Many anglers start fishing young. Others find the sport as adults.
Coming to the water as an adult is just as rewarding as finding it as a child, and if you’ve no idea where to start, we’d like to help.
Fishing can be confusing, with a mix of new terminology, complex gear choices, and untried techniques.
What I offer here is a “get on the water quickly” guide aimed more at practice than theory.
Gear You Need
Rather than general recommendations, I’m going to point you directly to gear that I own, use, and trust.
You’ll find links to each item, allowing you to pull the trigger (or not) on the gear I’ve selected.
Rod
Fishing rods come in an almost endless array of styles, lengths, colors, and designs.
What you need right now is a general-purpose, durable, inexpensive effective fishing rod.
My pick for your first rod is the Shakespeare Ugly Stik Elite.
You want the medium-power – don’t worry about what this means – 7-foot, 2 piece spinning rod.
If you want to know more about why I’ve chosen this option, check out my review or watch this video:
Long story short, this rod is going to be tough, easy on your budget, and plenty effective for everything from bass and walleye to flounder, specks, and redfish. Wherever you live, wherever you fish, this rod will serve as a great entry point for you to the sport.
Reel
Similarly, you need a reel that’s reliable, easy to use, and affordable.
My pick for you is the Penn Pursuit IV in 4000 size.
This reel is going to pair nicely with your rod, cast well, and offer penty of hard-fighting drag.
Line
I’m going to recommend that you pick up 300 yards of 20-pound Sufix 832 to get you started. For more information about this line and why I chose it, check out this article.
Setting up your rod and reel
The first thing you’ll need to do is take your rod and reel out of the packaging.
Be careful with your rod: you don’t want to slap it against furniture, walls, or doors, and you don’t want to step on it or force the tip to bend to “test” it. Be careful removing the plastic wrap on the cork handle: you don’t want to damage the material underneath with a sharp blade.
The second thing you want to do is to fit the two pieces of your new rod together.
The point where the join is called the “ferrule,” and all you need to do is slide the male into the female coupling and tighten it down. Twist the guides – the round metal appendages on the rod – so that they line up nicely.
Then, open the reel seat by spinning the knob counter-clockwise.
Slide the foot of the reel into place and turn the reel seat knob counter clockwise until it tightens up. Too tight isn’t necessesary; just comfortable hand tightness is fine.
Your reel will come from Penn with the handle folded.
You’ll need to straighten that out and screw it down.
Putting Line on Your Reel
This is better explained in video than words, so take a few minutes and watch this video:
Practice, Practice, Practice
As great as it might sound to head directly to water, realistically, you’re not quite ready for that!
A great place to start is in your driveway, parking lot, yard, or park.
You’ll need a large open space to yourself on a calm day.
Begin by tying on a 1/4-ounce weight using a Uni knot. Since you’re new to fishing, and thus new to knots like the Uni, I’m going to recommend that you use the weights I’ve linked to above, because they can be used without a knot by sliding the line through the eye and pulling the “crotch” of the eye tight against your line.
Once you have that 1/4-ounce weight on the end of your line, you’re ready for your first cast.
Before you get started, read this article. It will familairize you with the casting process, proper hand position, and the other details that will become second nature very, very quickly.
Practice casting a few minutes a day, every day. At first, you’ll just want to get the basics down, but as you get better, you’ll want to train for both distance and accuracy.
One of my favorite training tools is an old beach towel.
Simply place it on the ground at a comfortable distance, and practice casting to it until you can hit it the vast majority of the time. Move it further from you in small increments until you can cast and hit the towel four out of five times at five and ten paces. Then move it out to 15 paces and keep practicing.
This may sound stupid, but trust me, casting on the water in a breeze, or with over-hanging branches, or with cold, wet hands, or with any of a host of other real world conditions, is going to be a lot harder than these training exercises, and you want to spend time fishing, not retrieving your line from trees, docks, and other people!
Once you can hit that towel consistently, you’re ready to hit the water.
Terminal Tackle
I can’t tell you where or what to fish: I don’t know where you live and play.
But USAngler is full of tips, tackle recommendations, and techniques for every popular species in North America, and a few minutes of reading on your part will have you ready to go in no time.
Examples of articles you may be interested in include:
Saltwater
Rigging Paddle Tails for Speckled Trout
Tips and Tricks for Speckled Trout
Speckled Trout Fishing Tips Guaranteed To Help
How to Catch Redfish: Tactics and Tips
Best Lures for Redfish: What You Need to Know
Best Saltwater Lures for Every Situation: Gear Up for Pier, Surf, Inshore, and Deep Sea
Pier Fishing Rigs: Four Options to Improve Your Odds
Fresh water
Largemouth Bass: Identification, Behavior Basics, and Best Lures and Techniques
Fishing from Shore: Expert Tips to Improve Your Odds for Bass
Mastering Pre-Spawn Bass Fishing: Tips, Techniques, and Secrets
Largemouth Bass Lure Selection: Water Temperature Matters Most!
Pond Fishing for Bass: Proven Techniques To Catch Big Bass
Smallmouth Bass Basics: Everything You Need to Know
Crappie Rigs: Best Rigs For Crappie Fishing
General Fishing Tips
Beyond the specifics, there are some general tips every new angler should keep in mind.
Bug protection
Insects are a fact of life near the water, and in most climates in North America, warm weather and water promise plenty of biting insects.
Our article on the Best Bug Spray for Fishing can help you make an informed choice.
My experience and testing found two brands really stood out: Sawyer Products SP543 Premium Insect Repellent and Ranger Ready Picaridin Insect Repellent.
Both are extremely effective in preventing mosquitos, black flies, no-see-ums, and other pests at bay.
Sun protection
Hats, shirts, sunglasses, and sun screen: count these as absolute essentials for fishing.
Skin cancer is a problem for people who spend a lot of times of outdoors, and you don’t want to go down that road.
Fortunately, it’s easy to find high-level protection sunscreens (SPF 50 with zinc or similar additions) that really will help reduce the amount of UV radiation you’re exposed to.
Don’t mess around here – cover your skin!
Dawn and dusk
Predatory fish generally have very keen low-light vision, allowing them to ambush prey species at dusk, dawn, under a full moon, or even on cloudy, overcasts days.
For you, that means that the 90 minutes centered on dawn and dusk are going to be the best time to be on the water, though there are seasonal variations to consider and other complicating factors like tides and barometric pressure.
As you get a handle on things and feel more confident, you may want to take a look at articles like these:
How Does Barometric Pressure Affect Fishing? The Hottest Fishing Predicted
Full-Moon Fishing: Myths, Science, and Tips to Tilt the Odds in Your Favor
Friendly anglers
Finally, I’d like to mention that anglers are, overall, a very friendly bunch of people.
If you ask someone you meet on the shore, on the pier, or on the water, they’ll probably be glad to tell you what’s biting and what’s working.
Ditto for bait store workers and marina hands.
Always ask for help locating and catching fish, and chances are, you’ll get it!
Source: usangler.com