Fiberglass all the way. Ugly Stik Lite or Cabela's Whuppin' Stick. Cheap, decent quality and tough as nails. I have an Ugly Stik Lite I use when fishing for cats. I was fishing off an earth dam with concrete slab sides and accidentally stepped on the rod about six inches from the tip. Didn't even scratch it. They are a little bit more than the Ugly Stiks with the EVA handles, but they're a bit more sensitive and I think the cork feels nicer in the hand.
I would go with a regular spinning reel instead of a spincast. The reason is if a spincast reel gets tangled (and they will get tangled), 9 times out of 10 you're going to end up wasting a huge amount of time taking the reel apart to fix it. If a spinning reel gets tangled, you cut the line, pop the spool off and put on the replacement spool. Keeps the kiddies from getting bored.
Last edited by Shoemoo; 03-14-2013 at 03:42 PM.
Don't worry, catch crappie.