Brand new to bass fishing

[Apothus]

Hello all, I'm brand new to bass fishing and this forum. I've caught bass fingerlings with night crawlers on accident before, but recently I caught my first bass on purpose with a small trout spinner on the edge of some reeds and now I'm addicted. I'm fishing in Northern Arizona in small lakes and ponds, with a lot of rocks and weeds but not much other structure that I have found.

 

I have some senkos to Texas rig but getting any kind of action out of it was tough, couldn't feel the bottom really, and with the constant wind we have here the slack line was impossible to manage, part of it being inexperience. I was thinking of getting some lures that are a little less finesse. Can you guys make some recommendations as far as maybe a couple spinner baits or crank baits that I can cast and retrieve that don't require as much rod action? At least until I can get some more experience. Specific names and models would be great. I have a Sportmans Warehouse in town but that's about it for tackle.

 

I have about  $100 bucks to spend but also need to stock up some of my trout lures too. Thanks for helping a rookie

[Darren.]

Welcome aboard!

 

You want to search for Gary Senft. He's a bass pro out of

Arizona and has some great fishing videos out there.

 

Here's his YouTube channel.

 

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBKh4oPQOWzv-dN8HWJA9pA

[roadwarrior]

"Just Getting Started"
Guaranteed To Catch Bass
I just cant catch bass
Learning to fish on your own

 

[Dorado]

You fishing Lynx and Goldwater? Either of those places are loaded with crawdads. What works great in those Prescott lakes are small crappie tubes under a slip bobber rig. Trout go nuts on em' and those juvenile bass will be interested.  Not sure if you have a kayak or if you're fishing from shore, but PM me and I'll give you some 'local' tips. 

 

If it's Dead Horse Ranch, that place is loaded with bluegills. Ned rigs and smaller bluegill colored swim jigs with a 3.3" green pumpkin or bluegill flash Keitech FAT swing impact trailer. 

[Fishin' Fool]

Zman Finesse TRD worms.

[KayakFish107]

I started myself a little over a year ago, and I’m still trying new things. However, I have found that a few $1 Walmart spinnerbaits and buzz baits paired with a Texas rigged Yum dinger (I use them weightless) work very well and are affordable. It helps as well that they are very economical for when I pike decides to bite them off too! For me, it’s a give and take. Maybe I’ll catch 4 Fish with these rather than 5 with a 7-8$ spinnerbait. But, I wouldn’t be able to stay on the water too long losing those! (I’ve lost three in one outing to big pike/musky, and $3 is a lot easier to swallow than $25!) 

[LAO162]

For very shallow areas Mann's Baby Minus One can be effective.  Rebel poppers (and knockoffs) may be effective earlier in the morning.  Poppers may pull bass from the weeds or if may sometimes pull them up from surprisingly deep areas.

[Steveo-1969]

Also check out "Fishing with Johnny Johnson".  He is a fishing pro with a TV show and a Youtube channel and all of his shows are in AZ.