If a shirtless hairy man offered to take me out in a boat with him, I'd politely decline.  JOKING!!!!!!!

I will promise to wear a shirt. I'll also paint a shirt on my profile pic if I can.

I will promise to wear a shirt. I'll also paint a shirt on my profile pic if I can.

 

Photoshop some antlers on your head. 

You know, this is an awesome place to gain knowledge be it for the advanced or novice fisher person. Overwhelming, yes. Addicting, yes. Expensive, if you want it to be! I guess the best advice I could offer you would first, be happy with the decisions you make on what kind of angler you want to be. By that I mean, if this is for relaxation/ fun, make it fun and don't get discouraged when you don't catch fish. It's a learning process we have all been thru. As you progress as an angler, you will probably feel the need to up the ante ie: more and better equipment. This is where the money part comes in!! You can go extreme, like redline Robert and start your arsenal of JDM exotics! Or you can do like everyone else and drool and spend your money on what your budget will allow!

What's funny is that if you're anything like us which I'm sure you are, once you start with something, anything, you'll find that the overwhelming feelings will turn into obsession.

You'll be drooling. Tossing in your sleep. Glued to the Internet and bassresource. What you once thought was overwhelming will start to come together and you find that you can't get ENOUGH information.

If I could only have one rod setup it would be a 7ft mh bc with 40lb braid. Braid floats so you can use it for top water and frogs. It's also strong as heck so you can pitch jigs in heavy cover. It's also perfect for t-rigging which if I could only use one style of fishing it would be that. If you're worried about visibility you can always use a flouro leader.

God I can't wait to go fishing

If a shirtless hairy man offered to take me out in a boat with him, I'd politely decline.  JOKING!!!!!!!

 

 

Wait...is that banjo music in the background?

Thanks everyone for your advice. I think I was (and still some) overwhelmed by all the options. However, I have realized that I have time on my side and a ton of experience to gain. So after reading everyone's advice, here's what I came up with. I'll fish it, add and learn and gain. Thanks again for everyone's help.

 

good start

OVERWELMED well you really hit the nail on the head. I have only been on here a short while and I fish nearly everyday. I can guarantee you bass fishing has not changed. The only real thing is the marketing and price.

When I started fishing for bass I had 1 rod; a zebco 606, combo I bought at Wal Mart for less than $10.00. There was only 1 kind of line; mono-filament. A spinner bait was a "Snagless Sally or a "Hawaiian Wiggler". A topwater was a Zara Spook or Hula popper. I caught bass. The only plastic bait available was a worm with a propeller on front and 3 hooks buried in it. Was it the ideal set up? No,but I caught bass. That was more than 50 years ago.

Bladesmith, you just described me to a tee. Right down to, and including, the Zebco 606, propeller worms and all. But wasn't it a ball. I see we are close to the same age, so I guess we've seen it all. I too, have more fishing tackle than I could use in 10 lifetimes, but, what the heck, I'm retired, an by dang, I'm going to enjoy it!!!

Hootie

looks like these guys got you off to a great start,i just started fishing a few years back when i was in highschool. and i started the same way 6-7' spinning setup and Soft Plastics. cant beat em, specially fishing from the shore IMO

 

I caught more bass and had more fun my first year or 2 fishing public areas with nothing but a texas or carolina rig typically with a trickworm.. ive sinced moved and no longer have areas to bank fish, so i got a canoe.. then a jon boat. still trying to figure out how to catch fish from a boat consistently. whole different game

 

just have fun, and start slow dont try to master 10 different techniques at the same time.