Brand New To Fishing, Could Use Some Guidance And Help

[mattkelley77]

Hey guys, im matt im 17 and i live on cape cod, i just started fishing and im using an old rod and reel and i was wondering if any one had any suggestions for a new rod, i currently have a spinning reel, i dont know wether i should be using that or a bait caster, any suggestions would be a huge help! i was also wondering whatto buy for lures, i have been using shiners but i dont want to keep spending money on live bait every time i decide to go fishing, which will be quite often this summer! again, any information is helpful! thanks!

[ABW]

Welcome to the forums Matt! First of all, are you bass fishing or saltwater fishing? If you are bass fishing I would suggest a bait caster. I just started using them about a month ago and I absolutely love it over spinning reels.

 

The baitcasting reel I have is a Lew's Speed Spool in a 6.4:1 gear ratio. These cost $89 on TW and there is a $20 dollar rebate that ends July 31st. A 6.4:1 gear ratio will allow you to fish a variety of baits. This is a great entry level reel and it is very user friendly.

 

Good entry level rods include the Abu Garcia Veritas, and *** Black. Some rods on sale include the Shimano Crucial rods, and Powell Maxes on TW.

 

If you want to buy a combo instead of a reel and rod separate, I'd suggest the BPS Pro Qualifier / Johnny Morris combo. ($160) Lots of guys on here have suggested this, and it has great reviews. For an all around rod I'd go with a 7' MH rod, with a 6.4:1 gear ratio reel.

 

Now for baits, you don't have to get too fancy... yet. I would start off by buying some senkos with 4/0 EWG hooks. Senkos can catch fish anywhere.

[PaulSD1984]

Spinner Baits work real well for me. Just get few few basic colors to start.

[Long Mike]

I would suggest that you start off by reading the Beginner's articles posted on this site.  There is a ton of good information there.

 

http://www.bassresource.com/how-to-fish/

[Paul s]

Welcome! To answer the first question, you should be using whatever is comfortable to us whether that is spinning gear or baitcasting gear, if you want both dicks sporting goods has a great deal on abu gracia vengeance combos from what I saw in the paper, and as for baits ill have to agree with the senkos as they do catch fish anywhere, now they dont have to be the $ 7.50 senkos by gycb they can be any stick bait as they all will catch fish. Good luck in the amazing sport of bass fishing.

[Nuffsaid23]

Greetings!

As said above, for freshwater bass fishing a bait caster is going to give you a lot of different way of presenting your bait. A great bait caster whether your a seasoned veteran of your local reservoir or a rookie would be a Browning Stalker Gold. It's got an easy to use ball bearing tighten/loosen control that will help reduce those evil backlashes or birds nest as some say. It's at a great price for how good it is. The combo is only 80 dollars I believe. It is one of the better ones I own and I've had it for 3 years. As for baits I don't think you can go wrong with a crankbait. They don't have to be kvd or rapala to work well, the key is just presentation. Senkos are great also. I've never fished as far north as you but if you still have areas of grass and/or lilli pads then a top water frog will do the trick. Just make sure to read th forums and articles on this Bass Resource and you will find any and all information you could need or want here. Just have patience don't give up if things don't go perfectly because you can't catch a fish if you don't have a line in the water. Well you could but it's illegal to fish without a hook and line in most places but just take inspiration from that. Don't over think it.

Talk soon

Jake Cokely

[geo g]

Welcome, lots of great information on this site for all levels of fishing. Good luck and let us all know how you do catching.

[Fish Murderer 71]

CAREFULL!  this is how a fishing addiction starts.  Just get one... then another... soon you'll have 20 different set ups, thousands in soft plastics and other lures.  Wondering if I can really afford a 40k boat, but buy it anyways.  Wife is mad at you cause your always gone to some dumb tournament on a lake you barely know... 

[FrogTosser88]

Idk about getting a baitcaster as a newbie... Personally i would stick to a spinning setup till you got a bit more experience.... I fished a med shakespear setup for the longest time (35.00 reel and an ugly stick ,med action) caught alot of fish on it before upgrading to baitcasting gear.

[aMurderOfCrows]

This topic is a little old but I was in this same boat a couple of months ago.  I've had a Lews Speed Spool and a Abu Silvermax.  The Silver crapped out on me after 9 days and had to be sent back.  I bought the Lews as a back up but still get some backlashes.  I say this to say that, as a beginner, I would suggest getting one of the Abu Garcia Ambassaduer C4 reels if you want a baitcaster.  You won't look like a pro angler with that ultra cool low pro reel but the learning curve on these is next to zero.  Just dial in the brake knob for the size bait you fishing and simply make sure your thumb is on the spool when it hits the water and you'll be good to go.

 

I've got a 6601 on my muskie rod and chuck baits all over the lake with reckless abandon and never have an issue.  I'm sitting here wondering why I didn't just get the 5601 on my bass rod in the first place.  If you don't care about left hand retrieve they make a 4600 which I think would be perfect for bass fishing. 

 

I think they're 6:3:1 which should be able to handle any situation for now.

[ThatZX14Fella]

Don't worry about the setup to much. I started bass fishing with a Zebco 33 and a 7'3 Medium Ugly Stik. Then I moved up to a Pflueger Templar that I still have on my Ugly Stik and I still use it. My main setup is a Quantum Acccurist AC100HPT on a 7'3 Heavy Abu Garcia Vendetta.

[new2BC4bass]

Yeah, this thread has been around for a little while.  I am curious as to what you finally wound up with.  Or haven't you gotten one yet?

 

Spinning reels may be easier than a baitcast reel to learn, but at your age that shouldn't be a problem.  Usually you young guys learn fast.  I have some smaller round reels (1600 size), and have to agree the Abus are very easy to cast with the proper use of the cast control and very little thumb.  For all-around use I would suggest a 3600 size or slightly larger.

 

I agree with Long Mike 100%....read articles on this site.

 

Senkos may be a great bait, but not everyone has the patience to fish them.....especially young people just starting out.  I enjoy chucking crankbaits, but don't catch many fish with them.  A spinnerbait is my favorite lure around here.  Try white, Chartreuse, and black or black with blue or red.  I like the gold Colorado blade a lot.  Black or black/blue works best for me.

 

When I visit Florida, a 10" unweighted worm is always on one rod.  I like Junebug, but other colors also work.  Another rod usually has a #11 Rapala, a third has a spinnerbait, and the 4th gets switched for whatever I feel like trying.

 

Couple weeks ago bass were hitting a sh$$ty yellow color worm at a state lake near Jim Thorpe.  Guy told me he had his best day ever....50-60 bass.  He couldn't buy a hit before using that color so don't be afraid to experiment.

 

No need to buy shiners all the time.  Catch your own where legal.  Not up on today's laws as I haven't fished live bait in decades, but as a youth we use to set out a minnow trap in a nearby creek.  Also we waded the lake shore overturning stones.  A soft shell crayfish is DYE-N0-MITE !!  Lake we fished also had little leeches that we used when we could find them.  Anything will hit those wiggly little burgers.  In Florida last year we caught our own shiners at the lake we were fishing.  Only time in about 40 years that I have used live bait.  They were deadly.

[ThatZX14Fella]

Just don't do like me when you learn how to use a BC. I tried to learn on my own and didn't know how to properly set it up. I backlashed a lot trying to learn. I used a BC for two years without knowing how to set it up and earlier this year I seen a suggested video on YouTube that said "How To Cast A Baitcaster." When I watched the video I felt like and idiot. I set my reel up properly, made a cast, and was amazed at the difference. So just a tip, don't try to learn something on your own if you're clueless about it.

[FirstnameLastname]

Buy a medium action ugly stick rod reel combo. It works for all but the real big ones, besides I doubt your catch any over 10lbs anyway. For lures, a couple packs of big bite plastic worms and grubs" cheap and effective", a rapalla floating minnow, a couple of inline spinners " one rooster tail, one mepps", a white spinner bait, and maybe a wordens flat fish or a red devil spoon.

[frogflogger]

Research Ned Kehde's blog at in-fisherman.