I'm new to bass fishing myself and have already learned from experience what avid was explaining. The largest bass I pulled in this year was on my first cast of the day, with a jig, deep in the lilly pads and about 5 feet for the shoreline. It was about 4 1/2 - 5 lbs. Read up on this website and you will learn a lot. Just keep fishing and don't get discouraged. Good luck