Last 30 years I've fished saltwater (coast of NC -- offshore and inshore). With Rona restrictions, that's not currently possible. I did bring a Hobie kayak back from the coast, and fished an area reservoir yesterday catching a small bass on a beetle-spin, and I'm hooked! 

 

But I've got like...zero freshwater tackle. Much of the lingo has totally changed, gear-types, etc. For $50 -- what would you suggest is base tackle? I brought two of my lighter spinning combos back, so I'm set there.

 

From too much time reading, here's the start of my shopping list:

Yamato 4" Senko (darkish color) $8.00

3/0 Wide Gap worm hook $4.00

2 x Bass Pro bargain bin crankbaits $10.00 (already bought -- impulse buy) Boo-ya something 1-3' depth..

pack of Owner shakey-head jig-heads...$5.00

 

What else would recommend for large NC reservoirs? A top-water something would be good, I guess, and more plastics, but the variety and options are staggering.

 

Thx!

 

 

I would sub some Yum Dingers instead of the Senkos. You’ll save $5 and there isn’t much difference, especially on a budget. You can get some 4” BPS worms for like $3 and a pack of BPS 1/0 offset hood for another couple. Some probably 1/4 bullet weights for the 4” worms. Maybe some Ned rig stuff since you have light spinning tackle. If you stick to the simple things, like Texas rig worms or stickbaits, weightless or wacky stickbaits, maybe Ned rig, maybe some inline spinners (you can get some cheap ones), $50 will go a long way.

The Yamamotos are great but with a $50 budget I'd opt for the Yum Dingers too like stated above. Strike King Bitsy Bug jigs ($2 each) with Netbait Paca Chunk ($3 for 6 pack) would be on my list. They're versatile and just flat out catch fish.

Maybe a deep diving crankbait or two.  Strike King or Bomber are pretty affordable.  I like to "troll" these baits with my kayak.  The stop and go action of paddling makes for a good strike trigger.

I should also mention that probably a fair amount of what you used in saltwater would translate to bass fishing.  I've used some baits for bass that were marketed for "saltwater".  The fish don't know the difference on where the company tells you to fish it!

  Ya GOTTA have a spinnerbait! 1/4 oz. on 8 lb line, 3/8 oz. on 10 or 12 lb. line. Chartreuse and white to start.   jj

Cotton Cordell Spot lipless crankbait--not much over $2 at Walmart, they work nearly as well as any other lipless crankbait (hooks are bad, but for a beginner you can live with the stock hooks), and they are a great search bait for big bodies of water like reservoirs. They have a couple of different sizes, including a smaller one (1/4 ounce I think?) that would work well on light spinning gear--I have some in my creek box.

 

- Texas rigged 4-inch worm with 1/4 oz bullet weight for mid/bottom of the column

- Whopper Plopper for topwater (PopMax is nice but may blow the budget...)

- skirted jig with trailer of your choice for the bottom (or swimming jig for mid). Football style, or maybe swim jig style for more versatility.

 

Cheap, simple, effective, covers top to bottom.

 

Define your spinning tackle; rod model/ power, action, length and spinning make or model and line used??

It's difficult to suggest lures that is compatible to  your outfit without knowing what you have.

Tom

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Define your spinning tackle; rod model/ power, action, length and spinning make or model and line used??

It's difficult to suggest lures that is compatible to  your outfit without knowing what you have.

Tom

So I have two outfits here, inland, at the moment. One is a Penn Battle II 1000 on a little crappie rod "BooCoo" or something, and second is a Sahara 2500 on one of my inshore rods -- a Temple Fork Outfitters 7' M spinning rod. This reel was bought quickly at BPS (they're open locally!) to replace a Stradic HG-K that died from salt, and it's 'ok.' Sahara seems heavy. Impulsive buy, but I like Shimano, and this was in a blister pack so I could get in and out.

 

On another impulsive buy, I bought and spooled it with Yozuri TopKnot Mainline fluoro, which I've never used before, and I had to pull the spool off 20x yesterday to untangle, which is a b*tch in a kayak, while getting rocked by wakes.

 

I will probably pick up another spinning rod -- a 6'6" ML something -- to go with the Battle, and make that my main freshwater rod.

 

Some good tackle suggestions. When I was 30 years younger, I fished lakes mostly to catch and *eat* (crappie and cats) so worked a lot of live bait, but the stuff we used for bass were rubber worms, mostly Texas-rigged, Rattletraps, and something called a Devils Horse for topwater. I had this giant Poes wooden crankbait, but never caught anything with it. Neither I nor my buds had much money back then, so buying and losing ONE lure like a Rattletrap was a big deal, so we mostly fished worms.

 

The lingo has changed a bit. Certainly don't remember 'senko' and the term "Ned rig" seems like exactly how I do 95% of my fishing inshore in the marshes for speckled trout, flounder and drum: just a softplastic (typically SW Gulp or Z-Man) on a 1/4-3/8oz jig head. 

 

But it sounds like a couple decent crankbaits, fish the plastics properly, and I should be set.

 

 

You should limit the lb test to 8lb or .010D using a 1000 or 2500 spinning reel do to line twist. What lb test is the Yo-Zuri FC?

The Sahara 2500 is a decent bass reel. If the rod is a inshore model it would be equal a heavy power fresh water rod. Need to look it up to know for sure. The crappie would be consider light or ultra light moderate action, not enough backbone to set bass type hooks. 

Salt water jigs tend to have zinc plated heavy hooks, OK if sharpened and the salt water soft plastic should work, give them try bass bite a wide variety of things.

Senko's are a Yamamoto heavy salted worm called a stick bait, very popular. Lots of articles on rigging and using "Senko's".

Rigs to consider using a "finese" spinning outfit are; drop shot, split shot/slip shot or mojo rig, light weight 1/8 to 1/4 oz shaky jig with worms, wacky rigged stick baits, Ned rig, etc. 

Tom

PS, looked up TFO inshore spinning rods, nice rods. The M power will work OK if you use 20 lb braid with 12 lb leader for jigs and heavier lures to 1/2 oz or the older lures mentioned.

 

$5 each for BPS bargain bin cranks seems like a lot. Most are $3.99 normal price - just took a quick look online. Are you in the US?

 

I bought bargain bin BPS/XPS deep divers for less than $3 each and they're pretty big.

 

I like Zoom Super Flukes. They are cheap and they work. White Pearl is my go to color.

 

Buy weights either online at - I forget the site - or at Walmart. BPS will charge you 3 - 4 times the price.

Hey all...I spooled the Sahara with 8lb .235mm Fluoro. I may have overspooled it; I've had to cut off about 20 yards, so maybe I've corrected the issue. I'll try it again, possibly with a different rod.

 

I put in a order for some stuff online, so I think I'm set. Couldn't resist this:

https://www.basspro.com/shop/en/bass-pro-shops-johnny-morris-signature-seriesfenwick-hmg-spinning-combo

 

You're correct (schplurg) -- the BPS crankbaits were 3.99 each.

 

We'll see! Planning on going out tomorrow PM after work.

 

 

 

 

If your goal is actually catching fish (and not changing techniques for the fun of doing that), you can probably spend

 

$38 on senkos and hooks (in variations black + 1 pack of some other color like watermelon)

$12 on spinnerbaits (allowing you to buy two hopefully)

 

Probably enough for 2 years, unless pike destroy your spinnerbaits.

7 inch power worm Texas rigged with a 3/16 ounce weight will catch you fish and can catch you some really big ones, it’s also really easy to fish! Was the only bait I fished as a kid and caught fish just about every time I went out