new to fishing with reason...

[yofoo]

My grandpa taught me to fish when i was a kid. When i fished with him i used to go to a local park and be that kid catching bluegil after bluegil always using worms. I have this pond about 5 houses down the street from me and last summer the local firemen decided they should stock it for when they didnt have access to their buddys boat. Ive seen fish pulled out of the pond over and over again ranging from 7inch bass to 7pound bass(and that was weighed 4lbs off state record...pretty crazy...). This is a small pond no more than 100ft by 200ft perfect oval.

Info I have gathered about pond...
1. Shallow pond(no more than 5ft in the deepest part)
2. Fountain in the middle
3. very small trickle inlet
4. outlet when water lvl is high
5. alot of submerged weeds
6. Southeast PA (philadelphia area)


ive been throwing plastic worms a blue with blue sparkles in clear water and a black in cloudy water....I use the pole and line i have had for the last 5 years.

please give me any of the following tips
1. more types/colors of lures
2. kind of pole
3. new line? is that even important?
4. general tips to fishing with artificial bait

[WTL]

Just thought I'd welcome you aboard. The amount of information you can find on here, or that I could present to you with a question like that is incredible.

I wont overwelm you though, its more important that you get out there and fish than read what I or anyone else writes.

Types of luers; I recomend keeping it simple, so get you a few spinnerbaits. or beetlespins if your rod is a light action rod. They are an easy bait to learn. For color you can get white or bright yellow.

Kind of pole - the rod is gonna be important, I dont know what you have now. Most bass anglers use baitcasting reels, but if you are new you might ought to stick to what you know. Plenty of bass can be caught on spinning or even spin cast tackle.


Line is very important. First, 5 year old line a lot of times will be weaker than new line - it can age. When it comes to bass fishing, you have two options I want to highlight - braided line or monofilament line. Braided is stronger, more sensitive and of a lighter diameter. It is often made of kevlar or other super fibers. Monofilament is proably what you did use, its plastic line - and it is still used by many anglers cause it is more forgiving. Good brands to look for - Braided the most popular line is PowerPro. There are several good monofilament lines, Trilene Big Game or XL, Stren or Cajun.

If you use the beetlespin or spinnerbaits try constantly reeling, keeping the lure just deep enough in the water so that you can barely see its reflection if possible. Now, anything that anyone says when it comes to artificias lures needs to be taken with a grain of salt, there are always many ways to fish any lure - and as you learn bass better you need to keep an open mind. But I think the beetlespins will get you started.

[yofoo]

I have a Shakespeare Mantis reel rod combo from walmart...6foot pole medium action 6 to 12 lb. line....lets start with the line since it is definately a problem....what test do you think i should use???


And thanks to WTL and all future posters

[RomeoX]

im interested on what line also...its all so confusing....

cheers,
RX

[rrw4258]

I would recommend either Trilene XL or Sufix Elite (both of which are available at Wal-Mart) in 8 or 10 lb. test... btw, once you got the bass bug it's got YOU for life!!

Ryan

[stevomac59]

Welcome to the forum! You will learn alot from these guys!

First of All:

Lure(s): Spinnerbaits, (black, or chart<--if turbid water is available) Yammamotto senkos (dark colors if turbid). Topwater ribbit frogs (when fish are Jumpy). Buzzbaits (blk). Rapala crank baits (the ones with flash and sound<--rattles)

Rod: Zebco, All-star, Ugly Stik (medium action 6ft+) Reel: Flueger reels are Pretty good (get one that has the capability of holding at least a 10lb test line)

Fishing Line: VERY IMPORTANT. If heavily weeded areas are present, get braided Stren, Tilene line. 10lb test or higher.

Techniques: Fish senkos wacky rigged (search forum for more info). Fish topwaters in the mornin', Fish cranks any time of day (get a shallow crank 3-6 feet swim capability). Fish spinnerbaits LOW and SLOW, mostly on the bottom along the weed beds.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask!

-stevo

[BERKLEY83]

I Agree With Wtl Get You Some New Line. I Would Go With Mono In A 10 Lb Test Would Be Good For A Pond. Also Get Some Senkos And Spinner Baits
( Alot Of). And Just Keep Chunking That Lure. Great To Have You Aboard

[Jim80]

Hey man welcome aboard , like wtl said this place is a trove of info , and i agree about
keeping it simple to start , ie a couple spinners and your plastics , if your dealing with
a lot of submerged weed beds i would suggest using a Carolina rig for your worm as
towards your spinners take a look at what everyone else is fishing there , if they are only
throwing spinners with willow blades try throwing one with a double Indian blade or painted blades . In a small area like that the bass have seen a lot of lures so try to throw
something they haven't seen it could trigger a few more strikes . as towards the line
everybody has their opinion personally i use power pro 30lb braid and Trilene big game
12lb . but line is mostly a personal preference .

[bamabassman]

ditto to what everyelse said. just go and find them fish. the bait monkey wil find you friend. welcome him, lmao.

[MrPhotographer06]

Abu Garcia Cardinal 100. My first spinning reel, and I still love it. It's about $30 bucks, and I got mine at Cabela's. As for a rod, IMHO, you can't beat the low end shimanos, which they should have at wally world or such. (they should also have the reel in a plastic package too. As for line, on a low budget, get a pack of stren original monofilament (for a spinning reel get 8lb test). Later when he has more money he could maybe get some braid.

Here's some lures he should probably get:

-Spinnerbait (3/8oz is a good all around weight.) get one in all white and one in chartreuse/white.

-Crankbaits. The bandit crankbaits are, IMO, the best for the money. the bandit 100 in Bluegill was our biggest producer last year. Also try some lipless crankbaits. There's a lot out htere, but I still think Rat-L-Traps are the best.

-Plastics. I'd start out simple with some 7" berkley power worms. My favorite color up here is watermelon candy, but get a few colors and see which he likes better. Also get some 3/0 or 4/0 Gamakatsu EWG hooks. I have no prolem with the 3/0 hooks, but it might be easier for him to learn with the bigger ones. also don't forget some bullet weights (1/8oz and 1/4oz should be fine to start)

-Topwater. A couple of these is a must. I'd get some poppers, cause they're easy to use and maybe some type of frog. I never use frogs cause I haven't had good luck with them up here.



from big-bassin

thats pretty much a good starter set.. got all that for 130 bucks



the thing is to get 2 of most stuff i dont recomend the xl line.. i like 8lb cajun

the thing with 2 of most underwater baits is light and dark.. light for light water dark for dark water (might have that backwards someone correct me) but get some topwater and some cranks.. but most importantly take the bait money with you

[BigBassin144]

Fishing the pond you've said, 3/8 oz spinnerbait (or 1/4 oz) in white or white/chartreuse. As for plastics, just try different things, but definately pick up some 7 or 7.5" worms in Watermelon Candy.

Mr.P, down at the wally world near the camground, we ended up getting two more Cardinal 102's. My dad got one the first day cause his other spinning reel broke, then I got one the last day just cause my other one is too small for bass fishing, and I couldn't beat the price down there.

BB

[bothomas]

ok yofoo, you got all that? now how bout some pics of those bass? welcome to the site man. Just go fish and learn.

[BigBassin144]

Bo's right, this site helps a ton, but t here is no substitute for being on the water fishing.

BB