Before I begin to gush about how much I love these Shakespeare combos, let me present a bit of personal history. I was first taken on a fishing trip when I was only three months old. I didn't fish that year, of course, but it was the first of many annual trips to the lakes near Sioux Narrows, Ontario. My dad had five sons, and started us each on a Zebco 202 combo. It was considered the default starter combo of the day.
Why am I mentioning that here, in a review for a Shakespeare combo? Well, because my dad spent more time trying to keep those Zebco reels in working order than I can remember. Time and time again he was dealing with tangled line on the spool, problems with the drag, or gears that would just fail. Casting distances weren't great, and the frequent tangles in the spool added to that problem. You're probably thinking, "anyone fishing with young kids will have those problems--it's not the gear, it's the kid who was mucked it up." Well, I thought that too, until I purchased our first Shakespeare combos.
Why did I opt for the Shakespeare? Well, I remember all those troubles my dad had, and I must admit that the Shakespeare combo was about a third cheaper than the Zebco combos I saw at that time. So, I thought we would give them a try. I purchased one each for my eldest son and daughter. I already had some rigs, so I stuck with those and shared one with my wife. I expected to spend much of the day dealing with the issues I experienced as a child. To my delight, I didn't have to deal with a single tangle or hardware issue. All I had to do was to keep baiting hooks and unhooking fish. That was enough to keep me from getting my line wet most of the day, but I was happy to have that problem.
Let me fast forward to today. I'm writing this about an hour before my family and I head out for a long weekend of hiking and fishing. We have ten kids now, nine of whom are old enough to fish. I have Shakespeare combos for each of them. As I put fresh line on a few of the rigs this evening, I realized I still have those two rigs I purchased more than 13 years ago, and they are still in great mechanical shape. In fact, the only problems we've ever had with our combos started only after my boys were old enough to bike off and fish on their own after school, and those were all related to learning how to bike while holding a fishing pole (if my #3 son snaps off the tip of one more rod!...).
I kid you not--these are simply the best starter combos for anyone who wants to fish, and they are at a great price, to boot! I've been extremely impressed with the quality, durability, and the fact that the reels haven't caused me any trouble over the years. I couldn't ask for a nicer starter combo, and I strongly recommend giving one a try. Shakespeare Two-Piece Medium Action Spectrum Spincast Combo (5-Feet 6-Inch, Colors May Vary)
Trust me, this is all you need. If you're looking for a fantastic rod, the smoothest casts, and a rod that, for me, absolutely never tangles...then this is what you're looking for. The price is unbeatable, the rod is made of reliable materials, and the rod tip is plenty sensitive.
I've had great experiences with this rod and I highly recommend it.
Arrived promptly and in mint condition.
I know nothing about fishing. But my son has joined the cub scouts and we've had some camping and fishing trips and needed some rods. After reviewing a bunch of them on Amazon.com I went with this one and ordered three. It was the perfect choice. Easy to cast, the line stays neat... basically all you have to do is put a hook and weight on it and start fishing. My six year old son, nine year old daughter, and my wife and myself had no trouble at all with this rod.
ive been camping n fishing for over 30 yrs and while i dont claim to be an expert...i know the basics and can spot a phony a mile away...these shakespeare rods are the greatest! i purchased 3 at an unbelievable price for my kids and wasnt expecting too much. boy did these things deliver though. first off, gettin em set up for use was a breeze and may have only taken a bit longer then normal cuz we went out so early and i was still a bit sleepy. the line that came with it, i know wasnt the best, but for my purposes it did a great job. I simply tied on some hooks, a couple of weights and a bobber--easy peasy. gettin the kids to try n put the worms on themselves seemed to be the biggest challenge. they snap together like most poles and for the most part do not budge. that was one of my main concerns, that these lil boys on their first time out would be winding up so hard that part of the pole would go flying. never happened. i do have to say that later in the day after much use i did notice the 2 pieces were starting to come apart a bit but i simply squeezed em back tight and never thought about it again. the only line problems i had was when my 6 yr old was whipping the tip around and got it so very tangled it took me n my brother about 30 minutes to get it free. as far as the spool and the eyelets, no problems whatsoever. THESE ARE GREAT POLES! my boys cannot wait to get back out to use them again. i could see where poles with more issues or difficulty using could turn a 6 and an 8 yr old off to fishing altogether with their Wii's, DS's and computers, but my boys absolutely loved fishing so much(not the poles so much as i did, because they werent worrying about them as much as i was)because they had so much fun and no problems with them.I CANNOT RECOMMEND THESE FISHING POLES ENOUGH!!! - Fishing Rod'
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