First Time Bass Fishing

[Philodox]

Hi Everyone. New Guy here. Thanks for having me. Please excuse the bandages in the photo's, I had surgery to remove plate/screws from my wrist a few days ago that I obtained from a nasty wrist fracture.

Well, I finally caught the bass bug. I broke my wrist this past April and had the last of 3 surgeries this past Monday to remove some hardware the doc put in there to keep the bones together. Yesterday I finally felt well enough to try my hand at fishing for bass for the first time ever. Went fishing in a pond near Athens, Georgia.

I haven't been fishing in years and years and then the only thing I ever caught were some sunfish in a local stream around Fort Bragg where I was stationed while in the Army. I took a friend of mine and we went to a local pond that isn't fished too much. It was maybe 2 acres large, tops. Nice and quiet though. I ended up catching 4 bass and he caught about 7 or so in the 3 hours we were out there. I should have reeled in 7 or 8 if I knew how to set a hook properly. After my buddy instructed me how, I finally started reeling some in.

The first bass I ever caught was nice! I didn't realize how much pull these suckers have in them. I had to quickly adjust the drag on my reel to almost maximum as I wasn't able to pick it up out of the water after getting it reeled in without the drag being pulled out.

Here's a photo of the very first bass I've ever caught. It was a nice size, imho, considering I've never caught one before. It seemed to weigh a little more than a bag of sugar, so I'm guestimating about 4-5lbs or so. If anyone with a better eyeball than me can let me know how much you think it weighed, please let me know.

I ended up putting this guy back in the pond.

I was using black trick worms on a 2/0 offset hook that a good friend of mine calls 'old faithful' as it works practically everywhere. Everything we caught was within 5 to 10 feet of the bank. Couldn't get anything in the deeper sections of the pond. Boy, was a ton of fun! Now I need to get a kayak so I can go to some of the bigger lakes around here.

The equipment I am using is a Pflueger Supreme XT reel with 10lb mono on a bass pro CarbonLite 7ft medium rod. Any critiques on equipment would be most helpful as I'm still very much a newbie

Here are some other photo's from the short trip. everything else was pretty small in comparison to the first one of the day that I caught.

[Grey Wolf]

Congrats on your first bass , between two and three lbs I'd guess.

[Fish Chris]

But WAIT !!! Just so you know, bass fishing can be extremely addicting !

Welcome aboard

I could go on and on with info for a new bass angler, but just to keep it short and simple, always remember this;

Keep an open mind. Don't try to force the fish to do it "your way" but rather, try to figure out how "they want it", then act accordingly

Ask a lot of questions. Look for the guys that are catching the numbers, or the size of fish you'd like to catch. Follow their lead. Then tweak those ideas to suit your own style.... or should I say, "while developing your own personal style".

Finally, If I can do it, then anybody with hard core OCD / AADD can do it too

Great fishing to you,

Fish

PS, You have came to the best place on the net for bass fishing info, and camaraderie.

[Philodox]

Thanks for the replies guys. I really appreciate it! I haven't had so much fun in ages, if you couldn't tell by the kool-aid smile across my face.

Any critiques/comments about the reel/rod I decided to use? Just to let you all know once more I was using the following during this particular trip.

Pflueger Supreme XT spinning reel model 9235XT with a gear ratio of 6.2:1. I currently have 10lb test mono-filament line on it. Should I go heavier?

BPS CarbonLite 7ft medium weight fast action rod. It's not too late to return this rod and get a different one. Any suggestions on the rod type? I noticed that this one was extremely sensitive and I could feel every nip, bump, bite, log, root, etc. that the lure was touching.

For bait on this particular day I was using 7" black trick worms with a 2/0 offset hook. I didn't use any weights on the line.

I really had no idea of how to work the worm, so to speak, during this trip. I would slowly retrieve after letting it lay on the bottom for a bit. I'd retrieve about 2-3 feet then let it sink back down.

I noticed all my strikes were when I was retrieving the line. Temp outside was in the mid 60's. All fish that I caught were within 10ft or so of the bank, I can only guess the water was a little warmer there and the fish were congregating around the edge of the pond to warm up. I had absolutely no luck casting in the deeper sections of the pond, I had to stay near the bank to catch fish.

Like I mentioned before, I am a total newbie. Any experience or comments that you care to share would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks again!

[Big-O]

Great start Philodox and keep it up!

Big O

www.ragetail.com

[Siebert Outdoors]

Nice fish!!! Congrats and to many, many more!

[Grey Wolf]

Thanks for the replies guys. I really appreciate it! I haven't had so much fun in ages, if you couldn't tell by the kool-aid smile across my face.

Any critiques/comments about the reel/rod I decided to use? Just to let you all know once more I was using the following during this particular trip.

Pflueger Supreme XT spinning reel model 9235XT with a gear ratio of 6.2:1. I currently have 10lb test mono-filament line on it. Should I go heavier?

BPS CarbonLite 7ft medium weight fast action rod. It's not too late to return this rod and get a different one. Any suggestions on the rod type? I noticed that this one was extremely sensitive and I could feel every nip, bump, bite, log, root, etc. that the lure was touching.

For bait on this particular day I was using 7" black trick worms with a 2/0 offset hook. I didn't use any weights on the line.

I really had no idea of how to work the worm, so to speak, during this trip. I would slowly retrieve after letting it lay on the bottom for a bit. I'd retrieve about 2-3 feet then let it sink back down.

I noticed all my strikes were when I was retrieving the line. Temp outside was in the mid 60's. All fish that I caught were within 10ft or so of the bank, I can only guess the water was a little warmer there and the fish were congregating around the edge of the pond to warm up. I had absolutely no luck casting in the deeper sections of the pond, I had to stay near the bank to catch fish.

Like I mentioned before, I am a total newbie. Any experience or comments that you care to share would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks again!

Start by reading the "Fishing Articles" on the top left top of this page , you will get a better understanding of the how , what ,and whys of bass fishing.

[slonezp]

Welcome to the darkside.

As far as the rod and reel. If you like it keep it. You have the rest of your life to spend tens of thousands of $$$ on bass fishing. No need to overcomplicate it now.

Once you've met the bait monkey there's no turning back.

[Hyrule Bass]

welcome to the forums, glad to see you enjoyed yourself.

i would estimate that first bass is around 2lbs, though its hard to tell from photos.

as for your rod and reel setup, its just fine. if you like it and it feels comfortable to you, then keep it. if you stick with the bass fishing, youll find yourself thinking you have more rods, reels, and lures than you can possibly use, and then youll go buy some more anyways lol

[K_Mac]

Welcome to the Forum and bass fishing! Nice fish.

The rod and reel are fine. I would not go any heavier on line unless it is a braid of some sort (a whole nother discussion ). As you learn, you will probably come to the conclusion that you will need more than one rig. Most of us have several.

Bass fish can be very simple; fishing a small pond with one or two baits; or as complex as consistently catching the biggest fish in large public lakes. Spend some time reading on this site in both the articles and forum sections. Enjoy the process.

[MN Bassin' nOOb]

Welcome! Just a word of warning, bass fishing is very addicting, and very expensive! Trust me, going from no gear to >$2,000 of hardware in 3 months just goes to show you were I came from...now I'm looking at used bass rigs for $10-12k, which is on the cheap end!

On the fish, when you first start, you always think they are heavier than they are...I'd say your big one is probably something like 1.75-2 lbs, just based on the length and girth.

[North Ga Hillbilly]

Congrats, bass fishin can be a really relaxing time, or a hectic obsession, and I appreciate both aspects. You have a decent setup to start off with, so no need to go buyin something diff. Read, read and read... but be sure to take time to fish as well. If you get a few baits to take care of the entire water column you should be good.

Bottom- T-rigged worms will work all year long. I suggest two or three types you like in a dark and a light color

Middle- Some spinner baits (inline or regular bass style ones)

Top- a few poppers or spooks

And you got it made to get an idea how to work most baits.

Glad to hear the wrist is doing well. Thank you for your service.

-Greg Mavity

[Mrs. Matstone]

Well that is a very nice start and it will only get better from here on out. Congrats to you and keep up the good work.

[Philodox]

Well, update to the fishing report for this 2 acre+\- pond that I've been fishing. Caught a monster this morning using old faithful, the black trick worm unweighted with a super slow presentation. Measure it mouth to end of tail fin at 24 3/4 inches. Don't have a scale, so I found a chart online that uses size to estimate weight. Looks like this guy is about 9.5lbs give or take. Sure felt like it bringing him in. Took 3 or 4 minutes of fighting with him to get it to bank of the pond. Found him under the dock here.

Here is a pic

Made this post using my iPhone. Will post more pics when I get home to my computer.

[00 mod]

Nice long fish! Congrats.....but a cheap scale will help you tremendously on getting a more accurate weight!

Jeff

[deep]

That is a nice fish! If you have any questions, you might want to post them in the General bass fishing forum, or the tackle/ rods,reels and line forums. People may be more likely to answer your questions there.

Keep at it

[Red]

Great way to start man!! I got hooked by catching dinks for the first year, you started of well!!!

Cliff

[Philodox]

Home from the trip now. Go figure, I caught 1/2 to 1 pounders the rest of the day. Can't complain though.

Here's another look of the big guys underbelly. Bass are impressive fish for sure!

Can't wait to go out again.

[doug deike]

Nice fish man!

[mr.mallard]

great rod and reel and bait choice. you might consider 8 lb mono.. it wil increase your casting distance alot with the weightless or lightly weighted baits.. suffix seige in smoke green is a favorite of mine but most lines will perform just fine. just steer away from eagle claw and cajun redline.

[Fishmaster10]

Nice long fish! Congrats.....but a cheap scale will help you tremendously on getting a more accurate weight!

Jeff

Congrats on a nice fish! But x 2 on Jeff's comment