[Cbain]

Hey all,

So I went to the local tackle shop again today. And again, I stared at the lures, lines, rods and hooks for a long time.Like a picky old bass does at my bait. I just dont have enough confidence in my picks.

Right now I am using a cheap, but sufficient, Daiwa spinning rod. Monofilament line. All sorts of lures. Never any weights so far. Texas rigged a senko the other day and was VERY happy

-I enjoy bank fishing for bass the most.
-Small lakes and ponds, Charlotte area.
-I enjoy the thrill of the hunt of casting and reeling more than the waiting game (trick worms, etc).

What kind of gear would you reccomend for my style of fishing?

-Rod (size, brand)
-Line (type, strength), how about a leader? Perhaps a SPRO snap for using multiple cranks?
-Hook sizes/types?
-Favorite lures/baits (the more details the better!)

And again, thank you everyone who are so helpful! This forum has been fantastic!

Clark

 

[ChltBnks]

-Rod (size, brand)

7Ft - Fast Action - Medium Power. 3/16 - 5/8oz. 8-15lb. line
I am going to have to wash my mouth out with soap but I would recommend an Ugly Stick until you learn what lures you like to throw and work best for you. Then go buy a good rod that meets your requirements.

-Line (type, strength), how about a leader? Perhaps a SPRO snap for using multiple cranks?

I am a braid guy so I suggest 15lb. line until you learn the bottom of your ponds. (Less lures lost to sticks and salad bar) I use and highly recommend Duolock snaps. I personally feel adding a leader just sucks some of the fun and time of fishing for me. Most ponds I frequent are never that clear

-Hook sizes/types?

3/0 - 5/0 EWG

-Favorite lures/baits (the more details the better!)

4" & 6" senko's

Strike King 1.5 Crankbait
Strike King Red Eyed Shad in (Sexy Shad 1/4 - 3/8oz)
(I like both above with rattles.)
1/4oz Spinnerbait
1/4oz Buzzbait
Rebel Pop-R (Add a split ring to the back of the lure to help the learning curve)

And if you ever fish at night Arbogast Jitterbug 1/4oz regular or 3/8oz jointed, both in Black, Black, or Black. (I'll let you decide which color) I am very attached to my jointed jitterbug for some reason.

 

[NCStateFisher]

biggest question that comes in to play would be your budget for the rod and reel, so I will leave out specific brands and stick with the simple descriptions

Rod - 7' Medium Heavy (varies by brand) - Fast tip
Line - 12# pline fluoro, no leader, no snap swivel

KVD 1.5 Squarebill Cranks - Sexy Sunfish, Chartreuse Black Back, LSU, Sexy Shad
Strike King Red Eye Shad 1/2oz & 3/4oz - Chartreuse Sexy Shad, Neon Bluegill, Red chili craw
Strike King Jerk Baits - Sexy Shad
Spinnerbaits - Chartreuse, Chartreuse/White, White 3/8th to 3/4oz
Buzzbaits - White, Chatreuse/White, Black(evenings) 3/8th to 3/4oz
Zman Chatterbait - Black & Blue, White & Chartreuse, 3/8th or 1/2oz
Rebel Popper - Gold Back/White belly
Spro Poppin Frog - Black/yellow
Rapala Jointed Minnow size 7 (original shad rap color)

Makes up a majority of what I throw anymore, have simplified my bass gear quite a bit in the past couple years

 

[Fish_Fiend]

7 foot berkley lightning rod with phlueger president spinning reel. 10 pound pline copolymer.

Get some 3/0 gamagatsu ewg hooks and a bag of green pumpking zoom speed craws and watermelon seed apeed craws. One charttruese/white chatterbait and a black and blue chatterbait. You will need some 1/4 ounce bullet wieghts to texas rif the speed craws.

Gene - Red》X《 - Asheboro

 

[Cbain]

-Rod (size, brand)

7Ft - Fast Action - Medium Power. 3/16 - 5/8oz. 8-15lb. line
I am going to have to wash my mouth out with soap but I would recommend an Ugly Stick until you learn what lures you like to throw and work best for you. Then go buy a good rod that meets your requirements.

-Line (type, strength), how about a leader? Perhaps a SPRO snap for using multiple cranks?

I am a braid guy so I suggest 15lb. line until you learn the bottom of your ponds. (Less lures lost to sticks and salad bar) I use and highly recommend Duolock snaps. I personally feel adding a leader just sucks some of the fun and time of fishing for me. Most ponds I frequent are never that clear

-Hook sizes/types?

3/0 - 5/0 EWG

-Favorite lures/baits (the more details the better!)

4" & 6" senko's

Strike King 1.5 Crankbait
Strike King Red Eyed Shad in (Sexy Shad 1/4 - 3/8oz)
(I like both above with rattles.)
1/4oz Spinnerbait
1/4oz Buzzbait
Rebel Pop-R (Add a split ring to the back of the lure to help the learning curve)

And if you ever fish at night Arbogast Jitterbug 1/4oz regular or 3/8oz jointed, both in Black, Black, or Black. (I'll let you decide which color) I am very attached to my jointed jitterbug for some reason.

Wow, just wow. Thank you.

Oh, and I think I will go with "black" for the jitterbug.

 

[Cbain]

Much appreciated!

 

[nc35hunter]

If you are just getting into it, I think you will have a lot more fun and probably catch just as many fish with any good quality 10-12 lb mono (or fluoro, or copolymer) as opposed to braid. I am a braid believer, but it is a little more finicky to deal with. My brother is a better bass fisherman than I am and he hates the stuff. Although others disagree, I think you need to add a fluoro or mono leader, and the braid-to-leader knot can be a pain (just search the number of threads on this subject alone).

All the other tackle suggestions you have already gotten will serve you well. Only other thought - don't count out the trick worms. When nothing else works, that's my go-to. You can get a bag of 20 for less than the cost of 1 plug. Give them a try sometime. Good luck.

 

[Big Dawg]

-Rod -7'0 mh
-Line -20lb spiderwire stealth braid
-Hooks - 4/0
-Favorite lures/baits-buzzbait,lipless cranks,senkos,frogs.

 

[wademaster]

I'll list the brands/sizes of gear I used when chasing bass, before I converted to fly fishing (a week ago).

Rod- Pflueger President 6'6" Med Rod with matching spinning reel
Line- Spiderwire Ultimate Mono 14lb (tough to say the least)
Hooks- Gamakatsu EWG or Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp EWG (3/0-4/0)
Lures- I won't get into brand names here as a bass don't know them. Sometimes they will hit absolutely anything that moves. Spinnerbaits/crankbaits/plastic worms/lizards/topwater lures.....they all catch fish. There are times that one will outfish another. You'll narrow your own selection down with experience/time on the water using each. Every piece/brand of gear will work to some degree, it just depends on your preferences.

 

[GripaLip]

Don't be afraid to throw a mini-spinnerbait....... Sometimes that smaller profile gets them cranked.....

 

[wartmanrp]

For the time being I'm pretty exclusively a bank fisherman. I recommend most of what people above have said. My typical set-up is as follows (when focusing on bass exclusively)

-A waist worn tackle system of some sort:
I use a f&s one i got for my birthday one year but this can be as simple as a fanny pack. This allows you to carry all of your stuff hands-free and remain mobile. I usually pack two rods to you can stick one down it on your back and assuming no overhanging trees, not have to worry about it. This allows you to be more mobile and really get into good spots since you aren't focusing on lugging tackle box. Below I've linked the one I use. The side zipper pockets can each hold several bags of plastics. The small zipper pockets on the main pocket can hold spools of line or leader material. The small zipper pockets on the sides can hold small bait jars for things like gulp baits. Lastly the main zipper pocket is large enough to hold a decent size tackle box. I have a 2 sided one I got somewhere which I keep terminal tackle (hooks, swivels, weights, beads) and hardbaits/spinners in. It also has two cupholders! If you'd like I can send you pictures of how I usually set it up.

http://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p...savage+run&origkw=field+and+stream+savage+run
-No more than 2 rods:
I usually go with one 6'6" baitcaster (7'0" wouldn't hurt) in M or MH. Rig this up with a heavier c-rig or your bigger cranks. The second is always a spinning set-up. Again I go 6'6" or 7'0" here with M action. Slightly smaller doesn't hurt in my opinion as you want to be able to do finesse work. I like to use a 6'0 graphite shakespeare with an okuma reel with 6lb flouro as my spinning setup. Its super sensitive since I broke the tip off ages ago and you can feel everything when using a shakey head or dropshot.


Those are my two big pieces of advice. I guess the last one would be to get out there and fish your local spots as much as possible. Half the battle in fishing is finding the darn things, the other half is finding the pattern they want, so by hitting the same spots over and over you'll figure out where to look and where to cast.