The sport of fishing sees new members entering into the sport all the time. Who knows what attracts a person to fishing, especially Bass fishing. However, every year, innumerable people go out and buy their first fishing equipment in hopes of landing a fish of their choice.
If you find yourself in this boat (pun intended), then I’m here to share some fishing tackle tips you’ll want to follow before running out and buying every piece of glittery fishing tackle that catches your eye. Learning about how to become a successful fisherman is not difficult or expensive.
First off, get the notion that fishing gear has to be expensive or complicated to catch fish out of your head. Remember, fish are predators. They’re not overly smart and anything that resembles a baitfish gets put on their menu. This point was driven home early in my fishing career. Me and a buddy had been out Bass fishing on our local lake. We hadn’t had much success. Back at the boat ramp, an Old Man and a young kid came motoring up. They each had a stringer full of Black Bass.
It was very humbling to be done in by an Old Man and Kid with basic tackle. But it goes to prove that you don’t need complex gear to catch Bass. These two people simply went out and found the Bass and gave them what they wanted. Food!
For starters, if you don’t own a rod and reel, you’ll need one obviously. You don’t need the latest and greatest rod & reel to hit the market. In fact, many a Bass has been hauled out of the water with the likes of Zebco spincast reels. I would recommend heading down to Wal-Mart and finding a good Zebco 33 rod and reel combo. This outfit will serve you well as a beginner.
Level wind reels take quite a bit of experience and practice to use properly. Spinning reels are not as difficult to use, but you do need to know how to properly cast one or you’ll end up with a mess on your hands.
Next on your equipment comes the fishing line. If you bought a rod and reel combo, chances are it came with line already on it. If not, or you want to change the line, then I’d suggest a 10lb line from either Stren or Trilene. There are other manufacturers out there, but these two have been around a long time and manufacture quality fishing line.
You’re going to be looking at bait selection now. Start with live bait and work your way up to artificial. You’ll catch more Bass and bigger ones on live bait. When you’re in the Fishing Dept. of your favorite store, look for Eagle Claw live bait hooks in the 1/0 to 3/0 sizes and get a few packs. Next, try and find some weights. You can generally find the ones that come several sizes to a package. Split shot is a great weight for beginners. Next, check out the floats. I like to use Balsa wood floats. I use the slip floats. These slide up and down the line for easy adjustment. They’re held in place at the top by a knot or bobber stop. You’re now ready to head out to your fishing hole!
Believe it or not, that’s it. Sure, you may need a minnow bucket, a stringer, and a tackle box, but those are cheap. Just make sure you don’t go overboard! This set up will catch many types of fish from Bass to Catfish. Once you get some experience under your belt, you can then start trying other things like level wind reels, plastic worms or crank baits.