thedilettantedad

I have been using Gamakatsu Finesse Wide Gap Weedless Hooks. It might be me, but I left the weed guard open and thought I caught more.

So I am pretty much a noob. I ordered an Ugly Stik spinning combo in July and started fishing for bass for the first time in my life. I upgraded the spinning rod not too long after, but yesterday I picked up the Abu Garcia UltraMax combo from Dick's which is $40 right now on the recommendation of the Realistic Fishing YouTube channel. They are sold out online but I lucked out and found one at the local store. This is my first bait caster and I got to say, not knowing any better, I was able to fish it this morning and even catch a couple bass. My priority was just learning to cast, and sure I bird nested a couple times, but at the end of 60 minutes I felt like I found the rhythm and was casting farther than I expected. All that to say for $40 bucks I think it was worth it to jump in the game. The rod itself sells for more than that so it is like getting it on sale and getting a throw away reel if you want to think about it that way. I thought I would just share my thoughts in case there are any other noobs out there. -- tDd

I am also a noob and my thought is that I will use mono until I am more confident in my casting and avoiding snags. Thinking it will cost me less while I learn and get more comfortable.

I am a noob and I will tell you I have had good luck throwing a white spinnerbait early in the morning and then a Texas rigged baby brush hog later in the morning from the bank. Basically learning off of Youtube right now. BassResource and Realistic Fishing have been helpful. Good luck!

Berkley make spinning and casting versions of the lightning shock rods. I think he is recommending getting a bait caster set up, and a spinning rod set up. Seems like a spinning rod is great for lighter tackle and finesse fishing. Good luck.

Fished a bit when I was a kid, but didn't know nothing. My 5 year old watched Chasing Monsters early in the summer and wanting to explore if he was really interested, we ended up buying a freshwater UglyStik combo and a saltwater UglyStik combo to bank fish around town and them do some surf fishing on the Gulf. Slowly learning, but also trying to be frugal. If anyone has any Houston area bank fishing spots or tips, any information would be much appreciated.

Try Tom Bass III on the end of the pond closest to the golf course entrance. Caught one over there and lost one over there. Both dinks but they were biting a baby bush hog on a 1/8 Texas Rig. Only other one I caught was right off the pier. Buffalo Run looks good but got skunked. I am a noob so it may be more me than the fish. Good luck.