Best advice to give newer guys

[billmac]

To get someone hooked on fishing, then they need to catch fish.  I wouldn't advise them to target a particular fish.  There's a reason a lot of kids start out catching panfish.  Use live bait, or easy crank and retrieve lures.  As they get better and more successful, then they can start experimenting with targeting particular species and using more difficult presentations.

[MGF]

Big difference between giving advice to beginner bass fishermen "newer guys" and introducing young children to fishing.

 

When My kids were young we hung out at the lake or river. We did fish but we also climbed trees, caught frogs and went swimming.

 

My dad started me a little different. I'm sure there are some pictures of my as a toddler with a sunfish someplace but my earliest real memories are at 5 or 6 years of age following my dad around the bank as he put a stringer of bass together. I remember very clearly that I wanted to do what he was doing.

 

At first I spent most of my time fighting my way through the brush and trying to untangle my gear. Eventually my skills improved. Once in a while I'd make a cast that missed the trees and I even caught a few.

 

I don't know that my father was trying to "get me hooked" as much as he was just trying to catch a few bass after work. I wanted to go along.

 

 

[bagofdonuts]

Two pieces of advice.

1.) If you want to be good at it, practice. Even when you can't fish you can pitch around the yard. Still do it all the time. My neighbors think i'm nuts. But, if you can pitch a jig into a rose bush and finesse it through the branches, then you can do it under water. Soon you'll get use to how it feels to crawl the jig over a branch, it feels the same underwater. you'll begin to trust what your feeling and when it doesn't feel right, set the hook! been bass fishing for 50 years and can still tell if i'm outa practice.

2.) Don't be in a hurry to move your bait out of the cover. So many times I see someone new to fishing finally make a good cast, then rip it out of the cover. I'm saying "what's your hurry". Give the bass a second to check it out. Most folks are fishing too fast. The pros look like they're fishing fast, but a lot of times, they're covering water but fishing the bait slow.

[Cranks4fun]

I would say FIVE Things:

 1. Never gauge your skill by a slow day or by comparing yourself to a pro on a video. Fishing is an ongoing, fun, learning experience.

2. Be smart about slinging hooks, landing fish with a mouthful of trebles,  and directing your hooksets. Getting a hook in you can ruin a good day! Believe me, I have been there more than once!   

3. Early on let others teach you what they about the fish on newer waters. Listen to multiple voices to get different insights. I have been fishing for bass for over 30 years and I still do this!

4. You will find that you usually fish best with baits after you have caught fish on them and have developed confidence in them. Don't be afraid to bring new lures and try new baits, but always keep a few skunk-killer confidence baits on hand.

5. Fish with and "against" your friends but never get so competitive that you cease to have fun when you fish. You can learn to enjoy losing to your buddies occasionally if you add humor to the experience. Losing occasionally also makes winning later that much more enjoyable.

 

[Jaderose]

Buy your first baitcaster in the middle of winter and spool it up with inexpensive mono.  Practice out in the yard.  By the time spring rolls around, you will be good at it and ready to go after digging all the backlashes out of that cheap frozen mono.  If you try take your first BC out to actually fish with no practice, that will be a very frustrating experience for you.

 

also.....any hook can be used for wacky rigging.  You don't need to ask 78 different times.  

[huZZah]

Don’t worry if you use spinning reels your whole life. Nobody that matters cares. ?

[BBuck]

Have fun.

[the reel ess]

Never take one Baptist fishing with you. He'll drink all your beer. If you take two they won't drink.

Seriously though, watch all the beginner videos on here. Get yourself a small assortment of the baits recommended. 

 

 

[Captain Phil]

29 minutes ago, the reel ess said:

Never take one Baptist fishing with you. He'll drink all your beer. If you take two they won't drink.

 

I was raised in a Baptist church.  I'm Presbyterian now.  Do you know the difference between a Baptist and a Presbyterian?  A Presbyterian will say hello to you in the liquor store.  Old joke, but still funny.  ?

[NYWayfarer]

My best advice for someone new is be observant. Watch what the fish are doing.
 

Are Bass chasing baitfish around? Tie on a paddle tail swimbait. Are they coming up top to investigate something floating?  Tie on a topwater. No sign of activity? Tie on a jig, Ned or bottom bait.

[txchaser]

1) In the 'be observant' category, look in their throat and feel their stomach - every now and then you'll get a clue that's really useful, like what are they eating and what color it is. Narrowing down whether they are on shad, gills, or craws can cut down a lot of experimentation. 

 

As an example, today the reddish brown craws in their gullet gave me some clues on how to fish, and what to fish to go from catching a few to having a nasty case of bass thumb (yay!). 

 

2) Buy some beetle spins - when you catch a bluegill you'll have a good read on what they look like in that lake or at least in that part of the lake. They all get called the same thing, but they can be anywhere from almost black (use GP) to very light (use sprayed grass). Do they have yellow or orange on them? And if you found bluegill the bass won't be very far away. 

 

3) Bass haven't changed, the books that have been out for a while are still good. There are a couple of threads here with pointers to good books. The time you spend reading will make your time on the water more productive. 

 

4) take everything you hear as a clue, take none of it as gospel. Sometimes the bass don't read the article, and sometimes that tip you got is just angler lore and has no basis in reality. Try stuff out and see what works. Do more of that. 

 

5) Don't overcomplicate it - you really can get it done with GP, watermelon, B&B, and junebug, plus that one regional color like smoke or red. 

 

6) Not everything that's expensive is better, but Yamamoto, Rage Tails, and Jackhammers are all definitely worth the money. 

 

7) Your rod and your line are more important than your reel.

 

8 ) If you aren't losing lures and getting snagged, you are missing a bunch of fish. 

 

[the reel ess]

3 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

 

I was raised in a Baptist church.  I'm Presbyterian now.  Do you know the difference between a Baptist and a Presbyterian?  A Presbyterian will say hello to you in the liquor store.  Old joke, but still funny.  ?

I still am a Baptist so I know it's true. Or at least it was at one time. 

[WRB]

Has the OP ever responded to this thread....no!

Tom

[Mike L]

21 minutes ago, WRB said:

Has the OP ever responded to this thread....no!

Tom

It’s been happening a lot

 

 

 

 

 

Mike