New Fisherman Needs Some Help With Tackle

[harlemsushi]

Okay, I just went bass fishing last week with my fiance for the fist time. I was hoping to get into a new hobby and she was just doing it to make me happy. We actually did pretty well I caught a massive 5 pounder and after catching two 2 pounders she was hooked on fishing and is dying to go out this weekend again. In fact, that's all she's been talking about all week. We both started reading up on fishing and are trying to build up our tackle boxes for mostly bass, panfish, and the occassional trout.

Yesterday she came to me with this offer she saw online for someone selling various tackle. I contacted the person and it was this little old lady on the phone who was selling her husband's equiptment. I talked to her for about 25 minutes and she knew less about fishing than we did. All she could tell me about the tackle was that it was for surf fishing and that her husband had used it with an 9 foot rod that he owned. I asked her to send me a picture (which I included below) and she was able to provide me with one but I could not tell very much from it.

I was hoping that one of the more experienced fishermen on the board could help a new guy out, take a look at the picture, and let me know if any of the surf tackle would be useful for bass, panfish, & trout.

Also, we fished on a pond/lake last weekend and this weekend we were going to try out our crawfish baits at a nearby river. I was wondering what baits are best for rivers or ponds. If you could, please include any pictures of bait & manufacturer or any advice you'd give to new/beginner fishermen.

[fishnabarrel]

welcome to the boards!

I cannot tell a whole lot from the picture but if you are looking to expand your bass catching arsenal its atleast a start

tight lines

[St James]

welcome to BR your in the right place to learn about fishing!

That surf tackle probably isn't what you want for bass and pan-fish

For catching bass pick up some senkos (or other similar stick baits) and go to the fishing tackle forum then go to the Senko FAQ's and read up. Senkos almost always work and are fun to fish just throw it out there let it sink twitch is a couple times and then when you feel a fish pick it up wait a couple seconds then set the hook. good colors to start with are watermelon red flake, punkin seed, junebug, and redshad.

have fun and good luck

[Grey Wolf]

Start by reading the fishing articles on the top left hand corner of this page and come back with your questions.

[harlemsushi]

Start by reading the fishing articles on the top left hand corner of this page and come back with your questions.

We've been making our way through the articles and there is a TON of good information there. I just wish the articles had pictures because for new fisherman its helpful. I any event, I was just wondering why the surf fishing tackle in the picture wouldn't be good for bass or panfish.

[dhami013]

Surf tackle is for salt water fishing. The baits are bigger, the tackle is different. Usually most salt water don't work for freshwater applications. Fish prefer different things I guess.

Right now at Dick's there is a Bomber crank bait kit for 10 dollars. You get 3 cranks. One in Foxy Shad, which has been my most successful. One in a light brown and orange crawdad, then one in a black and green crawdad.

They work for all colors and times of day. You can vary which ones to use for which conditions.

Throw the crank, let it sit for about 5 seconds, then start your retrieve. Start with a slow retrieve then move it faster as you deem necessary. If you start catching fish, continue that retrieve. You may even want to try retrieving, then stopping, then starting your retrieve again.

Go to the topic titled, best of bassresource, go to the one that says Guaranteed to catch fish. And it is guaranteed to catch fish. It's in the General forum.

Also read the forum that says I just can't catch a bass. That's very helpful as well.

Good luck, I'm glad you got your girl into it. I'm working on it with mine.

[Hyrule Bass]

soft plastics are a good place to start, you may also want to pick up some spinnerbaits of various colors, then build from there once you gain confidence in what youre doing. i learned a ton about fishing just from reading the threads on this forum here, you came to the right place thats for sure...

[BrianSnat]

Some of the smaller surf lures may work for larger bass, northern pike and muskie. Things like poppers, jigs and Rapala type lures. But generally salt water lures are not ideal for bassin'.

[dhami013]

Oh and a Strike King Bitsy Minnow is a money lure for all types of fish. I've done very well with the white, and the brown and orange colors. They catch bass, sunfish, crappie. Everything. Definitely pick up those two colors.

[harlemsushi]

Oh and a Strike King Bitsy Minnow is a money lure for all types of fish. I've done very well with the white, and the brown and orange colors. They catch bass, sunfish, crappie. Everything. Definitely pick up those two colors.

Okay so a Bomber crank bait kit from Dicks that has 3 cranks(Foxy Shad, light brown & orange crawdad, and a black & green crawdad) & a Strike King Bitsy Minnow (in white, and the brown and orange colors.)

Anything else you'd recommend? I went there today to pick up a 3 pack of 2" Storm Shad and some size 1 offset hooks. I'll go again tomorrow and pick up that stuff.

[dhami013]

Couple packs of Senkos with some worm hooks wouldn't hurt. I prefer Yum Dingers, they're the same body style as Gary Yamamoto Senkos but cheaper. You can get a 5 pack from Walmart for 3 bucks. I use 4 and 5". Watermelon and Green Pumpkin are good colors. Bitsy Minnows you can buy at Walmart as well. They usually have them. And occassionally Walmart has a sale box on the bottom of the rack infront of the fishing section. Always good to look in there and try out some baits that are in there.

Some bullet weights wouldn't hurt 1/16th is good for if it's not windy. 3/8ths is good for when the wind picks up. Most people rig their senkos or dingers weightless, texas rigged. I've had luck with or without a bullet weight.

Senkos (dingers) are pretty easy to catch fish with. Just read up on the forum thread pinned on Senkos. Another good plastic bait that I will forever swear by is the Zoom Baby Brush Hog. Green Pumpkin. That's my go to bait. But I mean you kinda gotta try around to see what you like.

I would try around with different techniques, cranks, spinners, soft plastics, and then figure out what you like best. Then stock on the technique baits that you like.

[flippin and pitchin]

One bit of advice. Go slow. You can very well be overwhelmed with suggestions that end up in you purchasing items that are not suited for the waters you fish or the techniques you want to learn first. It will be a tremendous help to describe the waters you will fish, size, depths, type of cover, temperature, type of forage and so on. If you fish spinning gear only, that will help define what tackle you might want to use. Knowing your money is spent wisely and the tackle you do buy is the right stuff will only build your confidence, catch more fish and increase the satisfaction you already enjoy. Knowledge is not only power, it saves you money and frustration.

[Hiram]

After reading all the articles and reviews, hearing everyones comments and deciding that you need one of each. You will fill a shopping cart and empty you bank account. I suggest you go the bass pro shop and cabalas web sites and order their catalogs. When you read about a bait you can look it up and have a visual of what it look like. This will help you determine what kind of fishing you want to do and how much it will cost you. It also helps when you go to the store that you know what you are looking for, there are so many choices that they can all start to look alike. Hope this helps in the future.

[NBR]

I was also going to say don't be overwhelmed with suggestions and buy a lot of stuff that is unnecessary. The articals here are good as are some of the TV shows. Remember that all the pros and TV shows are paid by sponsers so take what you read and see with a grain of salt. I've at this along time and have bought a lot of stuff based on what I saw or read. I caught fish on most of it but none of it was an incredible hait/line/reel/rod that always did better.

[Punkinseedfyretailz]

get some junebug anacondas, yum dingers, and wooly bugs, havoc pit boss, square bill bomber a, and kvd silent 1.5 and 2.5 squarebills, spro aruku shad, xcalibur rattle baits,

[Punkinseedfyretailz]

oh yeah don't forget chatterbaits and spinnerbaits of all sizes, mostly white and chartruese colors though

[SirSnookalot]

Don't buy too much, give yourself a chance to see if you are really "hooked". The vast number of rods, reels, lures and other baits can be overwhelming. I've been at this for 60 years and I just keep things down to basics, I keep it simple. As far as those surf lures go, use them. I flip flop all the time between my saltwater and freshwater stuff, I don't really segregate them. A predatory fish is a predatory fish regardless of where you're catching it. Don't think for a second that a senko doesn't work in saltwater.

[harlemsushi]

Thanks for all the advice guys. Yesterday we went fishing and it was great. I spent of the day trying out different baits to see what it is works in what kind of enviornment. The Rebel crawfish worked very well in the river. As I was going through the articles and fishing I began to have a question about the bass themselves that I was hoping that either someone could answer or direct me to an article about and that question is: What type of personality do bass have? What I am refering to is how aggressive/timid are they toward a bait; how finicky they are; will they attempt to go for a bait from the front, side, or the back; what is their relative intelligence level; do they have a powerful sense of smell, what is their daily cycle (daytime vs nocturnal) and how different the various species of fish are in personality (for instance largemouth vs black bass OR pond vs river.) I figure that since I am going to be fishing A LOT then I might as well get to know the the bass and its habits as well as possible.

[ArkieHawg]

Okay, I just went bass fishing last week with my fiance for the fist time. I was hoping to get into a new hobby and she was just doing it to make me happy. We actually did pretty well I caught a massive 5 pounder and after catching two 2 pounders she was hooked on fishing and is dying to go out this weekend again. In fact, that's all she's been talking about all week. We both started reading up on fishing and are trying to build up our tackle boxes for mostly bass, panfish, and the occassional trout.

Yesterday she came to me with this offer she saw online for someone selling various tackle. I contacted the person and it was this little old lady on the phone who was selling her husband's equiptment. I talked to her for about 25 minutes and she knew less about fishing than we did. All she could tell me about the tackle was that it was for surf fishing and that her husband had used it with an 9 foot rod that he owned. I asked her to send me a picture (which I included below) and she was able to provide me with one but I could not tell very much from it.

I was hoping that one of the more experienced fishermen on the board could help a new guy out, take a look at the picture, and let me know if any of the surf tackle would be useful for bass, panfish, & trout.

Also, we fished on a pond/lake last weekend and this weekend we were going to try out our crawfish baits at a nearby river. I was wondering what baits are best for rivers or ponds. If you could, please include any pictures of bait & manufacturer or any advice you'd give to new/beginner fishermen.

First of all, excellent choice on your new "hobby". Let me warn you, what may start as a hobby, will soon snowball into an obsession!

I started out much of the same way as you have, just about 20 years earlier. For years I stocked my boxes with baits for every species in the lake. But I found that to be successful in fishing, you should really focus most of your attention to one, maybe two species. I like to occasionally fish for Stripers and Hybrids, and in the Spring I like to Crappie fish from time to time, but the other 355 days of the year I bass fish. Any tackle I have for the other species stays at home on the shelf the majority of the time.

Here's what I would recommend you look into to get things rolling:

• Learn to throw a baitcasting reel.
• Invest in a good starter casting reel/rod (Shimano Citica/St. Croix Mojo Bass combo is a good choice, only about $200 for the combo new) and spinning reel/rod (Abu Garcia and Pflueger make good combos for around $100-$150). One of each will suffice until you get going.
• Develop a passion for plastics! Worms, Creature Baits, Crawfish Baits, Lizards, Frogs...all catch fish, all the time.
• Learn to fish a Jig. Swim Jigs, Football Jigs, Finesse Jigs...You can just about always catch em on a jig when all else fails.
• Study bass behavior. Develop an understanding of their annual patterns and what they relate to in their underwater world. Learn how weather affects them, water temp, fronts, pressure, wind, rain, etc.

Here's what I'd recommend for your tackle box:

• 3/8oz to 1/2oz Spinnerbait
• Square Bill Crank
• Lipless Crank
• Deep Diving Crank
• Jerkbait
• Topwater Baits (Spook or Sammy)
• #3 to #4 Worm Hooks
• #4 Swimbait Hooks
• Power Swivels
• 1/4oz up to 1oz Tungsten Egg/Worm Weights
• Zoom Flukes
• Reaction Innovations Skinny Dippers
• Zoom Trick Worms
• Zoom Brush Hogs & Baby Brush Hogs
• Rage Tail Craws
• Rage Tail Anacondas
• 6" & 8" Lizards
• Senkos
• 5" Grubs

I catch 90% of my fish each year on these baits. I have probably 10 times this number of baits, but these produce the most fish.

Hope that I could help! Good Luck!!!