As you can tell from the title I am pretty new to bass fishing. Have done it a couple times with a guide but never had to set up a line and reel myself. I currently have a ugly stick kit with a medium heavy rod with a Shakespeare real with about 300 yards of 12lb trilene xl smooth casting monofilament on it. I have seen that you should put a leader so I bought some leaders that are 50 lb 20in Fluorocarbon Leader line with Swivel and Snap and tied on with a San Diego Jam Knot. I setup all of this based off youtube videos but I am wondering if anyone has suggestions or can just tell me if I did this completely wrong.

I've been fishing about 60 years and never used a leader with swivels.  If you watch too many YouTube videos you'll spend a fortune and never get around to actually fishing.

7 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

I've been fishing about 60 years and never used a leader with swivels.  If you watch too many YouTube videos you'll spend a fortune and never get around to actually fishing.

I havent used one before but most of my fishing was a kid with just a bobber so thank you. Would you suggest any other changes or is the rest of my setup correct?

I wouldn't personally use those leaders with that setup. If it were me since it's low viz green I'd probably just use it w/ no leader. I do like leaders but that's only when I'm using braid and even then it's either 20lb braid to a 12lb sunline fc leader or 30lb braid to 12lb yo-zuri hybrid (for topwater). Aside from that I pretty much use straight fluoro but there are a lot of people that suggest / use mono instead and that should also work out ok.

 

The only time I might use a swivel leader like that is if line twist gets to be an issue but have not really had that happen enough to warrant it. I did get curious and try one for a bit and found it just made it a bit harder to cast since you have to worry about the swivel going through the guides or you get stuck trying to throw a lure while it's 10 feet away from the tip of the rod which is also not great...but honestly if you are going to just throw something like a texas rig it should be ok to just skip the leader completely unless it's something like a drop shot in super clear water. My first spool was moss green p-line cxx copoly (I think 10lb) and the color didn't seem to be much of an issue in terms of catching bass anyway (although I've since moved on to lines I prefer a bit more than that one).

Give us a little insight to the type of fishing you want to do.   Are you fishing ponds, lakes , streams?   From the shore or a boat?  It is clear or dirty water?   What type of lure or bait are you using?   
 

this forum is one of the most friendly and helpful around.  There are guys on here with 50 years or more experience that are willing to offer great advice.  

Howdy and welcome.

 

Trilene XL is good line, dark green is a good all around color even for clear water, and 12 pound is a good all around pound weight.

 

You don't normally use a leader with monofilament line. Normally, a fluoro lead is used with braided mainline.

 

What is common is:

Mono no leader

Braid no leader

Fluorocarbon no leader

Braid w/ mono leader

Braid w/ fluoro leader

 

When using a leader, like braid to fluoro, you don't use a swivel. You tie a special knot to connect the two lines. Knots used can be, but not limited to:

 

Uni to Uni

Alberto
FG

 

Swivels are not used a whole lot in bass fishing. Traditional carolina rigs is the main place, though there is something called a double fluke or donkey rig that uses swivels as well.

 

Some people use snaps to attach their lure, but most people tie directly to the lure. Common knots include but aren't limited to:

 

Improved Clinch

Trilene Knot

Uni Knot

SanDiego Jam

Palomar

 

Which knot is mostly personal preference. Sometimes you need to tie a specific knot for a specific application. A Palomar knot for example is used when making a drop shot rig, because of the way the knot positions the hook.

 

I use a Trilene knot most of the time for my general purpose knot. Occasionally you need a loop knot, for that I use a Kreh loop knot.

 

 

 

Casting or spinning???

Throw the leaders away. No need to use them. 

Spinning or casting? 
What’s the lures we wana use? 
ponds? Rivers? Lakes? Lots of vegetation or open water? Rock or mud bottom? 
 

we can get ya set up just need some more details. 

Getting started into any sport today can be confusing. Watching internet video’s can add to the confusion. BR has lots of good video’s and suggest starting watching Glenn’s video's.

If you were new to golfing you need to know if you are right or left handed and right or left eye dominate, same with fishing.

Most of us had the advantage of a mentor beginning bass fishing, let BR be your mentor.

Tom

A medium or medium heavy rod with a baitcaster and 12 # mono will work for most techniques.  Practice casting because most bass fishing is casting to targets, either ones you can see or ones you can't.  Get some basic lures and learn where they are most effective.

Then spend your time and effort in learning the bass and how to find them.  This is the important part.  It's been said many times before, you can't catch bass if you're not fishing where they are.

All this info is here at BR.  Concentrate on the basics and be careful you don't get pulled into the information quagmire as you are starting.  Good luck on your wonderful journey in bass fishing!

I'll say one more thing.  Have reverence and respect for the animal we pursue.

14 hours ago, Gormmander said:

I havent used one before but most of my fishing was a kid with just a bobber so thank you. Would you suggest any other changes or is the rest of my setup correct?

Read just about any thread on this forum and you’ll see that we don’t agree a much of anything.   My advice which others will disagree with is to start simple. Your rod and reel are fine until you decide it’s not working for you.  I would recommend you start with 2-3 baits.  Pick something slow moving,  something fast moving,  and a top water bait.  Go fishing and have fun.  You’ll begin to see what’s working and what’s not working.  Find ways to improve on what’s not working and you’re on your way.

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Throw the leaders away. No need to use them. 

Stop. Just stop right there. Spoken like the real bait monkey. 

9 hours ago, WRB-2.0 said:

BR has lots of good video’s and suggest starting watching Glenn’s video's.

 

Agree. Glenn is a gifted teacher. I highly recommend his videos. I often apply Glenn's experience/teaching when I'm fishing.

 

25 minutes ago, Smirak said:

Stop. Just stop right there. Spoken like the real bait monkey. 

 

Ha! I'm just trying to simplify a newbie's angling. I don't use leaders and I don't lose bass. Plus, I catch hundreds/thousands of bass so my lines are being stretched and I'm often fishing wood and weeds. 

 

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

Read just about any thread on this forum and you’ll see that we don’t agree a much of anything.  

 

No truer words.

 

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

My advice which others will disagree with is to start simple. Your rod and reel are fine until you decide it’s not working for you.  I would recommend you start with 2-3 baits.  Pick something slow moving,  something fast moving,  and a top water bait.  Go fishing and have fun.  You’ll begin to see what’s working and what’s not working.  Find ways to improve on what’s not working and you’re on your way.

 

Yep, yep, and yep.

 

2 hours ago, Lottabass said:

I'll say one more thing.  Have reverence and respect for the animal we pursue.

 

Yes, please listen to Al here. And please listen to Al everywhere else too!

12 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

Throw the leaders away. No need to use them. 

 

This is what a true bass fishing friend would tell you. If you can accept truly thoughtful feedback, even when it doesn't necessarily feel great, your learning curve will trend skyward in the best way possible. 

4 hours ago, Smirak said:

Stop. Just stop right there. Spoken like the real bait monkey. 

No Kidding!  I use those leaders all the time salmon fishing!

Maybe save the leaders for salt water fishing.  

FM

18 hours ago, jbrew73 said:

Give us a little insight to the type of fishing you want to do.   Are you fishing ponds, lakes , streams?   From the shore or a boat?  It is clear or dirty water?   What type of lure or bait are you using?   
 

this forum is one of the most friendly and helpful around.  There are guys on here with 50 years or more experience that are willing to offer great advice.  

mostly looking do pond fishing

16 hours ago, little giant said:

Casting or spinning???

spinning

15 hours ago, Joedodge said:

Spinning or casting? 
What’s the lures we wana use? 
ponds? Rivers? Lakes? Lots of vegetation or open water? Rock or mud bottom? 
 

we can get ya set up just need some more details. 

spinning, as for lures mostly top water and maybe some plastic worms... Im in florida and will be fishing mostly ponds that vary in vegetation but mostly mud i think

Hey thank you for all the replies. I think after reading this I have a pretty good idea on what I is a good starting setup so thank you again

If I was going to recommend lures for someone in Florida, but considering I've yet to fish Florida, but bass eat the same things everywhere, here we go:

 

Beetle Spin 1/4oz, black body

Popper

Topwater frog

Sqaurebill crankbait, H20X or KVD 1.5 in colors gold and red

Roostertail 1/4oz, in colors white and black

     Size 3 Spro ball bearing swivel added to roostertail to reduce line twist 

3/8oz jig, brown

     Rage Bug for jig trailer, also useful as a texas rigged bait

3/8oz Spinnerbait in orange or bluegill type colors

 

Texas rig:

Bobber stop

1/8oz and 1/4oz bullet weight

3/0 offset wormhook

5" Senko in Green pumpkin 297

Berkley PowerWorm in plum or watermelon

Zoom Baby Brush Hog in Okeechobee craw or green pumpkin

Zoom Super Fluke (used weightless) junebug, watermelon red, white

 

Texas Rig is a system. Starting at the front, it's a bobber stop, a weight, a hook, a soft plastic. You can use just about any soft plastic. And likewise you can use any weight of weight. You can use smaller or larger hooks, but 3/0 will work for most things.

 

Some lures, like the texas rig, and the topwater frog, can be thrown into moderate to heavy vegetation. You can't throw it into cattails, but you can throw it into lilypads, heavy moss, heavy underwater plants. Those are the go to lures for working in "the slop".

 

You can pretty much throw the other lures anywhere you want as long as it's not super heavy vegetation. Spinnerbaits are more snag proof than others.

 

Squarebill crankbaits bounce of stuff instead of getting snagged, but you do lose them occasionally. Just learn to deal with losing lures.

 

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Gormmander said:

spinning, as for lures mostly top water and maybe some plastic worms...

 

You sound like me. I use spinning rods nearly all the time, even though most bass anglers use spinning rods for lighter lures and baitcasters for heavier lures. 

 

We settle into what works for us by trying this and that. I bought soooo many lures suggested by others that didn't work for me, but we don't know until we try. Still, I keep trying those new lures here and there partly because "who knows" and partly because it's fun to try new lures. My fishing partner this past week is 13. Paddling back to the cabin, he had a soft plastic lizard on his rod, so he trolled that. You will find NO YouTube videos suggesting you troll a lizard, but he caught a bass. I think we all, here and there, should be fearless like my young friend and simply chuck and see.

11 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

My fishing partner this past week is 13. Paddling back to the cabin, he had a soft plastic lizard on his rod, so he trolled that. You will find NO YouTube videos suggesting you troll a lizard, but he caught a bass. I think we all, here and there, should be fearless like my young friend and simply chuck and see.

 

This reminds me of a 'game' I used to sometimes end soccer practice with. The name of the game is "Outrageous", and the idea was during that time, each time you had the ball in your possession, you would try to do something that would normally be considered unnecessarily risky or showboating, but instead of being criticized for spontaneous creativity, it was not only encouraged, it was expected.

I was dragging a lizard on topwater tonight, across some pads and general slop. Didn't anything though.