You want to have some fun take him out with some topwater lures....pencil poppers about 1 to 1.5 ounces, spooks are great.....some of the site sponsors here make some great ones! As far as a rod....Penn makes some great off the rack.....post a thread here just about rod selection and folks will give you a good rundown on what is good and you can judge for yourself! Reels....I use a Penn 460 Slammer on one of my rods and swear by it.....its a great reel. Okuma makes some good reels....i he is 11 you may want to stay away from anything high end until he cuts his teeth first. My oldest son is 13 and we had done alot of fishing...so a year ago Christmas I (Santa) got him a Penn Spinfisher rod 8 feet with a Slammer 460 and he loves it.....perfect size for him and he can throw plugs or chunk bait.....rod was about $110.00 and the reel was like $140.00 so $250.00....good setup that will last! Good luck and welcome to the sight!
