new to bass fishing

[CliffB]

Don't buy a rod under 6.5 feet. Most lures, especially "new" lures (usually way over priced) attract fishermen and not so much large mouth. Think like a bass and the lure you use. Half ounce chrome/blue top Rattle Traps and most any plastic worm bait so long it is green, red or blue in color works good. 3/8 ounce spinner baits with white/green skirts do good. Chatter bait is a great choice. Top water frogs in a light green pattern are really good. Remember the bass are looking at the underside of a frog, not the top. Keep your line tight when reeling that golly-whopper in. Use a fish net until you develop a technique. Use good fishing line probably 10 pound test unless you are fishing Lake Guntersville. For what it's worth, my youngest daughter won the Georgia BassMaster Casting Kids Tournament first year it was out. Came in 2nd in the regional. Beat out by Hunter Ingram who is Charlie Ingram's son. Good luck! Have fun! Make sure your reel drag is set.

Rattle Trap Chatter bait

Hey i won for our region in 2000 i believe it was.

 

[mustang-3537]

Congrats CliffB. Guess you still fish?

 

[CliffB]

Too many other hobbies at the moment. Fishing took a backseat. I respooled all of my reels two years ago, took them out on Burton once and put em all away again. I like to use a 6.5' medium heavy with a bait cast reel and 12 lb line. I've been known to catch a log hog on occasion and like to be able to fight my worm back to the top.

 

[chrislibby88]

Don't buy a rod under 6.5 feet. Most lures, especially "new" lures (usually way over priced) attract fishermen and not so much large mouth. Think like a bass and the lure you use. Chatter bait

True that. I have had alot of success fishing worms, FLUKES, a few cranks, and spinner bait. Plastic worms have been in the fisherman's arsenal for ever. They work. Also think about the local bait in whatever environment you are in. Is you lake stocked with shad? Or do bream, baby bass, and minnows make up the prey? Snakes, insects, and aquatic worms are fairly universal. Pick a bait that matches the environment.

 

[chrislibby88]

Too many other hobbies at the moment. Fishing took a backseat. I respooled all of my reels two years ago, took them out on Burton once and put em all away again. I like to use a 6.5' medium heavy with a bait cast reel and 12 lb line. I've been known to catch a log hog on occasion and like to be able to fight my worm back to the top.

Heavy rod and line! That's no fun! There is nothing like bringing in a bass in the 6-10lbs range on 6lb line and a medium light rod.

 

[CliffB]

My Medium-Light rods are all under 6', have spinning reels, and have 8lb line. Those are targeted for crappie and bream but sometimes bass do happen.

 

[CardsFan]

Hire a fishing guide for a day or even half day.

Absolutely, if someone new to fishing wants to cut their learning curve, hiring a good quality guide is a smart, if not somewhat expensive, way to learn the basics.

Another way is to join a club. My wife and I joined the Coosa Basin Striper Club many years ago. The initial intent was to fight the City of Rome building a dam on the Coosa, which would have destroyed one of the few basins in the country that has the right conditions for sustaining Striped Bass populations.

We developed friendships with some very successful Striper and Catfish fishermen and guides, and we fished with and learned a hell of a lot from them. And they didn't charge us