As a beginner in the sport of bass fishing I was a bit overwhelmed when it came to setting myself up with a rod and reel, tackle, lures, etc. When I first walked into a fishing section of a store it all seemed overwhelming. It still is to a point but the more I learn it seems that all those items are more organized and easier to understand.

The purpose of this post is to ask the prostaff to provide advice for someone starting out. Please keep your answers oriented to someone with a limited budget. I've read many of the posts and I understand that different rods, reels, and tackle all have their specific purpose, but, it is not feasible for me to go out and buy all those different things....

Some of my questions are:

If I were to start off with one rod and reel, what would be the ideal set up that I can do the most with?

What is rod action and weight, i.e. fast action, medium-heavy? How do you apply these to fishing--what is the benefit of fast action or slow action, what is the benefit of a medium-heavy or a medium-light rod?

What are the essentials of a tackle box? Which soft baits and hard baits are a must (or highly recommended)?

I know that the answers to these questions can fill up a book but if anyone can help with this or any parts of this, please respond. Also, if any beginner's have any questions as well, please post them.

All really good questions! Well lets start with your reel, if you are not proficient with a baitcasting reel, I would start of with a spinning reel loades with 8-10 pound test. Naturally this will limit you in ways, but the reel & mono is very durable. I would also start off with a 6 foot medium heavy rod. This size and quality should cover most of your bait applications.

Next on to your bait selection. Crankbaits and spinnerbaits in natural colors are a good start. These baits do not require a whole lot of expertise to be honest. Just cast them out and retrieve. There are a few tricks in using these baits, but you can worry about that later. Topwater baits are also good, depending on the season. Plastics, jigs and carolina rigs require a little more patience, but you can try these also. Probably the most popular colors in plastics are junebug, red shad, black and purple. With the jigs, black & blue, and also brown & orange.

Experiment with these options. I am sure in no time you will be an accomplished fisherman!

I started off with a Rod and Reel combo that I bought at Wal Mart. This got me started in fishing. It took alot of abuse as I was trying to learn how to cast the bait caster.

I understand the limited budget very well and that is why I started out this way. As time progresses and you thrill of catching the bass increases you will want to save you money and purchase the better quality rods and reels.

As far as the rods are concerned the Med heavy with a medium action rod should get you started. The med heavy refers to how stiff the butt section is on the rod the action in the tip or upper part of the rod. A fast tip would have alot of give in the tip and would allow you to cast smaller lures. Maybe some of the other prostaffers have a diagram of the different tip actions.

Baits that I would start with are spinner baits both the safty pin and the inline spinners for the most action year round. When it comes to soft plastics I would find a private pond that has lots of bass in it so that you can learn the difference in what a bite on a worm feels like. No two bass bite a worm the same way. It is the best way I have found to teach my wife and kids.

The main thing to remember when first starting out is to keep it as simple as possible. Do not try to over do it. Kevin Vandam has a book out that is one of the best I have seen on bass fishing. The main point he tries to make is to keep it as simple as possible. Learn the basics and go from there.

If there is a local club that you can join nearby I would do it. You can learn alot from the others in a club. Most clubs love to help other learn.

Mo

just starting out i would buy a medium action spinning rod and a descent spinning reel, you cant scrimp to much on a reel, if you do you will wind up having alot of problems with it, and the expierence of fishing will be lessend. spool up with 10lb. test line on your reel, this will be strong enough to handle alot of situations.

as for lures i would buy some tube baits before you buy anthing else. you can almost always catch some fish on a tube. the colors you should buy are greens and browns, it is hard to go wrong with these colors. next i would buy some crankbaits and spinnerbaits. in crankbaits buy some chartruce and some shad colors.in spinnerbaits chartruce and white. these three lure combiations will cover alot of your fishing situations. good luck and good fishing.

Rob, we have all started out with limited resources and have added tackle to the point of insanity. If Iwas to help an angler get started I would have the angler buy a Daiwa Tony Bean Smallmouth rod and match it with a Daiwa SS series 1300 spinning reel. This combo would cost around $150.00 dollars. As for tackle I would have you purchase some hair jigs from Bill Alexander's MTO tackle, 1/16oz.,1/8oz.,1/4oz. in black and brown( $6.00 dollars), also some 1/16oz. and 1/8oz Marabou jigs ($3.00 dollars). You will also need some 1/4oz.,1/16oz. and 1/8oz. slider heads($6.00 dollars)and Bluefleck, camo, and black Berkley power ring worms($15.00dollars), #2 Nickle cad needle point Kahl hooks and a box of small paneling nails, 4" Sekos in watermelon blackflake and one pack of Gold Jersey rig worms ($10.00dollars)some plain leadheads 1/16 to 1/4oz. and some watermelon tubes ($6.00 dollars), also buy one gold Rapala, and 1/4oz. chart. Rat-l-trap ($7.00 dollars) with a waterproof box and a pair of line snippers/needlenose pliers you are ready to go for about $220.00. I would learn to fish the jigs first or "jump baits". Remember that all baits are divided into three catagories Topwaters, swimmers and jumpbaits. If you cover the three areas you will be learning how to catch Bass throught the seasons. Good Bassin Dan Bass

Dan,

You mention the Daiwa Tony Bean Smallmouth rod. What makes a smallmouth rod a smallmouth rod?

Rob, That is just the name that Daiwa gave to that Rod, Tony Bean is a legendary guide/pro smallmouth fisherman in Kentucky(you know the guy that in feirce current and wind can feel an 1/8oz hair jig get ticked by a 4 pound smallmouth) and so Daiwa named the rod after him. I picked that rod becuase it has the perfect action and is the right price without sacrificing quality. Also use 8 to 10 pound test Berkley Vanish with your 1300 spinning reel. Good Bassin' Dan Bass

Rob,
If you are looking for a low cost, but fairly good quality trigger stick (casting), I would suggest a South Bend IR35 (6', Medium action). This rod can be purchased for around $35 to $49, and has been a good all around producer. A few years ago, I was a member of their pro staff, and was surprised at the great quality of the new lines this company is producing. The staff has been "folded", but I'm still using their Intrigue series, which is also a good graphite rod, that collapses to a 5 feet length, and extends to 6 feet.

The reels I have teamed with these rods are the Garcia C4 and Ultra Cast casting.

I use a lot of different colored lures, but I have done seminars on basic selections. Here are some choices: Crankbaits (max. depth of 10 feet)crawfish, fire tiger and Tennessee Shad; Spinnerbaits (3/8 oz.) white/chartreuse; Plastic Worms (6-inch with some sort of ribbon tail, or Auger Tail) black, black-grape, watermelon and pumpkinseed; Tubes (jig head or Texas rig) black or smoke with red flake, pumpkinseed, and watermelon; Curl Tail Grub (3 inch, with jig head) smoke; and Jig-n-Frog (3/16 oz.) black/blue, black/chartreuse, pumpkin or brown, combined with matching colors. Again, this is a very basic selection, to which should be added other weights and sizes as you go along.

For Texas rigging, middle of the road, would be 3/16 oz. sinker, with a 2/0 to 4/0 hook, for which I would prefer an XGap XPoint, but to save a little money you may want to look at the Daiichi. True, I'm on the TTI Pro Staff, but I recommend these hooks because they are very sharp, and produce fish. You may even want to look at the Tru Turn line. In the 1980's I fished a Brute 1/0 Tru Turn hook, with a 3/16 oz. worm weight, and a 6" Mann's Augertail Worm, 90% of the time in the Mississippi River, with great results.

Hope some of these answers will help. I've noticed the other pro staffers have given you some good ideas as well. Hopefully it won't swamp you with too much.
Dan