Tackle Setup For Newbie

[pagliaroj]

OK, so I started to take up bass fishing last summer in my free time and even went out with a guide once. I am totally hooked now and want to be well prepared for this spring with everything I need. Here is what I have accumulated in a year of shopping and friends giving me stuff:

6.6 Abu Garcia med/heav spinning rod with some random spinning reel

6.6 ugly stick med casting rod with BPS Tournament casting reel

14lb berkley mono

40lb spider braid

8lb fluro

KVD Sexy Frog

4 random top water plugs

White deep diving crank

Sexy Shad 1.5 crank

Red 1.5 crank

3 jigs all same size different colors though

black rattle bait

some tubes

a lot of weights and hooks different sizes

Havoc 3" green pumpkin deuce pack

Havoc 4" black/blue craw fatty pack

Yum brown creature pack

Yum watermelon doozy 8" pack

Yum black doozy 8" pack

6 different packs of Yamamoto Senkos, different sizes

My question is, what are some things I am missing. Besides a boat which is priority number one and I am closing in on that. I tried watching the shows and reading the magazines but I get lost in a sea of products. I would like to have some spinners, but have no idea what direction to go. Should I get rattling cranks or no? Lipless, square bill, colors? Polarized glasses, reel grease, attractants? It is so overwhelming. Please help!

[Trickerie]

Pick up a pfleuger president spinning reel. It can be had for 35-50 and is by far the best spinning reel for the price. Also, for spinnerbaits, go with a gold or silver blade, tandem mixture with a willow, white skirt about 3/4 oz. make sure the blade spins long before buying. Also, maybe some swim baits? REaction innovations skinny dipper are a MUST in my bag

[Packard]

How are you set up in the way of hooks? Since you are new to fishing, I recommend you wacky and weightless texas rig your senkos. Once you learn to use them then you can almost always catch some bass! You are going to need hooks for T-rig which I would recommend 3/0 EWG hooks. I like the brands Mustad, Gamakatsu, Owner, and Trokar. For wacky rig you can use a variety of hooks but I like to use small octopus hooks. I wouldn't overwhelm yourself with a ton of baits and setups when you are just learning. You will have a hard time deciding on what to use and won't catch many fish. I'd also learn to fish a jig as it can catch bass year round. Good luck and welcome!

[smalljaw67]

First of all slow down, being new to this and just looking at everything is overwhelming. I'm going to try to make this easy as I can so it will be less looking and more doing.

1. Plastics - Don't look at individual lures, instead look at catagories, you have 1. worms and grubs - 2. craws - 3. creatures 4.- Tubes.

When you begin my advise would be get 2 packs of 7" or 7.5" ribbon style worms like the Berkley powerbait worms and also a few packs of stick worms like Gary Yamamoto Senkos or Yum Dingers. After that get yourself some worm hooks, this can be very intimidating also as there are different types but for now lets just get a normal offset worm hook or an EWG hook, both will work fine. Get them in sizes 2/0, 3/0, 4/0 as these you will use most and you can also get a pack of size 1 octopus hooks, these are good if you want to fish stick worms wacky rigged. With the internet you can find information on everything you want to try but what I told you to get is going to help you not only catch fish but give you a starting point that will get you out on the water while you begin to learn. A medium spinning rod will be more than enough so you can save to get that but before you know it you'll be like the rest of us that have been doing it a long time and have rods just for certain lures...lol.

2. Hardbaits - Same deal, catagories before individual lures. 1. Crankbaits (lipped) 2. Lipless crankbaits 3. Topwater 4. Minnows (jerkbaits)

Topwaters for warm water, I'd say over 62 degrees and you can catch them on top, and your crankbaits you'll want to focus on those that are shallow diving, smaller lures. These will draw more strikes and help you not only learn how to use them but also gain confidence at the same time, once you feel you know how, when and where to use a bait then move on to another lure in a particular catagory.

3. Wire Baits - Not too many catagories here but there is a ton of baits just like the rest. 1. Jigs 2. Spinnerbaits 3. bladed jigs (chatterbaits)

I would begin with the spinnerbait, this is the easiest to use and not only that but the jig is the easiest to fish but one of the hardest baits to learn. I would say a chatterbait will work along the same lines as the spinnerbait so concentrat on those, move to the jigs after you have fish a lot with worms and have confidence in detecting bites and setting the hook on fish.

I didn't include swimbaits or subcatagories in order to keep it simple but if you are looking at lures I suggest go to tackle warehouse first, not to just buy but look, they actually break down the items they sell by catagory and do it with hardbaits and softbaits seperately so if you want to fish with a plastic but you want it to be a finesse bait, you can go there and actually look under finesse or drop shot and find lures to use or try. Good luck.

[drew4779]

Ditto what smalljaw wrote.

[deep]

I think you should get a pair of polarized sunglasses. I also think you should start with one lure, and learn it before moving onto another bait. Topwaters are fun. Rattletraps and spinnerbaits are supposed to work in colder water. Jigs and plastics are said to catch fish all year around... Good luck.

[pagliaroj]

Thank you guys for the advice. I am definitely looking forward to the weather change, although today we got 5 inches of snow here.

DEEP - Is there a difference in the polarized glasses? Why are some $200 and others $30?

Also, do you guys recommend using braid with a flurocarbon leader? I know it is harder to cast but I have been practicing with it and if it is more difficult shouldn't I be just fine when I switch to another type?

[WdyCrankbait]

Welcome to the start of being broke! All the advice given seems pretty good to me, get out catch some fish and lets see some pictures!

[Trickerie]

Thank you guys for the advice. I am definitely looking forward to the weather change, although today we got 5 inches of snow here.

DEEP - Is there a difference in the polarized glasses? Why are some $200 and others $30?

Also, do you guys recommend using braid with a flurocarbon leader? I know it is harder to cast but I have been practicing with it and if it is more difficult shouldn't I be just fine when I switch to another type?

Fluorocarbon leaders are usually optional, but can work in your favor if you think you are fishing spooked or highly pressured fish. Just don't get colored fluoro, it weakens the line. The exception is if you are fishing hi-vis line, then I would always suggest a leader of fluoro.

[dman]

Dont go crazy buying a bunch of different lures...Pick things up here and there depending on the type of water you fish. You will learn what you are comfortable with and good at......My lakes and ponds are shallow and have a lot of weeds so, i dont use crankbaits....Spinnerbaits work well for me (I use War eagle brand) , lots of texas rigged soft plastics, jigs and topwater baits. Those are the things that work for me in my waters.

All im saying is, dont set out to have everything all at once because you dont need to ...Just go out and fish and have fun and you will accumulate what you need over time as you learn your waters

[deep]

DEEP - Is there a difference in the polarized glasses? Why are some $200 and others $30?

I would like to think so; just like with almost everything else. I used to fish wearing $20 strike kings, and last year around this time I found a pair of $150ish 7-eyes at a ridiculously marked down price. So I bought that, and it was a big improvement (in seeing underwater). It's not very fashionable, but I don't care what I look like when I'm fishing.

The type of fishing I do tends to elicit more followers than biters. I want to detect those followers so that I can come back at a later time and hopefully catch them.

[MaineBassFishin]

Just wanted to add, as confusing as things may seem with all the different kinds of techniques, brands, terms, just stick with it and try to take in as much as you can and you will soon understand it all. It may take a bit and be confusing but you will look back and laugh at certain things you had no clue or didn't understand. At least this is the case with me.