Fishing Gear For Beginners

What makes a person want to fish? I'm sure most people don't have a clue as to why they like to fish or what prompted them to do it in the first place. Whatever the reason, each year multitudes of people take up the sport of fishing. Most head off to their local sporting goods store or Target to buy the cheapest Fishing Tackle they can find.

I have created a short Guide on purchasing your first gear to start fishing. You don't need expensive or complicated gear to catch a fish. It's no secret that fishing tackle manufacturers design fishing tackle to catch the fishermen's eye instead of fish. The fishing tackle I used to catch fish all those years ago still works today. Just as good or better than the tackle being pushed on unsuspecting fishermen now.

You need to understand that most fish are predators and will eat any number of things. If it looks like a baitfish, acts like a baitfish or smells like a batifish, it's in danger of ending up on their menu. Fishing isn't nearly as complicated as many of the so-called Guru's would have you to believe. They're just trying to sell products for their Sponsors. I learned this lessons the hard way many years ago. My Buddy and I were outfished on our local lake by an Old Man and his Grandkids using nothing more than Zebco 33's and minnows.

When they got out, they had a huge stringer of Black Bass. The biggest one was 6 and a half pounds and none were under 2 pounds. I walked over and asked the Old Man what they had used, seeing how my Buddy and I were skunked that morning and we had been using the latest equipment and lures on the Market. The Old Man smiled and showed me his Minnow bucket and said "Why we were using Bass Minnows and Worms"! I also couldn't keep from noticing their very simple rod and reels. They had out fished a couple local Pro's with simple bait and rod and reel set-ups!

The Zebco 33 has probably caught more Bass and other fish than any other reel in history. It's a spincast reel and you can find these matched with rods at your local Wal-Mart. I would start out with a spincast reel as they are by far the easiest to use. Level wind reels take a lot of time and experience to master. You want to spend your time fishing, not untangling a bird nest in your reel.

Leave the Spinning and Bait Casting reels such as the ABU's and Shimano's for a little later. They take some experience to use. For now, you just want to focus on catching Bass! A spincast reel is an excellent reel to start with.

If your rod and reel didn't come with line, then you'll need to get you a spool. Your spincast reel needs what they call a limp line. Both Trilene and Stren make excellent limp lines, just make sure you read the box and make sure it's a limp line. Most lines designed for spinning reels will work well in a spincast reel. Just remember, not all fishing line is created equal and some have specific purposes. If you get a line that is too stiff, it will not work well in your spincast reel.

Next comes the bait. Again, there's no use in getting complicated here. Just ignore all the boasting and B.S.ing from the marketing material and you'll be fine. For live bait fishing, start by selecting hooks in the 1/0 to 3/0 range. Eagle Claw makes excellent live bait hooks. Get a selection of weights and Balsa bobbers and you're set for live bait fishing. For artificial bait, you only need a few selections. Plastic grubs with curly tails in the colors of forage fish are good choices. I like White, Yellow, Black and Blue or Green. Grab up a silver Johnson spoon and a Rapala swimming minnow and you'll be set. Make sure you look at the rod to see what range of lure weights it's rated for. Don't get lures too heavy for your rod.

And that's all you really need to get started Bass Fishing. This set up should cost you less than a $100 and once you have some experience under your belt, you'll find it's pretty easy to outfish the local Pro's. The commercial fishing companies have made it seem like catching a Bass is nearly impossible unless you're using the latest and greatest gear on the Market. Nothing could be further from the truth. Catching Bass is easy and doesn't take a lot of sophisticated equipment!