First time poster here with a few questions. My son, who's 9, has been asking about going fishing. It's been years since I've been fishing myself so I don't have any gear, poles, etc. I was wondering if anyone had any pointers on what sort of rod I should get him and myself. I read somewhere 5 footers were good to start with if you were interested in bass fishing. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Hit

welcome to the forum, youre going to love this place.

for starters id go to the local wal-mart and get yourself a middle of the line spincasting combo. id get your son a Zebco 33 combo. as far as fishing gear goes id stock up on little spinner baits, beatle spins, roostertails and plastic worms. a few cheap lipless cranks wouldnt be a bad idea either.

enjoy and share you fishing trips with us!

Thanks guys,

The wacky rig is pretty neat. Watched a few presentations on it. Was thinking about doing that for my son and use a bobber with about a 4 foot lead...we'll have to see what he likes I guess. After I read your post last night, catfish, I was up another 2 hours past my bedtime reading. Wife finally got up, came in my office and asked, "Are you still reading about fish?"

1 more day. Even if we don't catch anything it'll be a nice day to get out and have some fun.

No dought! Just getting out and enjoying the day is the trip! Catching fish is a bonus!!

Haha thats great! I cant tell you how many times ive "accidently" stayed up wayyyy to late after starting to read a bunch of info on fishing stuff.

An the wacky rig will do it! Theres so much info on it now that its ridiculus haha.

Hey good luck, and i really hope you two catch a bunch!!!!!

Welcome to the forum, hit! I didn't see this thread until today. It's nice to read about that initial excitement when someone is first getting into fishing. I'm really anxious to see how your and your son's fishing trip goes. Please report back and good luck! 8-)

Thanks guys,

The wacky rig is pretty neat. Watched a few presentations on it. Was thinking about doing that for my son and use a bobber with about a 4 foot lead...we'll have to see what he likes I guess. After I read your post last night, catfish, I was up another 2 hours past my bedtime reading. Wife finally got up, came in my office and asked, "Are you still reading about fish?"

1 more day. Even if we don't catch anything it'll be a nice day to get out and have some fun.

Thanks fatbass, I called my wife this morning and told her we'd be taking the camera tomorrow, she laughed. We're expecting another son in July so I think she's grateful we're getting out of the house. I'm a huge sports fan and this time of year is a bit slow with the exception of the Final 4 and the Denver/Jay Cutler stuff so she's looking forward to not having to listen to the TV on ESPN all day tomorrow or the fishing shows that are on early in the morning.

I'd probably bring some night crawlers along on your first trip; just in case. You wouldn't want to bore the kid his first time out.

Great day! Went out about 7:00 this morning. Dad didn't have much luck. Had 1 and it broke my line. I kept trying for the same 1 and got it to hit a few times but I just couldn't get the hook set, kept missing him and then finally he stopped going after it. My son got this one. 18 inches long if I measured it right.

Had a blast, may go back out tomorrow. The lake we were at is only about 20 minutes down the road. He also saw his 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th copperhead.

Thats a beautiful fish! Ill bet your boy was stoked when he hooked into that!

Haha good ol pops just couldnt hook into them today eh? Well i hope you have better luck tomarrow!

Great job and keep it up!!

(btw what did he catch it on??)

Watermelon Senko with a Wacky Rig. Yeah, he was super excited. Caught it around 9:00 this morning. By the time it was 4:00 this afternoon he still didn't want to leave.

Thanks again for all the help guys, it is very much appreciated.

RW- how is hiring a guide going to save him money? The cost of a guide would be equal to what he spent on both outfits. Then they would have to go buy their gear after that. As usual, "pay no attention to that man" still applies..   (just kidding)

Congrats to you and your son!! Thats an awesome first fish for anyone.

It seems you may have turned him into one of us though, this time next year he'll have twenty rods and reels and countless tackle boxes filled with everything you can imagine. ;D

Nice job, keep it up dad!

Ah, went back out yesterday with no luck. He was up at 6am again and to be honest, I was awake already. Was sort of hoping he'd get up and want to go and sure enough he was. Only went for about 4 hours. Fish weren't biting at all but it was still fun.

The barometric pressure started rising late Sat. afternoon here and the wind was between 10 and 15 mph as opposed to 5-10 on Saturday. Correct me if I'm wrong please. From what I was reading high pressure=deeper water. More wind only really effects the ability to tell if you are getting bites, right? We were fishing in an area that was around 3 foot deep. Might should of gone to the other side where it's 5 to 6 feet deep, not sure. Still trying to learn all this.  

This stuff's like a science with a little bit of luck thrown in.

GREAT THREAD!!!

Looks like your son caught a whopper of a fish for his first time out!  Regarding wind, often it makes the fishing better as it stirs up the plankton which stirs up the smaller fish and the big fish follow.  When it is windy throw your faster moving lures like spinners, cranks, rat-l-traps etc.  Worms will still work but you may need to move them faster and fish them shallower depending on the time of year.  Best of luck and have fun!

Hey all, hope everyone is well. Thought I'd post an update, hope that's ok to stay on this thread.

Anyhow, took today off since school was out. Went out to the lake this morning, 3rd time in 2 weeks. Still having a lot of fun even though I'm still trying to figure a few things out. We were getting quite a few bites but I'm still trying to get the hang of setting the hook and setting my drag. I've lost several due to both of these issues but I'm sure it just takes time.

Also learned the hard way that I probably need to check my line after 1 "gets away". I was trying out a new rooster tail this morning and  I had a hit but didn't hook him. Next cast I saw my new lure sail out into the lake and my line just fluttering in the wind.  

My son had a little better luck. He caught a water moccasin. It was rather funny. He was about 15 feet down from me fishing and said he caught a snake. I didn't believe him at first so when I walked over I was rather surprised. Makes for a good story for him to tell anyhow.

Hope everyone had a good weekend. I'll be sure to post if I ever get my 1st. So far my 9yo is winning 1-0 in Bass and 2-0 in perch.