Rocket Fishing Rod - Ready to Fish Kids Fishing Pole - Shoots a Bobber Instead of Casting

Dave Barry once wrote about the difference between being a "Man" and being a "Guy". He talked about how society extolled the virtues of manliness and reveres great men. He talked about how a Man would trek into the unspoiled wilderness and build a Great and Mighty Dam that would change the face of nature to his own benefit. He then spoke about how a Guy would get to the dam and teach his kid to pee off of it.I had a Guy moment today. My kids are starting to be interested in the idea of fishing but aren't quite ready for the mechanics, so me being me, saw this as an opportunity to pull the trigger on one of those purchases that I've been waiting to buy until the "kids were ready".Today's purchase was a Rocket Fishing Rod. Half nerf gun, half fishing gadget, this 25" plastic cannon promises accessible fishing to young hands who haven't mastered the coordination required to delicately cast a lure into the serene wilderness. I am a true fisherman at heart and am easily seduced by shiny baubles that are designed to be more enticing to hobbyists than to actual fish. As a true fisherman, I put in an order. You know, for the kids.In practice, this noisy plastic artillery piece delivers mayhem and destruction the likes of which the local pond has likely never seen before. In lieu of a friendly nerf dart or simple plastic bobber, this cannon is loaded with a hard plastic mortar/bullet/bobber combination that I am certain will crash through the serene pond’s surface and cause all the fish in the lake to head for other bodies of water that promise peacetime conditions.In the interest of due diligence, I decided to test the rocket rod before taking the boys out. We can't have a misfire spoil such a formative fishing impression after all. This was purely magnanimous on my part and in no way rooted in a desire to play with a newly attained toy.I ripped it out of the packaging with my bare hands, glanced at the manual to make sure that it was included, and loaded up the projectile/mortar round/bobber combination device and looked around for a suitable target. My oversized beanbag chair promised a large enough target that even if I wasn’t pin-point accurate, my error would still hit the generous mark. As for why I have an oversized beanbag chair? It has been established that I do have a history of guy moments.I pulled back the pump action,made sure the bobber was engaged, disengaged the safety, and took careful aim at the bean bag. Once I pulled the trigger, I almost immediately became aware of three things. As I pulled the trigger, the sear disengaged and released the spring to send the test payload on its way. The recoil and noisy release immediately clued me in to the notion that this Rocket Rod was no normal piece of fishing gadgetry.The second revelation came as the the bobber hit the beanbag char, ricocheted off of the soft fabric, smacked into the aluminum window shades and gently landed on a cat who up till now was still either stunned by the noise of firing or was merely deciding if it wanted to run away or run away really fast. The noise of the hard plastic payload ping-poinging its way around my family room awoke my sleeping toddler who was previously napping on the other side of the house.So after a fruitless search for the cats, replacing an aluminum blind slat which had mysteriously developed a kink recently, and handing the now-unloaded rocket rod to my toddler who instantly discovered that its shape naturally suggested light saber combat, I came to my third realization. Under no circumstances would my children be allowed to use this gadget.I can’t wait to take it fishing.

Got this as part of a family Christmas present, and hoped for the best despite all negative reviews. We plan on going fishing this weekend for the first time, and my 5 year old has been extremely excited about it. I put line on the rest of our fishing rods, and opened the package to make sure this was ready to go. Upon getting it out, I discovered that the line was jammed in the reel. Fine... No big deal in the grand scheme of things, just need to get it taken apart so I unjam it. Or so I thought. I literally pressed the button to get access to reel, and... the whole thing practically disintegrated. The reel crank fell off, the reel apparatus fell apart as soon as it was removed, the reel door fell off... Literally the most important component to it fell apart with the push of a button. This thing didn't even get to be used once, unlike many other reviews in here.I have no idea how well the rocket bobber thing shoots, we never got that far. Fell apart before we could find out.I'm extremely disappointed, as is my 5 year old daughter. Stick to the kiddy ones at Wal-mart for $10 with the cartoon characters and save yourself not only the money, but the heartache.They hold together better, though I'm honestly inclined to believe that a stick, tape, string would do better than this thing would.

My grandchild loves this thing! He is Always wanting to use it lake or not. Pretty durable and fun that a 4 year old can't destroy it. He's 6 now and uses all by himself. Easy to use and it's good for any age. The size is of the rocket pole makes it easy to stow behind the seat.

This is a cool idea and works great for kids just wanting to have fun. It’s not very practical when it come to actually fishing but you can catch a fish. Kids like it, parents helping kids use it will be frustrated. Overall, a good product just need to be better quality

Saw a video and decided to buy one of my own to see how it works. Very cool product in that the idea is pretty neat. Was sad to discover that if I were to modify the rod it would be really hard and probably not worth it. You could easily make a better one out of pbc pipe, a garage door spring or slingshot cable, a fishing reel and Styrofoam. Cool idea though.Product shoots out about 30 - 40 feet. Reel is pretty crappy and rod feels cheapish but its what you would expect from a childrens toy.

I bought this for my toddler and he enjoys it quite a lot. Easy to use, easy to set up. I would replace the line with a 6 or so pound test. Taking it apart to swap out lines seems complicated at first but it's actually very simple. Any issue is for the most part just like anything on a normal rod and reel. I would recommend

Love this product for my 5 year old son. This pole is a great learning rod for any soon to be angler. In the past I have purchased several other rod combos for my son and this one grabbed his attention the most by far. With all my sons casting was a harder concept at younger ages but this pole solves that problem with a push of a button. Would definitely recommend even to add to your children's collection.

Pulled out of packaging and tested it out and the first time the line broke. I redid everything and started to work. Took it on a fishing trip to use for fun and the line broke when launched again. Also had a really hard time setting the hook on the few times it actually launched and didn't break so the fish got away and ate the bait. Definitely wasn't worth the money spent on it. Maybe ok for a kid to play with but not to actually catch anything.