Purple Creme worm on a 1/0 hook, Silver Rapala and a Nipididee topwater. 12# mono on a Mitchell 300. 

I’d also live bait with live chubs I caught by pulling up the floating vegetation along the banks.

For you youngsters don’t get hung up on one bait, one color and one presentation, just switch baits and try different presentations, colors too.

 

what you learn at your favorite fishing hole applies to any new place you fish.

Believe it or not I am a hardcore chatterbait fisherman, I only got into real bass fishing last year and the zman original and elite series of chatterbaits is a killer up here in NJ when the fish are biting. Also love the texas rig, it's probably the most effective year round. 

 

Growing up I loved whacky rigging senkos but they just don't catch fish for me as much as the baits I mentioned. 

I have only been into freshwater fishing the last year.  Spinnerbaits and swim jigs (regular and chatters) got me hooked (as hold overs from inshore fishing) but, it wasn't until i really figured out and committed to the Texas Rig til could always catch fish on every pond trip.

 

 

One: Texas rigged 6" worm, purple. But I was really bad at setting the hook because I had only caught bream and crappie before that. I mean, I'm sure I used an inline spinner like a Mepp's Comet and caught bass, but it was more of a catch-all-species lure for me. 

 

A little later, I got a second combo and used the Rebel Deep Wee R with some success because fish would hook themselves.

I started with a t/r nightcrawler and graduated to a plastic worm.

I was taught on a T-rig when I first learned how to cast a rod. I'm really thankful for the patience and confidence that I have from fishing with it since day one.

I genuinely sucked at bass fishing until the mid 70's when I came across Fishing Facts magazine.   An article about Brewer Sliders piqued my interest and I got into a light/finesse style of fishing.   Then I tried to adapt everything I read in Fishing Facts to my particular situation.  That became easier once I gained access to a boat.  Then I bought another spinning rig, so I cold throw Rapalas & light cranks parallel to weedlines.   Then I bought a bait caster and other techniques became accessible to me.   Now I have dozens of different bait casting & spinning rigs, not to mention trout & catfish and tail race gear.   I've found that collecting  gear can get very addictive, but it doesn't weird me out or anything - seems like everyone is addicted to something.

When I first started fishing about 7 years ago I made the mistake of trying to learn way too much way too soon. Read a lot of info on here and even more on YouTube. Bought so much stuff the I have never used to this day. Caught my fist bass on a jig head with a curly tail worm. Took me all year

 

Second year I focused on one technique for soft plastics and one type of Lure (drop shot and inline spinners), then my catch rate dramatically improved. Next year same thing (Texas rig and crank bait). Been doing it this way each year and have learned and retained much more than I imagined. 

 

That's part of the fun for me. Learning the equipment, techniques, bass behaviors and seasonal patterns,etc.

 

 

6 minutes ago, LCG said:

When I first started fishing about 7 years ago I made the mistake of trying to learn way too much way too soon. Read a lot of info on here and even more on YouTube. Bought so much stuff the I have never used to this day. Caught my fist bass on a jig head with a curly tail worm. Took me all year

 

Second year I focused on one technique for soft plastics and one type of Lure (drop shot and inline spinners), then my catch rate dramatically improved. Next year same thing (Texas rig and crank bait). Been doing it this way each year and have learned and retained much more than I imagined. 

 

That's part of the fun for me. Learning the equipment, techniques, bass behaviors and seasonal patterns,etc.

 

 

What you have stated was exactly why I asked the question. I was attempting to slow myself down a bit but get some direction to head in. 

 

Being new to this is not easy especially when you are going at it alone. It becomes to easy to want to try everything and end up learning nothing. 

1 minute ago, Wizzlebiz said:

What you have stated was exactly why I asked the question. I was attempting to slow myself down a bit but get some direction to head in. 

 

Being new to this is not easy especially when you are going at it alone. It becomes to easy to want to try everything and end up learning nothing. 

Keep it simple and fun. My personal advice to you is try two techniques only. One soft plastic technique and one reaction Lure.

 

Specifically weightless texas rigged 5“ senko on a 4/0 EWG hook and a 1/2oz spinnerbait white/chartreuse and/or bluegill/sunfish colors. YouTube these techniques then fish them. 

 

You will catch fish and have a blast. 

6 minutes ago, LCG said:

Keep it simple and fun. My personal advice to you is try two techniques only. One soft plastic technique and one reaction Lure.

 

Specifically weightless texas rigged 5“ senko on a 4/0 EWG hook and a 1/2oz spinnerbait white/chartreuse and/or bluegill/sunfish colors. YouTube these techniques then fish them. 

 

You will catch fish and have a blast. 

Funny enough those 2 are exactly what I ended up falling in love with. The 3/8 spinner is a bit nicer to my wrist I have found. 

My dad introduced me to fishing VERY young, he's got stories of me that I don't even remember. But it was bobber and worm fishing for a while. When I really started getting into bass fishing specifically I started out using rubber worms and my dad almost exclusively fished spinnerbaits and johnson silver minnows. I fished wacky rigged worms on an EWG hook and a 4'6" UL ugly stick for a few years before starting to learn there was more out there than just that. I slowly started getting new tackle....then not so slowly lol. I bought a lot of tackle in high school and college, learned a lot and caught a lot of fish but in the end the techniques I feel most comfortable with are the ones I have spent the most time with. Still a weightless worm, T-rig, Jig, Spinnerbaits are my go-to's when I can't buy a bite. 

On 8/17/2019 at 5:16 AM, The Bassman said:

Mostly fished smallmouth in creeks as a teenager. Inline spinners, Rapalas, and live bait. Looking back, the level of proficiency I achieved left a lot to be desired. Still it left fond memories.

Me almost to a tee ("t"?)

I too started as a topwater Rapala stick bait guy, and also in-line spinners.  Caught tons of fish this way.  Now I seldom use these techniques.  I switched to plastics, and throwing in and around heavy cover, and catching a lot more fish, and bigger fish.

Low quality spinner baits. Every 500 casts I’d get a bite and miss.

First lure I ever started using when I was learning to bass fish was a weightless 3 inch senko,

Crankbaits, several depths.  Then moved to Texas Rigged ribbon tail worms.  Then jigs.  Somewhere early on I learned spinnerbaits as well.  Been drop shotting as long as I can remember, long before it had a name.

Shiners and a float in cover.

Worms from the backyard. If it's dry out, you pour some water in a shady spot under a bush and go back later. This was back in the mid-50s. Then I learned how to find nightcrawlers.

 

As a kid there was a farm pond that I fished owned by a family friend.  Fished this pond from age 5 till I graduated high school, there were two baits that I needed for that pond no matter when I was there.  An inline spinner in the purple color, and a tequila sunrise powerbait worm.  That was what I started with, and pretty much all I used growing up.