And one last thing.........Dont spend hoards of money. 

What's a hoard of money?  THIS is subjective to what each of us consider hoards........if you work and have a bit of extra money aside to pay for your fishing equipment your dedicated and passionate...... if you work and spend all your check to pay for your fishing equipment....your either living at home with mommy or have a problem.....If you spend hoards....paycheck and run up and max out a credit card.....then that above piece of advice is great......because you are a dumb*** and need someone to pull your head out of your well you know.  As for me, I like to think of myself as passionate.  A small percentage of what I spend on fishing equipment is offset by the amount I no longer spend at the bar.  Suprised on what $40 of tackle can buy and how few drinks or how long that lasts when you go drinking.

What's a hoard of money?  THIS is subjective to what each of us consider hoards........if you work and have a bit of extra money aside to pay for your fishing equipment your dedicated and passionate...... if you work and spend all your check to pay for your fishing equipment....your either living at home with mommy or have a problem.....If you spend hoards....paycheck and run up and max out a credit card.....then that above piece of advice is great......because you are a dumb*** and need someone to pull your head out of your well you know.  As for me, I like to think of myself as passionate.  A small percentage of what I spend on fishing equipment is offset by the amount I no longer spend at the bar.  Suprised on what $40 of tackle can buy and how few drinks or how long that lasts when you go drinking.

Yes, it is subjective, and it was intended to be.   So I leave it to the author of this thread to decide for himself, as to what "hoards of money" means to him. 

Too many great replies to this topic. I know you will learn a lot.

 

All I can add is that when you are in a boat and have to go to the bathroom don't face into the wind.

 

 

That is excellent advice, boat or no.

My advice (which may have been posted already), just go fishing... you're not going to catch anything sitting on the couch reading about it.

I have fished my whole life, and the one tip I would give is not to make it too complicated!! A baitcaster, a spinning rod, and a couple of Plano stowaways have caught 99 percent of the bass I've landed. Don't waste a ton of money on stuff you don't need. I have WAY too much stuff myself!!

Best way to get better is to fish with someone better than you. Your learning curve will rise sharply!

Become a better caster.  Learning to cast with pinpoint accuracy, being able to skip baits under docks, and being able to put baits in the water without making a big splash will get you bit a lot more than the guy beside you who's not as good at it.  

Buy the best raingear you can afford!

and pick as many brains as possible (when welcomed to... dont want to annoy anyone)

If someone does that, at least contribute something back, no one likes a leach

Just for fun, if you could give a new angler just ONE SINGLE unsolicited piece of advice, what would you share?  (Assume they want advice to become a better angler.)

My advice, don't believe everything you hear, lot of misinformation and product marketing hype out in our hobby that some get fed right into.

There way a quote from Rick Clunn "catching fish is easy but finding them is hard" and it has helped me.

 

Additional things that I have found helpful:

 

Time on water

Casting accuracy

Soft landings of lures

Limiting color selection

 

Allen

Pay attention to all your surroundings every noise,every swirl.

Interesting fact on Ole' Bill that I didn't realize until just a few days ago. His PB is "only" a 13 pounder!

ONLY!, ONLY!, you say? I wish my personal best was "ONLY" a 13 pounder....lol.

Hootie

If you worry about what might be...and wonder about what might have been...you will ignore what is!

Where you been?

Pay attention to all your surroundings every noise,every swirl.

Yep !

I learn my own water and that's only done by fishing it.

Life is about Balance.

 

Mind, Body & Spirit.

 

Find it and your fishing will improve as well.

 

A-Jay

ONLY!, ONLY!, you say? I wish my personal best was "ONLY" a 13 pounder....lol.

Hootie

 

 I know, right?! 

 

 

Hopefully some of the folks new to fishing get a chance to read over this thread as there are a ton of great suggestions I think.  Heck, some good reminders for the vets to be honest...

Where you been?

 

 

Aint got enough space to answer

Fish the day. Past knowledge is a place to start, but in regards to whats tied on and where I am fishing, where I start is not usually where I finish.

 

Just because they "should be" on isolated wood in 15 feet of water, doesn't mean they aren't in the weeds in 4 ft! If you planned to fish one way, you better learn to recognize changes and adjust to them! 

 

And spend as much time on the water as life allows.

 

Jim

I would say enjoy the experience of fishing rather than only focused on catching fish...sometimes the fish don't come but it is fun anyway.

Get some dude wipes.

 

Aint got enough space to answer

 

Oh please do take up the space.  Inquiring minds WANT to know!

Don't be a butt hole, and don't trust anyone who claims to be your friend only to find out how/where/when your catching them and then forgets you exist after they "think" you have showed them everything.

^{take good care of your equpiment and try to keep up with the new technology.}