dear all wise and knowing board,

here is my request:

i have recently bought a nice soft tackle bag/box. i now have $100 dollars to spend on beginner "tackle". my request is that you build a list of gear that "covers the basics" that you feel a newb needs starting off.

so what are you waiting for....spend $100 dollars.

i appreciate this so much fisherlegends!

3/0 - 4/0 worm hooks

quality line

1/8 ounce - 1/2 bullet sinkers

Couple bags of senkos or knockoffs

different colors and sizes of spinnerbaits and crankbaits

natural colored jigs w/ trailers

buzzbait or other topwater

and a camera to take pics of the hawgs you catch

This might make a decent beginner tackle bag:

1/8-1/4 oz bullet sinkers $2.39 per bag

3/0 EWG hooks $2.69

4/0 EWG hooks $2.69

two bags of senkos $11.98

1/4 oz spinnerbait $5.19

3/8 oz spinnerbait $5.19

3/8 oz buzzbait $3.99

3/8 oz chatterbait $5.99

1/2 oz Rattlin Rap $2.99

Shad Rap $6.89

X-Rap $6.79

Rapala DT-6 $6.29

Skitter Pop $6.29

Spro Bronze Eye Frog $7.99

Spot Remover Jigs $5.49

Zoom Trick Worms $3.39

Trilene XL 330yd $6.99

Add this all up and I think you will be around $100. Maybe not the most thorough but it will get you started.

Falcon

jfowl and falcon had good suggestions, so maybe ill give mine too.

1x Heddon Zara Spook

1x. Arbogast Jiterbug

1x Rebel Pop-R

2x Spinnberbaits 3/8oz 1/2oz

2x mans baby 1-

2xpacks Berkekley Powerbait Worms 7" Red Shad

2xpacks Gammy Hooks 2/0 or 3/0 offset shank

2xpacks Yum Dinger

1x Scum Frog

1x X-RAP XR10

2x Mepps Inline Spinner 1/4oz 3/8oz

that should get you started on the right path....if you dont buy anything from my list just make sure you absolutely buy the jitterbug. This is one of my favorite baits to throw in early morning/evening. If you have a good body of water that holds some bass and you use this bait in the morning/evening its almost a garunteed caught bass.

-WM  

Start out "just catching" some fish. Then get fairly good with one technique before trying to conquer the world. I suggest you start out with some "cast and retrieve" lures.

#1  Original Rapala. Just cast parallel to the bank, off the bank five to ten yards or along a weed line.

#2  Zara Puppy (black & silver). In low light, cast as I suggested with the Rapala. Let the lure sit for a least thirty seconds initially, then twitch it and let it sit again. Work the lure  all the back to you.

#3  Rat-L-Trap ( blue & silver). In deeper water cast as you have with the other two lures (above). Just cast and then reel at a steady speed, but varying the speed on different casts until you find one that the fish like.

I GUARANTEE these lures will produce some bass for you.

Next, the 5" Senko and the Fat Ika. Soft plastics are a little harder to fish when you are starting out. Don't start this project until you have confidence in the first three lures I mentioned. Later, you may find the Senko and the Fat Ika to be the two biggest producers in your tackle box.

These are all the lures/ baits you need this year.

Start out "just catching" some fish. Then get fairly good with one technique before trying to conquer the world. I suggest you start out with some "cast and retrieve" lures.

#1 Original Rapala. Just cast parallel to the bank, off the bank five to ten yards or along a weed line.

#2 Zara Puppy (black & silver). In low light, cast as I suggested with the Rapala. Let the lure sit for a least thirty seconds initially, then twitch it and let it sit again. Work the lure all the back to you.

#3 Rat-L-Trap ( blue & silver). In deeper water cast as you have with the other two lures (above). Just cast and then reel at a steady speed, but varying the speed on different casts until you find one that the fish like.

I GUARANTEE these lures will produce some bass for you.

Next, the 5" Senko and the Fat Ika. Soft plastics are a little harder to fish when you are starting out. Don't start this project until you have confidence in the first three lures I mentioned. Later, you may find the Senko and the Fat Ika to be the two biggest producers in your tackle box.

These are all the lures/ baits you need this year.

My dad just started out an dfishes a lot of ponds. Will these work for him? I fish rivers and strams here and the Ozarks, I use different tackle than him. I soooo wish some one had told me this when i started noot all that long ago.

The Radio Guy

The techniques RW listed will work anywhere.

Many a fishing career has been started thanks to the original Rapala minnow.  Just ask Mike Iaconelli.

UPDATE:

this evening I had my first "bait monkey" attack.

i appreciate you all. i took suggestions from each of you.

is there a bait monkey initiation?

If you are fishing from the banks, I would definetly recommend soft plastics. If they don't come back, you have 9 more in the bag.

So, I would spend the money on:

1. Good line. I like P-line cxx, but that is merely a preference.

2. 3/0 and 4/0 hooks.

3. Soft plastics. Experiment. Senkos and Fat Ikas are awesome, so are super flukes and frog style baits.

4. Sinkers.

5. Spinnerbaits. One white, one chartruse.

6. Rapala skitter pop. Lots of fun.

Theres a start. All the other posts have awesome recomendations and it's a matter of what works for you considering where you fish and how you fish. Take RW's advice to start, and have a blast.

It sounds like you just had your Bait Monkey initiation.LOL

Tell us what you got.

Falcon

It sounds like you just had your Bait Monkey initiation.LOL

Tell us what you got.

Falcon

Ok here it goes:

1) Got a box each of 1/8 and 1/4 ounce bullet weights

2) i got quite a few 3/0 and 4/0 "gammy" hooks..both offset and worm

3) Bought a two bags of tubes..one green and one red salt impreg bleeding ones

4) Bought one bag white flukes...and one bag both green pumpkin and watermelon finesse worms

5) Bought some trilene xt line

6) bought a DT-10 rapala...and a zara puppy

7) bought 5 different jigs...different colors

8) bought a white buzzbait

9) bought about 4 spinner baits...white chart and black

10) also, a local judge here who fishes gave me some crankbaits and rat l traps he hadn't ever used..he is a long time bait monkey victim.

so how'd i Grade out?

Well... The local judge knows you well enough to give you fishing gear... That's either an automatic "A+" or an automatic "F". JK-LOL. It seems like you've got some stuff that will work. I grew up on a farm in NY and I remember as a kid making my own lures out of anything I could find including everything from flower buds to cutting up mom's tupperware lids. (I only did that once- she wasn't amused- I caught some fish though.) If you can learn how to fish it you can catch some fish with it.

I think you get a high passing grade. You have a good base of tackle to add to as your confidence grows in certain techniques.

Now have fun,

Falcon

last year was my first real year fishing for bass, I found crankbaits worked the easiest. Learning worms has been fun though and it is pretty easy to learn, also topwater frogs fish near lilly pads and cover produced my biggest bass of the season one being almost 5 pounds and 20 inches.

gl and remember the most important thing is to have fun!!!

bill lewis rat-l-trap

strike king buzzbait

BPS floating lizard

strike king bleeding tube

jigheads

scents

hooks

pop r's

jitterbug for night fishing

frogs or mice

smithwick devilhorse

I would start with spending half that then see what you want to add.

Get worms black/blueish, watermellon, punkinseed, redshad. pic three colors. 3.0worm hooks Gamakatsu.

some 1/8 3/8 and 1/2 bullet weights. Some jigs and trailers pick Black/Blue and a brownish color. Get 6 bandit crank baits 3 200 and 3 300. A few buzz baits. Then go fishing.

Everytime you pass a fishing shop drop another 20.00 until the boat is too heavy to get on pad.  

Fedxpress

here are the things i would get first off.  

5 inch senkos (green pumpkin, and black blue)

1/0 circle hooks

4/0 ewg owner hooks (or gammy, x point, anything decent)

1/8 oz ballhead jigs (make sure they have a quality hook)

straight tailed worm (zoom finesse or trick or something similar in same colors as senkos)]

yamamoto single tailed grubs (you can save some money and get zoom fat alberts and be fine)

this is all you need to catch fish in almost all situations.  you might add some spinnerbaits (small colorado and large willowleaf in chart/white) as well.  a topwater like a popper of some sort might be good as well, although you certainly dont need it.

you can fish the senkos weightless or on the jigheads, fish the straight tailed worm on jigheads or weithless, and fish the grubs on jigheads both like a jig on the bottom or with a straight swimming retreive.  these lures will have you all set for largemouth as well as smallies.

$100 worth of senko's