What bait caster rod to use for my 11 year old son

[TNDiver]

He is 11 and 4' 10 inches.  I have a bait caster for him to use to practice, but wondered what rod?  More worried about length, but any other advice would be appreciated.

[Capt. BassinLou]

Coincidently, I was in a similar situation. My son is 10 yrs old and I chose to go with a 6'6" rod.  The length seems to be just right for him to handle. We'll see when we go practice.

[Smallie_Stalker]

If you've got an old  5 1/2 or 6 foot rod laying around I would go with that. Anything longer may be a little too cumbersome for him. Personally I would say a medium power maybe with a slightly softer action to help him with getting a little more distance once he gets the mechanics down. After working with kids for a lot of years I have found that they usually prefer two things when it comes to fishing - catching lots of fish, and trying to cast to the other side of the pond. 

[cojab]

After working with kids for a lot of years I have found that they usually prefer two things when it comes to fishing - catching lots of fish, and trying to cast to the other side of the pond. 

That sir is so true!

[scbassfanatic]

If you've got an old  5 1/2 or 6 foot rod laying around I would go with that. Anything longer may be a little too cumbersome for him. Personally I would say a medium power maybe with a slightly softer action to help him with getting a little more distance once he gets the mechanics down. After working with kids for a lot of years I have found that they usually prefer two things when it comes to fishing - catching lots of fish, and trying to cast to the other side of the pond. 

This was my thought pattern when i started my now soon to be 14 year old son on baitcasters a while back. i started him off with 5 1/2 footers and quickly found out that he didn't want those. He wanted to use what I used (7 footers mostly). So i gave him one of mine for the day and to my surprise, he fished better with the longer rod. At first it did not look natural, but he adapted quickly.

[fishandkamp]

MY wife is just a hair under 5' tall. WAy way back when we started dating I started her off using spin cast then spinning. She was most comfortable with a 6 foot rod.  She liked 6'6" to 7' now.