Advice for a greenhorn

[RevyTwoHands]

I'm new to fishing, like only got a rod and gear about a month ago. I have a local lake I go to in west GA that has large mouth bass, catfish, and some pan fish. Unfortunately, the two trips I've taken over there I've caught nothing. Don't really know what I'm doing and just tried a bunch of different things each time I went. Any advice for catching bass or even pan fish would be most welcome. I will say, even though I didn't catch anything, it was nice to get out and be by the water. 

[Micaiah Freels]

Hello! Hi i'm Micaiah and I am a new member to! What I like to use for bass is the strike king rage tail craw in summer craw for clear water and black and blue in muddy water. Just look up "how to texas rig a worm" and put that craw on that texas rig and you will start catching fish. Here is the link for the rage craw https://www.strikeking.com/en/search-results?query=rage+craw

[Mobasser]

Read up and learn about fish location, seasonal patterns etc. 

[Captain Phil]

Don't make bass fishing more complicated than it is.  Bass are ambush predators.  This means they position themselves so they can catch their food by surprise.  The hardest part of bass fishing is finding the fish.  Look around your local lake.  Are there any pads, weeds, rocks, docks or anywhere a bass can lay in wait?   The easiest lure to learn that will catch bass is a plastic worm.  Buy some Zoom Trick worms in Black or June Bug.  Rig them Texas style with a light weight, light line and a 3/0 wide gap worm hook.  Ten pound mono is a good place to start.   Bump those worms slowly on the bottom near whatever cover you have.  You will know it when a bass picks up your worm and moves off with it.  Set the hook and fight the bass.  After you get this down, you can try all the other ways of fishing bass.  You don't need expensive tackle or years of experience to have fun catching bass.  Keep this in mind,  most good anglers don't catch nearly one bass per hour.  I've been bass fishing for over 60 years and if I catch at least one bass a day, I feel successful.  

[RevyTwoHands]

Just looked up that texas rig worm. Interesting way to feed a hook into bait. never would have thought to try something like that

 

Thanks Phil. I'll be sure to take a closer look around when I'm walking the banks. I conveniently already have what you suggested, so that saves me some time lol. and yeah, i'd feel good having caught even one in a day. 

[WRB]

Welcome to bass fishing and this BR site.

Glenn has several instructional videos to watch.

What rod/reel/line do you have for bass fishing???

Tom

[RevyTwoHands]

samurai rod and reel (open), and i believe it's 10lb test line mono. it's my only rod and reel atm. didn't want to throw down a bunch of money right at the beginning and all. 

[RevyTwoHands]

I've got Monday planned to go out to the local lake, so I'll be able to try these suggestions while I'm out there. It'll be cloudy and not too hot, so I'll be able to spend several hours out there. 

[Captain Phil]

14 minutes ago, RevyTwoHands said:

samurai rod and reel (open), and i believe it's 10lb test line mono. it's my only rod and reel atm. didn't want to throw down a bunch of money right at the beginning and all. 

 

Use as little weight as possible.  A 6" worm is big enough.  You want the worm to look natural on the fall.  After you have inserted the hook into the worm, hold it up and make sure it hangs straight.  If you are patient, you will get bites.  They may be difficult to detect at first.  Don't let the bass swim around with it too long or the bass will swallow the hook and you may kill the bass attempting to remove it.  Tell us how you do.

[RevyTwoHands]

i’ll do my best. i’ll hop on monday evening to let you all know how it went. 

hopefully i’ll have a pic to show along with the story lol

[NavyToad]

Try a 1/8oz jighead and a 3” smoke colored grub. Cast, retrieve, repeat. Vary your retrieve speed and twitch your rod periodically.

[RevyTwoHands]

4 minutes ago, NavyToad said:

Try a 1/8oz jighead and a 3” smoke colored grub. Cast, retrieve, repeat. Vary your retrieve speed and twitch your rod periodically.

got some 1/8oz jig heads. i’ll keep my eye out fornthise grubs next time im at the store. watched a video on jigging several days ago. looks like the sort of thing that takes a while to get used to. fortunately, the days i have free i have that sort of time lol

[NavyToad]

11 minutes ago, RevyTwoHands said:

got some 1/8oz jig heads. i’ll keep my eye out fornthise grubs next time im at the store. watched a video on jigging several days ago. looks like the sort of thing that takes a while to get used to. fortunately, the days i have free i have that sort of time lol

Cast, retrieve, repeat. Don’t worry about dragging it on the bottom. Just swim it back. At this point it’s best that you just catch a few fish. Just don’t give up!

[GRiver]

Don’t give up ….. I still get skunked. You’ll learn a lot on this forum, I know I have. 
Let us know how you do on Monday.
Post some pics of how you rigging you baits, I’m sure you get pointers from people here. 

[BrianMDTX]

Look up 5” Senko wacky rig. It’s great for a beginner as it’s easy to cast, fish and it definitely catches bass. Get a bag of #297 (green pumpkin) and #956 (watermelon w/copper flake-orange w/red flake) Senkos and catch some bass!

[huZZah]

In line spinners are easy and multi-species. Just throw and reel. Only have to worry if there’s stuff to get hung on cause they will. 
 

Wacky rigging a worm (Google it) is safe and easy. Texas rig (Google it) is easy.  Texas rig also gives you several different ways to fish it without changing anything. 
 

Good luck!

[scaleface]

1/4 ounce Beetle Spins should work well with your combo . Dont look down on Beetle Spins , they catch bass .

[FishinBuck07]

You want to catch panfish grab a container of wax worms and a bobber and small hooks and have a blast!  Just pay attention to where you are catching the panfish, because the bass will also be in the area!

[WRB]

Spinning rod/reel combo with 10 lb mono.

Soft plastics I suggest Split Shot rig. You use round size 4 (3/32 oz) split shot, not the removable shot with ears.

Size 1/0 or 2/0 Gamakatsu, Owner or Mustad Ultra point worm hook.

Roboworms in Oxblood red flake or MM111 5” to 6” curl tails.

The split shot in crimped on about 14” to 18” above the hook. Use the Palomar knot.

You simply fan cast the area. Retrieve by lifting the rod to drag the weight, reel in slack line and repeat. 

Strikes vary from a rubber band resistance feel to light tap. Stop the retrieve and watch the line for any movements. Reel until you feel weight then sweep the rod back.

Lure, Rapala Original Minnow size F11 or F13 in silver black back. Use the Rapala loop knot. Simply cast and retrieve. Keep any weeds off the hooks.

Good luck.

Tom

[Catt]

Understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively.

 

Understand what the predominate prey species in your lake and how that species relates to structure with each season...morning, noon, and night.

[scaleface]

I am speculating you are fishing from shore . Try to fish around cover as much as possible . Any type of cover  . If casting out in open water , use lures that sink . Let them go to the bottom then retrieve . Bass relating to the bottom are almost always easier to catch than bass suspended in the water column .

[Tatsu Dave]

You got a lot of good advice to try, use bass resource to see any rigging or technique explained......Glenn has more videos to watch and learn from than I got aches and pains from fishing all day yesterday............Catch a big one.

[RevyTwoHands]

thanks for all the advice and encouragement, everyone. i’ll try to remember to take pictures of my rigs so y’all can give me further pointers and if i land something i’ll be sure to share pictures of that. 

there are a lot of people to respond to so i’ll just reply in bulk here 

yes, im bank fishing. 

there’s plenty of submerged logs/trees speckled around the lake (the lake is in two parts) including a dam so i’ll be sure to take a good look at those.

ive got to make a trip out to the store tmo so i’ll keep my eyes open for some of the things y’all listed (some i already have conveniently)

ive got videos and images saved relevant to y’all’s suggestions so i’ll be reviewing those some more before i head out on monday. 

just an addition, thanks for being so welcoming. 

 

[purpurite]

Man, some of this advice is WAY over the top for a beginner. Do you WANT him to quit?

 

Kids catch fish on water bottle "reels" with broken toothbrushes for lures. Fish will bite on many things. Your goal right now is to keep it as simple as possible, and to not get discouraged if and when you don't catch anything. It's the dead of summer and the water is really warm. Everyone is struggling right now.

 

A simple 5" rubber worm or grub in green pumpkin on a simple Texas rigged hook (weedless) will work in so many situations, it's crazy. I prefer wide gap hooks to make rigging the hook easier, but people will even debate that. I like a small bullet weight on my setup to help with the drop, but you absolutely don't need it.

 

Don't overcomplicate fishing for your first year. The worst thing you can do is to start chasing lures and rigs and gear. Keep fishing regardless of what or how much you catch (it's practice and it's invaluable). The more you have the rod & reel in your hands, the more you throw and reel and catch, the more comfortable you will get. As your mechanical skills grow (and your knowledge), then start looking down the tackle rabbit hole. It's a lot of fun.

 

Good luck, and keep grinding.

[Tatsu Dave]

41 minutes ago, digdug24 said:

Man, some of this advice is WAY over the top for a beginner. Do you WANT him to quit?

 

Or do you not give him credit for trying and reaching out? Not everyone has a mentor so they learn by the school of hard knocks. Wish this site and experienced fisherman like on here had been around and given me a hand with BASICS many years ago when I was trying to learn. I think he's spot on myself and will learn on a much faster learning curve than most do. Your lure and rigging suggestion follows right along with everyone else's.........