TeachMeHowToFish

I don't know much about fishing to only have one reel for specific uses (crankbaits, jigs, etc), so I would mostly like a good all around reel. I'm probably going to spool it with braid if that helps. I also plan on pairing it with a ***, or 13 ***. Still haven't figured out if the *** is worth the extra $100. Guess that will be my next topic. I already have a Bass pro Qualifier with a carbonlite pole, and although I love my Pro qualifier, I would love to have something better. I had my eye on the Quantum smoke, but I would love some suggestions

Ok so I'm sure this thread has been made already but I guess I'll ask again. I'm also specifically talking about lures or combos that were meant for freshwater, not companies that produce lures for saltwater. So I hardly ever go saltwater fishing, but my dad was in town, and he's very much into saltwater fishing rather then freshwater. We stop by a baitshop, get some leaders, hooks, weights, bait, pretty much everything needed for a saltwater rig. We go by the bay down here in Miami beach and we get on a little pier and start preparing. The pole I brought with me (Carbonlite, Pro qualifier baitcaster combo) was rigged for freshwater. (12 pound line flurocarbon, $1 Walmart spinnerbait). While my dad is in the car looking for something, I decide to just mess around and throw a couple casts into the water with my spinnerbait. First couple casts, about 4 or 5, nothing. Throw it one more time and........ BAM! Biggest hit I've ever had. I've never caught a fish big enough to just comepletely take my line and run with it for 3 minutes. I'm not exaggerating here.For About 3 minutes straight that fish just ran my line. Long story short, I just had a 20 minute battle with the biggest fish I've ever caught, on a $1 spinnerbait from Walmart. I guess the downside to the story is that I was never able to get the fish on the pier, due to the 12 pound line I had and having no net. As soon as I lifted the line out of the water, the weight of the fish just snapped my line. My dad said it was about 18-20 pounds, and it was either a Yellowtail Jack, or a yellowtail Tuna. I searched online for saltwater spinnerbaits, and most people have only caught redfish and flounder using spinnerbaits. BTW, the carbonlite and BP qualifier handled AMAZINGLY. And the P-line 12lb Flurocarbon also did an amazing job. SO MY QUESTION IS: Has anyone had any luck with freshwater rigs, in saltwater? I know saltwater fish don't discriminate against freshwater lures, but they must be labled differently for a reason.

Honestly a simple rod and reel combo by ugly stick for like $30-$50 at WalMart will be fine. I fished for over a year using a 5'6 Ugly stick catching a good amount of fish. Most of those fish being Peacock bass since I live in Miami, and an Ugly stick will last you a life time

Man, I'm really hoping you meant, they are "THE" ****.

I ended up completely tearing the thing apart and taking off the blade and just putting it on my other one.I kept the skirt and trailer. For 50 cents I got a skirt, trailer hook, and a gold willow leaf to put on my other spinner. I think for 50 cents, it was well worth it

I don't know if I got lucky or something, but I was doing some walmart shopping in the fishing aisle. Decided to get another spinnerbait since the peacocks down here ripped the blade off my other one. Anyways, went to buy it, and noticed it was only 50 cents. I asked the cashier why, and she said she wasn't sure. The package was a little smushed so maybe that was the reason, but still pretty awesome. Also it came with a trailer hook attached. Don't know if that's commom since I'm a beginner but I thought that was awesome as well. EDIT- JUST FOUND OUT WHY. Opened up the package and realized that the thing holding up the skirt was broken halfway. So pretty much as soon as I throw it out in the water, that skirt is gonna fly right off. I guess I can just cinch down the barb to the hook and keep the trailer hook. Oh well, not too ticked since i only spent 50 cents.....but now I gotta go back and buy a spinner at full price! All in all spent about $20 on Gary Yamamoto worms Storm sunfish (2nd picture) KVD sexy frog And the StrikeKing spinnerbat Also has anyone used these? They are ALWAYS sold out at my Walmart but saw there was only 2 left so I picked them up. Any advice on these?

Thanks a lot. I'll be sure to call the store before I go

You know what, I hear lots of great things about both rods and I don't think that I will be dissapointed in either rod. I think I'm just gonna go to basspro and feel the carnoblite and if it feels good then I'm just gonna purchase it. It will be more of a hassle looking for a local shop selling omens. My friend went into BassPro today and I told him to go look at the carbonlite and feel it for me so he could give me some feedback. He said that the guy working at Bass Pro told him that there was no combo for the BP qualifier and carbonlite, even online there is one. Do you know if the combo is an online deal or maybe just the guy was misinformed?

No I haven't purchased it, but am pretty deadset on purchasing. I was planning on buying the combo but everyone is suggesting the *** 13, so I might have changed my mind

Wow thanks guys. Was pretty deadset on the carbonlite for a couple hours but I guess I'll go ahead and try out the ***

Need suggestions. Was looking at Carbonlite rods, or an extreme rod. But wasn't sure Decided to come to you guys for suggestions before I purchase. I'm pairing it with a BP pro qualifier with a 6.4 retrieve. Any suggestions

So would you not suggest getting a more expensive spinnerbait, since peacocks are gonna destroy them anyways? And the skirt slid almost completely off in just one peacock.

Yeah, after that first peacock bite, my rubberband was all the way down by the hook. Had to bring it back up and into position

Just had the best hour of fishing. I used a $1 promo walmart spinner with a white skirt and caught 3 Peacocks in just about an hour. Fished it next to a big pile of algae floating on top of the water, assuming some fish had to be in the shade of it. Sure enough, WHAM. They smashed it. By the 3rd hit my skirt was pretty much torn off. I guess my question is, what is a good durable spinnerbait? I saw a video somewhere on this website where the guy said that if you flick the blade, and it doesn't spin for a while, then don't buy it. The spinners at walmart are all packaged so I can't really check that. Any suggestions? The pond I fish at is visible for about 3-4 ft, then blackness. Also has LOTS of algae floating on top of water, that I'm sure there are nesting bass. Any color suggestions as well?

Thank you guys so much, this really is helping. I know I can't learn everything in one day, but man there's just so much to learn and it's pretty exciting. I didn't mention this in the questions but it's a really big question for me. I've see so many conflicting things on the internet and cant get a clear answer. I am a righty, so obviously I use my right hand for everything. Well I plan on buying a Baitcaster soon and I don't know if I should place the reel on the right or left side. On the one hand I can reel in way more smoothly with my right hand, but I can also control the pole mrre easily as well with my right hand if my left is on the reel. Any suggestions?

THIS WILL BE A LONG WALL OF TEXT, BUT PLEASE READ AND HELP ME IMPROVE. I want to be able to absorb knowledge from you guys and then apply it to my fishing. Please hear me out and help me on my path to become a better fisherman Hi, my name is Mathew, and I would really like to take up fishing seriously as a hobby. I'm 17 years old living in Miami, starting out strictly in freshwater. I've really taken a liking to fishing as a whole recently and I can't get enough of it. It's all I want to do, it's all I think about. But, my biggest problem is not knowing where to start. I feel like I know a little of some things, but a lot of nothing. I have a million and one questions and I really just want to know everything and anything about this sport. My problem is, no one in my family fishes, none of my friends fish, and it's really hard for me to learn something without anyone telling me if what I'm doing is right or wrong. I found out about this community after watching a couple of videos by "Glenn May" I believe. He raved about how engaging this community was and how helpful everyone is, so here I am giving this thing a shot. Now I'm sure many people will say to just google, or youtube the answer to my question, but I don't feel that helps nearly as much as having conversation with someone, where you can follow up a question with another question. I've been fishing many times before, and I've caught fish before too. I try and go fishing about 2 or 3 times a week. I own 2 poles, one a 5'6" Ugly stick, and a 6'6'" Daiwa Dshock. Attached to my Ugly stick is a Sahara 4000FB shimano spincast, and the regular Dshock reel on the Daiwa pole. I pretty much only use the Ugly Stick and let my friend, who is also learning with me use the Daiwa. One of my problems is that I read so much into fishing and there's so many things to buy to help you fish, that I go out buy a couple things, and don't actually know how to use them. I own a couple lures that I have bought and never use them, and when I do I feel like nothing is working cause I can never get a bite. I recently justy bought my first spinnerbait, (don't even know how to tie the d**n thing on lol), so I'm excited to try that out. I also plan on buying a Pro Qualifier Baitcaster as my first ever baitcaster. (See what I mean about spending money on things I don't know how to use) These are the lures I own Xrap 08 Silver - Caught most of my Peacock bass on this Xrap 06 Olive Green- Caught nothing on this Rebel popper- Nothing Rebel floating minnow- 1 peacock Mirr O dine- Couple peacocks. Storm Wildeye Shad.- Caught about 3 Peacocks on this. A $1.00 spinner bait- Just bought this, have never used it. Gary Yamamoto watermelon- Have never had any luck with worms Ok, so I guess my biggest problem when catching a fish is that after catching it, I couldn't tell you what I did to help me catch it. And that isn't learning. I read somewhere, that if you don't know how you were able to catch a fish, then you aren't learning anything. And that's what I would like to improve on. I want to be able to catch a fish, know how I caught it, then be able to do it again. Living in Miami, I have caught a couple Peacock bass (couldn't tell you how big any of them were cause my fish guessing scale is horrendous), some tilapia, some Mayans, 1 black catfish, and about 2 Plecos with a snag. Almost every single one of those fish were nesting, and I was able to see them before I caught them. I wouldn't consider any of these fish I caught anything to be proud of considering I coulda threw about anything near their nest and they would have attacked regardless. I catch a lot of brim as well on some squid (funny how they are crazy for saltwater squid) but biggest was probably a pound. Ok so before I begin asking some questions, I just have a personal story to share. About a month and a half ago, I cast out my first ever lure. (Xrap 08 minnow), It was a pretty rough day, I had 1 lure in my tackle box, that I never used or even knew how to use. So I just randomly put it on my Ugly stick and threw out in the middle of the lake. I was casting fast for the first couple throws, then insanely slow on my last 5 throws. Well on my last throw, after about 10 casts, 5 of which being pretty slow, I catch my first peacock bass, that I wasn't able to see before catching. Mind you I've never used a lure before, so as I was attempting to unhook the fish from the back treble hook, it made 1 big jump, landing the front treble halfway into my thumb. A hospital and a $1500 bill later, I am terrified of unhooking a lure from a fish. I was still super super excited that I caught something on a lure for the first time, so I went and bought a couple of more lures the next day, and even used the lure that hooked me, now calling it my lucky lure as I've caught most of the peacocks on this lure. But I am still really scared of taking a lure off. Since that day I only remove lures from fish with my gloves and my pliers, still being extremely cautious. I know that using gloves isn't the best thing to do, but I'm still pretty scared, and I really don't know how to not be scared. Ok so I'm just gonna fire off the first questions that pop into my head that I'm still unsure of, even after researching. I mainly only fish in a huge lake spanning a couple miles and I fish off the bank since I don't have a boat to take me into deeper waters. Keep this in mind when answering questions 1.What is a Jig? 2. What's the difference between a jig, and jig head? 3. When should I use a jig head, over a weight? 4. Why use certain knots over others, and in what situations? 5. What is a crankbait? 6. What a plug? 7. What is a buzz bait? 8. Why might I be having trouble with worms, when everyone seems to have success with them? 9. which circumstance should I use different lures? 10. Why use a carolina rig over a texas rig? 11. Why would certain knots be better then others, and in what situations? 12. When is mono, fluro, braid better over what and in what conditions? 13. Why does the pound of the line matter. Talking about things less then 20. I know bigger pound lines are better for catching bigger fish obviously, by why choose 10 pound line over 8, or 8 mpound line over 10? 14. How does length and type of rod (medium,heavy,lite) effect fishing? 15. How do I know when to use certain lines with certain rods? 16. Why use a baitcaster over a spinning reel? 17. How do I know what color lures to use in certain situations? 18. How can I get stubborn fish to bite? 19. What can I use in weeded areas where I know fish are without get caught in the weeds? 20. Can I use a spinnerbait without the skirt? 21. I am a righty, so obviously I use my right hand for everything. Well I plan on buying a Baitcaster soon and I don't know if I should place the reel on the right or left side. On the one hand I can reel in way more smoothly with my right hand, but I can also control the pole mrre easily as well with my right hand if my left is on the reel. Any suggestions? Ok so those are the first 20 that came to my head and I would really like to some good honest feedback here. I really am sorry for how long everything was, took me about 2 hours to write and get it all out of my head, but I would really like to discuss fishing with everyone here. I really appreciate you time and am hoping to get some responses. I know I can google or youtube some of these, but I think talking with fellow fisherman, and having conversation will help me so much more.