! I love the Shimano Sierra 500. I will grab a few more at the ice show and go from there!
I got my 5 year old daughter a Sienna 500 and upgraded the drag washers for her. I put it on her TUCR pink fusion rod.
The Sienna 500 is a great reel as it is cheap and a great ice reel. I use them for myself so I figured why not just get an extra for her.
I ended up going with the Schooley style reels from Sportsman’s Direct. They are easy to figure out and seem to hold up well. They are also using cheap HT spinning reels.
https://sportsmensdirect.com/shop/ice-fishing-Reels/side-winder-pro-reel/
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