r/FishingForBeginners Jun 11 '20

Beginners Guide to Getting Started

957 Upvotes

This is a stickied post that contains information every beginner should know. The world of fishing contains thousands of rods, reels, lures and recommendations. It can be quite overwhelming. This guide has links covering fishing related terminology, as well as recommendations and information regarding gear, line, lures etc for beginners starting out. Use the links provided to set yourself on the right path.

Choosing A Rod And Reel

Choosing Line For Your Reel

Understanding Rod Weight, Action, Length, And Their Uses

Basic Guide To Lures


r/FishingForBeginners Apr 21 '17

My Comprehensive guide/Tips to New Fishermen

784 Upvotes

So you've decided to give fishing a go. Good Luck. More than likely you've perused the internet for the countless how to catch fish videos, or how to do this and that tutorials. I've watched thousands of them. They're mostly made and produced by avid or hardcore fishermen who know the ins and outs of everything it takes to catch fish. However these videos fail to demonstrate or talk about many of the frustrations of what its like to be a beginner fisherman. So looking back on my 22 years of fishing I've put together a piece tailored to removing some of the frustrations of learning to fish. Id like to preface this by stating I fish lakes, ponds, rivers, and streams, in the northeastern US, mostly for Largemouth Bass, small mouth Bass, Musky, pike pickerel and trout. My advice will be tailored towards this style. First off let's start with your setup. Every video I watch talks about the line they're using paired with the length and sturdiness of the rod, which reel is best and whats good for what bait/style/fish. Don't worry about that. I've caught the majority of my fish using a rod/reel i bought as a backup at Kmart for 50 dollars. Don't break your bank. Get yourself a cheap rod, and some 8-12 pound MONO-FILAMENT line. Why mono-filament? Because its the easiest to work with. IF your starting out, braided line can be frustrating, Fluorocarbon can be extremely difficult to completely spool your reel on. We'll touch more on this later. So now you need some lures. Ever walk into a bass pro shops or cabellas? The choices/styles/methods are seemingly endless. The following are my recommended lures for beginners. They are simple to fish correctly and their simplicity leads to most fish targeting them. -IN line spinners: Mepps, Rooster Tail, Blue fox etc etc. Its a simple cast and retrieve. Let it sink for a second, give it a tug to get it spinning and just bring it back to you. They all have treble hooks (3 hooks) so when a fish hits it it will practically hook themselves. These lures mimic fleeing bait fish. Blue Fox Spinner -Spoons: Same concept. instead of spinning these will flutter and dart like a wounded baitfish. Cast Retrieve. Spoons -CrankBaits: Pick up a crank bait or two. They come in all forms. For starters id prefer the floating ones that upon retrieval will swim to a specific depth. The box will have all the information you need as to what the crankbait will do. Again a simple cast and retrieve bait. Vary your retrieval speed, give the rod a little flick every now and then to make the bait dart a bit.Crankbait

Get good at casting. Being able to drop the lure where you want it. Vary your retrieval speed. Start Catching fish. When you get this down, then you can start getting into swimbaits, Texas rigging soft plastics, drop shots, Carolina rigs, bottom fishing football jigs etc. Lets crawl before we sprint or you'll lose confidence and interest.

Ok, so you've got a rod, some lures, and some line. Look up a video on how to properly put your line onto your reel. This is important. You want your line on their tied to the reel and as tight as possible. Performing this process well can save you a lot of pain down the road when your trying to fish. So lets go fishing...

If anyone actually reads this and wants help deciding where or when to fish id be happy to oblige. But including that in this post would make it an encyclopedia. Feel free to pm or ask further.

So you got stuck. Either in a tree, on your shirt, or on something underwater. Seems the pros never get stuck. I've caught more branches rocks and trees then I have fish, and getting good at getting unstuck will save you lures, money, time and frustration. Cast over a tree branch? Calm and slow. Reel your lure until its just below whatever your stuck on, and give it a quick pop so it jumps up and over. If you try to muscle it out it's going to wrap itself around everything. Stuck on something in the water? Tricky. There's several things you can try. Change the angle of where your standing if you can't tug the rod and get it off. (move 20 yards left or right and try from there). Grab the line ABOVE where it leaves your pole and give it a strong pull.Grabbing the line from where it leaves your rod will allow you to muscle it out and avoids putting strain on your reels drag or breaking your rod. Hurting your hands? Wrap the line around a stick and pull the stick(Works great for braided line which wont break and will slice through your fingers) Also pulling your tight line to the left or right with your reeling hand and then releasing it quickly can sometimes snap your lure off of whatever its stuck on. If you CANNOT get it unstuck try to pull as hard as you can to snap the line off the lure. The lure was already lost and now there's not 40 yards of fishing line polluting the water. I HATE that.

Now your'e not catching any fish. Welcome to it. Keep fishing. Fan your casts. This means don't cast your lure to the same spot and do the same thing every time. You'd be amazed how many fish sit against a bank or are huddles around a submerged stump. Cover as much water as possible and remember that the water may be deep. There may be a bunch of fish in front of you but if they're sitting towards the bottom and your lure is passing 10 feet above them they may not chase it that far. Vary your retrieval speed, vary the depth at which you bring it back, change up your approach until something works. The fish will tell you what they want when you do something right. Change your location. 30 yards can make all the difference especially on lakes and ponds when you start taking into account water temperature, tributaries, cover/structure, visibility, wind etc. The location of the fish you want is going to be determined by the location of THEIR food source. Bait fish. Minnows, shad bluegill frogs insects bugs lizards etc. Look for things on the water and within your surroundings that would indicate a presence of these food sources. Fish coming and eating on the surface, are there birds that eat fish standing anywhere on the banks, turtles, frogs etc. Look for life. Change your lure! Change the color, change the style of lure, change it up until you start receiving bites. Don't spend 2 hours casting to the same spot with same lure. IF you're still not confident or proficient in tying a lure to your line, pick up some snap swivels/dual locks. You tie this to your line once and it allows for a very quick change of your lure. its like a mini carabiner. These may hinder your catch rate slightly due to their visibility but id still recommend it to new fishermen.

Remember as your fishing to keep an eye on your rod setup. If you have line looping out of your real, if its wrapped around the tip of your rod, if anything is different then when you initially set it up correctly , take time to stop and fix it. Small problems lead to big problems. It only takes one cast where you didn't notice an issue and now you've gotta spend 20 minutes untangling your birds nest of a fishing line. DO a quick visual check before every cast.

Use the times of not catching fish to get better at the basics. You need to be able to cast accurately sideways forehand and backhand, over hand, underhand. So many perfect casts to that perfect spot will be dependent on your ability to throw the lure accurately without getting mangled up in brush and branches.

Holy shit you caught a fish! What now? Needle nose pliers can be a lifesaver. Especially when they include that little scissor spot you can use to cut your line when tying knots. The fish's mouth is mostly cartilage. Work the hooks out one at a time while holding them very firmly. They're gonna flop and jump unless you're in control. Some of these fish will have very sharp dorsal fins. Stroke them back like you would a head of hair and get a solid grip. If the fish is big enough just pinch its lips and go to work with your pliers. Set it back in the water and give it a push. OBLIGATORY PUBLIC SERVICE AND BIAS ANNOUNCEMENT: Throw the fish back. Unless your hard up on food and your fishing for food, throw it back. The joy of fishing comes a lot from actually catching fish. In the twenty or so years i've been fishing, amazing spots, stretches of river etc have been decimated by people keeping every piece of meat they brought back on their line. Days of catching 10+ fish in those spots are gone due to the fact that there's none left. Caught a trophy and want it mounted? Just take a picture and measure it. All you need. Maybe someday soon someone else can experience that same joy of catching that fish.

If anyone is interested in any more information I could talk for hours. Bottom fishing, top fishing, Locations, Line choice, Leaders, weather conditions, lunar cycles, barometric pressure, spawning seasons, more advanced lure choice and techniques, finding where the fish are, etc etc. The most important thing you can do for yourself is to get out there and get your line wet. Bring a buddy, bring a six pack, and get outside.

UPDATE! My comprehensive guide to fishing Part II is posted. I got a lot of positive feedback and might make this a weekly thing for awhile. PART II

I highly recommend to all fisherman new or experienced, the Fishbrain App. Its a free tool allowing users insight as to who's fihsing around them, where they are fishing, what they are catching and the lures and methods used to do so. This link is meant for mobile users.


r/FishingForBeginners 1h ago

Finally caught somethiny

Thumbnail
gallery
Upvotes

Ok so me and my boyfriend go to Maine every year since he has a house up there and last year I really got into fishing. I would be fishing for whole days and never catch anything.

I have spent tons of money and tjme on fishing and this year I was honestly just so sick of it. I just felt like I bought so many lurs and spent so much time of my life on plain nothing. The other day we went to this new spot and we were using worms. I kid you not the moment he casted he caught a fish. We took photos and released

Then, I tried. Again same thing happened. We caught three fish. Only thing is that they all look pretty similar but, I think there different sizes. Hope I didnt catch the same guy three times >.<

Let. me know your thoughts. P.S. Worms are the best bait EVER!!


r/FishingForBeginners 36m ago

Can I use gun oil on my fishing reels

Post image
Upvotes

I have this gun oil I use for my knives, I was wondering if I could use it to lubricate my spinning reel


r/FishingForBeginners 6h ago

Beginner Queation

Post image
18 Upvotes

When we cast the line it spools off kinda loose so then when we reel the line back in sometimes it doesn’t spool back on the right way and ends up like this. Any suggestions?????


r/FishingForBeginners 2h ago

Won an online auction for tackle. How much is usable for bass?

Post image
5 Upvotes

Recently won an online auction for some fishing gear. Included some tackle as well. I suspect the original owner was primarily targeting trout. How well will any of this work for bass? I'm located in South Carolina so I'm primarily targeting bass and occasionally bluegill or other small fish.

Auction win also came with a few top-water frogs as well but I'm aware of using them for bass.

Thanks for any help!

Edit: This is a small sample of the tackle. There are a lot of repeats (for example probably 6-8 rooster tails and plenty of other duplicates)


r/FishingForBeginners 1h ago

Is this rigged right?

Post image
Upvotes

This is all i got for this to work maybe. But is this rigged fine


r/FishingForBeginners 1d ago

To anyone that needs to hear this

Thumbnail
gallery
325 Upvotes

You dont suck, you probably just gotta change the approach. Started fishing about two months ago. Caught a blue gill my first time fishing, then skunked for weeks. Pivoted from power bait to finesse after trying to convince my buddies. I ended up catching bass every trip I went while they still got skunked.

After some more weeks of me catching fish and them catching weeds, they began to make the switch. Unfortunately for them, our area starting getting heavy rain every day and has raised the water level in the preserve by around 1½ feet. Now the fish arent falling for finesse and we go back to getting skunked for a whole month.

My confidence bait was a 5in watermelon green senko with red and green flakes. It never led me astray until the water level rose. After taking notes on water and fish behavior at the preserve, I switched to a small curly tail grub on a jig hook. I instantly started catching bass again. Ive caught about 9 fish in the last three days and roughly half of them are bass.

Keep at it, take notes on patterns if you frequent a spot. Treating fishing like a puzzle worked for me, it just might work for you.


r/FishingForBeginners 18h ago

Where should I be looking to cast?

Post image
36 Upvotes

I've wanted to give this lake a try, but the weather seems to have put all the fish to sleep. Heard depth and weather influences fish like Bass and Pike quite a bit too.

Where should I be looking to cast on this lake? Should I prioritize the deepwater or should I stay attached to bridges and weed edges?


r/FishingForBeginners 15h ago

Caught a large mouth bass on the same spot where i got skunked 2 times and broke 2 rods. Swipe to see the fish. Thanks for the inspiration

Thumbnail
gallery
14 Upvotes

r/FishingForBeginners 15h ago

Fishing since I was 12 I’m 29

14 Upvotes

I have been fishing on and off for years and I have never caught a fish… I have tried everything. From bait to lures to sizes of hooks even different fishing techniques.

I boat an inflatable boat this year and have been out a few times still no luck.

Any advice?


r/FishingForBeginners 1h ago

Confused about a South Carolina fishing law…

Upvotes

So I’m looking at the legalities of using corn and corn imitating foam for carp fishing some neighborhood ponds but all I see is body specific laws (can’t use corn in (blank) lake) but I still get results also saying “it is illegal to use corn or corn imitations in South Carolina waters”.

P.S: I’m not looking to attract the “fuck dem green jeans I should do wut ever I want” crowd I’m looking for the actual law that allows me to use corn/imitation corn in neighborhood ponds or the law that disallows me to use corn/imitation corn in neighborhood ponds.


r/FishingForBeginners 3h ago

Advice for organizing? (and targeting species)

0 Upvotes

Can I get some general, or very specific, advice on organizing tackle and what you'd bring to target specific fish? I know that's a very broad question followed by a specific one. I primarily, at least right now, fish for Catfish. My catfish rigs are super simple and it's easy to fit everything I need in one tackle tray but I like to cast out other lines while waiting for bites. I've been going after goldeye, drum, northern pike and walleye. I mostly fish a fairly large river in western MN. I'd also be open to catching other species too these are just what I know to be available where I fish. Goldeye and drum are common and I just would like them as cut bait but pike and walleye are less common at my current spot. I'll start moving around soon for more chances at them and others.

If you were targeting these fish, what would you pack with you? Let's say in one or two tackle bags/boxes. Something you could carry with you, or bring on a kayak. Between what I've purchased myself and what I've been gifted over the past year, I probably have everything required, and then some, to catch any of these fish but I still struggle with it but that's a different post. If anyone would be kind enough to just give me a basic list of what you'd bring with you, and if you wanted to get very specific about how you organize it all together to best utilize space, I would really appreciate it.

I've been trying to just go out and fish, ditch what I don't use and keep what works but I just struggle so much with catching anything but catfish that I can't tell what works and doesn't because nothing seems to work when I know it should.

Thank you in advance. I'm sorry if this is too broad of a question, or just too easily researched, but I struggle with "paralysis through analysis" and cannot seem to figure out a good system.


r/FishingForBeginners 4h ago

Fishing Reel Screw Cap Replacement

1 Upvotes

I have a white rabbit combo 300 fishing rod. Tried to fish only twice but didn't got any. Now I noticed that the screw cap thing on the fishing reel is missing. And the handle can't stay in place because of the missing screw.

I saw screw replacements on aliexpress.But then asked gemini and it says that all screws have different sizes. Is it true? How do i know which size screw is for the fishing reel, or the universal size will be fine?


r/FishingForBeginners 4h ago

Recommended bug spray for Ontario?

0 Upvotes

It might just be me, but it seems like the mosquitoes are fucking insane this year. I've tried the usual things, OFF! brand and Ben's scentless because I was going insane smelling half a can of Off all day, but still getting a few bites. It's also been just a series of heatwaves here since summer started, so wearing a bunch of extra sleeves and a face cover and all that isn't ideal

Anyone have recommendations for something stupid strong to keep these fuckers off me? At this point I'll try anything


r/FishingForBeginners 4h ago

New to fishing

1 Upvotes

Want to get into shore fishing, just bought a rod, reel and some lures.

Any advice for someone starting out?


r/FishingForBeginners 5h ago

Using a ned rig head for everything?

0 Upvotes

Hey guys, I'm trying to simplify my tackle box a bit for a small travel go-bag for a road trip coming up. I bought a travel 4 PC rod and case that seems to work well from a couple outings I tried, but I don't want to have to carry around too much tackle.

Instead of carrying a standard ball jig, ned rig, EWG hook, and other hook and weight options, is it possible for me to just use ewg ned heads kinda like a gen purpose weighted hooks option? Or would that result in serious limitations to what I can or can't do?

Mostly fishing single tail grubs, small senkos, paddletails for soft plastics. I'm thinking with the ewg neds, I can swim lures on normal retrieves, ned it off the bottom, have it be weedless, do some weighted wacky rig stuff if necessary.

I hope the question isn't stupid, I am very new to fishing and don't quite understand everything, have yet to actually hook a fish on senkos or grubs yet, mostly only successful with crappie magnets on regular ball jigheads drifted, and paddletails on belly weighted swimbait hooks on straight retrieves.


r/FishingForBeginners 6h ago

Fishing help

1 Upvotes

I have a small pond in my backyard that connects to the local lake, over the last few months many schools of roach have made there way in. I’ve been feeding them corn and every now and then I go out and catch 1 or 2.

Lately I’ve noticed that 4 pike have ended up in my pond and they are just constantly eating my roach. 2 of the pike look very strange and have tiger like stripes but I don’t think it’s a musky (as they aren’t in my country). Could anyone give me some ideas to try and catch the pike? I have already tried using lures and live bait but none of that as worked as they take no interest in my bait.

Can anyone give ideas to try get them out?


r/FishingForBeginners 11h ago

Can you tell from the pictures if this is a good fishing spot for a beginner?

2 Upvotes

I also, as a beginner, do not know whether to use bait or lure, spinning or casting rods. Any information/advice would be very appreciated.


r/FishingForBeginners 18h ago

What’s wrong with my set up looking for bass channel cat , carp, crappie

Thumbnail
gallery
8 Upvotes

r/FishingForBeginners 22h ago

1st Surf Limit!

Thumbnail gallery
13 Upvotes

r/FishingForBeginners 26m ago

Good enough for crappie/small fish?

Post image
Upvotes

r/FishingForBeginners 19h ago

Fresh water, how to get into salt water piere fishing?

5 Upvotes

I live in south Texas and haven't been fishing in a long time

I grew up fishing cat fish in a family pond and even as soon as a last year. Went flounder gigging When I was 8. I'm not around family all the time and I want to go fishing year around instead of holidays.

Now, I want to get into it better and the nearest fishing spot is a salt water piere into gulf of Mexico

I don't know anything about salt water fishing or anything about salt water fish

I'd assume I'm supposed to start catching bass.

I need to get a new pole apparently my old pole is missing a tip and is 20 years old with no line.

Any beginner resources I can read to learn? What about the poles? I think I may have forgotten how to filet one too.


r/FishingForBeginners 1d ago

Technique for lures?

Post image
17 Upvotes

I've always fished using worms or other kinda of bait. Looking to try out some lures for fun. Any advice how to best use these things?


r/FishingForBeginners 20h ago

Is there such a thing as beginner lures, and what would they look like.

4 Upvotes