Thanks for all the comments. In respose to some of the questions/comments. At this point my equipment is cheap, lower end shakespeare baitcasting reels, lower end berkley rods that are medium heavy with a fast action. Since I am buying all except the old crank baits I am starting off cheap and going up from there.
I suspected that it might be panfish that did more nibbling, I have caught a few perch on the worms.
I am fishing a variety of places, all small empoundments so far. All range in the 10-30 acre variety. One ringed with lilly pads, one ringed with moss and grass another is a damned valley that drops off from the shore rather quickly. Almost like a strip pit. I don't have a fish finder at this point but after reading here feel it may be necessary to do very well. Mostly "pounding the shores" as I have read here would be what we are doing.