new fisherman...

fieldgrade

fieldgrade

waiting...
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And it’s not me. My youngest boy who finished school on my dining room table last month...

Imma get a sign for the front yard, but I digress...

FINISHED UNDER QUARANTINE 2020
or FUQ 2020

...has decided he likes fishing. Bought a $20 rig at Walmart, and has fished 7 lakes within a short drive of my house, and hits at least two of them a day for the past couple of weeks.

Took him to Bass Pro last week where he was bedazzled, or better said, vapor locked with all the choices when all we wanted was sinkers and bobbers. Anyway, I picked out some for him based on my 1965 knowledge of fishing and he’s set.
 
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I’ve been dabbling in bass fishing for a while now. I go every morning at 6 am and then again in the evening at 6 pm. Bought a few baitcasters and damn! I thought fly rods were expensive! Of course there was the boat and a new trolling motor and a good cooler for the beer. This loafing ain’t cheap anymore!
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It just occurred to me that the last time I wet a line I was exactly his age. Caught a mess of Crappie with two friends in one of their front yards in this tiny pond. We cleaned and cooked a couple of dozen of those little buggers. They were not very good, and I think lost interest at that point.

Might have to introduce the boy to saltwater fishing, just because I prefer a strong breeze. I used to go with my grandad when I was maybe 12-13. I can remember once when the mullet were running and pulling in three at a time off the pier. That got me interested for about ten years.
 
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fieldgrade said:
I can remember once when the mullet were running and pulling in three at a time off the pier. That got me interested for about ten years.
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I’ve went days and didn’t get a bite while learning to bass fish. Just about gave up, then, out of nowhere, a bite. And I was good for a couple more days.
 
Hammer21b said:
I’ve went days and didn’t get a bite while learning to bass fish. Just about gave up, then, out of nowhere, a bite. And I was good for a couple more days.
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My son got his girlfriend to go with a cheap rod someone left behind at a lake with a badly tangled line. He untangled it, and got her set up. After one trip with no bites she lost interest. He catches a few small ones every day that he throws back, which keeps him coming back.
 
fieldgrade said:
My son got his girlfriend to go with a cheap rod someone left behind at a lake with a badly tangled line. He untangled it, and got her set up. After one trip with no bites she lost interest. He catches a few small ones every day that he throws back, which keeps him coming back.
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He threw the girlfriend back!? Good boy!
 
Wonder if a bass boat would fit in the garage?
 
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fieldgrade said:
Might have to introduce the boy to saltwater fishing
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I'm trying to learn myself. I'm terrible at it. You want to catch more than your buddy? Invite me. But I'm enjoying it. In fresh water, it will be a bass or a crappie unless you're targeting catfish. But in salt, you don't know what you'll get. I bought a BassPro kayak a few years ago. I take it out in lakes around NC and in the grass marshes around Morehead City. I've caught a few red drum, some trout, a flounder, and a couple of sharks.
 
MostWanted said:
I'm trying to learn myself. I'm terrible at it. You want to catch more than your buddy? Invite me. But I'm enjoying it. In fresh water, it will be a bass or a crappie unless you're targeting catfish. But in salt, you don't know what you'll get. I bought a BassPro kayak a few years ago. I take it out in lakes around NC and in the grass marshes around Morehead City. I've caught a few red drum, some trout, a flounder, and a couple of sharks.
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He has actually caught a few small catfish. I am sure he doesn’t know how. :D
 
If he is really going to get into it look into Temple Fork Outfitters rod in spinnging, baitcasting, and fly. If sold all my fenwicks shimmano, and Star rods and converted over. They have a great warranty. If it breaks while using its free if you slam into a door its only $60 to replace. Made in korea but the shop is full of actual fisherman so it isn't junk they build them and use them themselves. Nice video on youtube.

For freshwater trout/bluegill/small mouth/shad look into the "trout and panfish" I have 2 set up with 1000 series shimmanos and 8lb braid and I can't put them down as they are so light but has the back bone when needed. Heck I've caught many 16-25" rock by accident on them in New Bern and switched lures and caught bluegill without overpowering them.If you're going to sling the 1/16oz jigs I'd go down to 4-5lb braid.

They have other bass rods but what I have are the professional series in several sizes and the blue inshore designed by a guide down in Oriental. I had sticker shock on the inshore but I'm down here wearing out reds this week and they just feel right. Most guides run the blue inshore rods. My arm is not wore out at the end of the day due to the light weight.

Reels are your choice but if you go with a quality rod spend the coin for a better reel that is lightweight to go with these lightweight rods
https://tforods.com/

Good luck!
 
Inventory of rods at Cabelas is pretty thin. Did pick up some bait.
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CZfool68 said:
Take the boy down to Sanford and get him a nice Cashion rod. At least he’ll look good not catching fish that way.
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He’s catching fish every night with his $20 Walmart rig. Just not very big ones.
 
Dont need high end gear to catch fish. The higher end stuff is a little smoother and lighter. Having a rod that with better sensitivity helps alot. I am no super pro but this time of year at night or dusk and dawn are the best as its cooler then. Bass and other fish go deep in the heat. Hot water if hard on them.
 
xRHINOx said:
Dont need high end gear to catch fish. The higher end stuff is a little smoother and lighter. Having a rod that with better sensitivity helps alot. I am no super pro but this time of year at night or dusk and dawn are the best as its cooler then. Bass and other fish go deep in the heat. Hot water if hard on them.
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Night fishing with black light and fluorescent line is awesome. Doesn’t seem to be as popular here as when I was in CA. Maybe it’s the snakes and skeeters? But the fishing is awesome. Had a few great night on Harris.
 
fieldgrade said:
He’s catching fish every night with his $20 Walmart rig. Just not very big ones.
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Shoreline fishing limits your options, especially in the summer. Around here it’s a dusk, dawn and deep game in the summer. He’ll do better in the Fall and Spring. Buy him the In Fisherman books so he’ll learn seasonal patterns. If you actually still have a VCR I have old videos he could watch. Probably low quality and grainy but good stuff. If you want them let me know and I’ll dig them out. Or maybe InFisherman has new ones bu now. Mine are probably 20-30 years old.
 
fieldgrade said:
He’s catching fish every night with his $20 Walmart rig. Just not very big ones.
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He fishing for bass? Catfish? Bream? Tell him take one of his small live bream, hook it through the tail and toss it back out and wait a bit.
 
Burt Gummer said:
He fishing for bass? Catfish? Bream? Tell him take one of his small live bream, hook it through the tail and toss it back out and wait a bit.
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He’s using live worms fishing off the bank and reeling in whatever bites. But I’ll tell him that.
 
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tod0987 said:
If he is really going to get into it look into Temple Fork Outfitters rod in spinnging, baitcasting, and fly. If sold all my fenwicks shimmano, and Star rods and converted over. They have a great warranty. If it breaks while using its free if you slam into a door its only $60 to replace. Made in korea but the shop is full of actual fisherman so it isn't junk they build them and use them themselves. Nice video on youtube.

For freshwater trout/bluegill/small mouth/shad look into the "trout and panfish" I have 2 set up with 1000 series shimmanos and 8lb braid and I can't put them down as they are so light but has the back bone when needed. Heck I've caught many 16-25" rock by accident on them in New Bern and switched lures and caught bluegill without overpowering them.If you're going to sling the 1/16oz jigs I'd go down to 4-5lb braid.

They have other bass rods but what I have are the professional series in several sizes and the blue inshore designed by a guide down in Oriental. I had sticker shock on the inshore but I'm down here wearing out reds this week and they just feel right. Most guides run the blue inshore rods. My arm is not wore out at the end of the day due to the light weight.

Reels are your choice but if you go with a quality rod spend the coin for a better reel that is lightweight to go with these lightweight rods
https://tforods.com/

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I have TFO BVK fly rods in 6, 8, and 10 weights. I other brands also but usually take a TFO on a fishing trip. I know nothing about their casting or spinning rods but assume they are also quite servicable.
 
tod0987 said:
If he is really going to get into it look into Temple Fork Outfitters rod in spinnging, baitcasting, and fly. If sold all my fenwicks shimmano, and Star rods and converted over. They have a great warranty. If it breaks while using its free if you slam into a door its only $60 to replace. Made in korea but the shop is full of actual fisherman so it isn't junk they build them and use them themselves. Nice video on youtube.
https://tforods.com/

Good luck!
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+1 for TFO. I have one of their fly rods. Attractive and well made. I like that they aren’t manufactured in China. Most fly rods are...
 
There are some excellent fly rods made here in the USA that generally have models well within the price range of many of the foreign rods. High end rods from Sage, Winston, Scott, and a few others will be pretty pricy, but some of their models are quite nice rods at reasonable prices. You generally pay a premium for fast rods that have better hardware, but those models may not be as easy to use as some of their less expensive versions unless you are a real expert caster.
 
sixtysevensg said:
And tell him to hang on. If he's lucky, he may break that $20 dollar Wally world jobby.
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Well, he finally broke it a week ago. Bought a nicer rod/reel from a buddy last week, and caught his first bass yesterday, along with about 16 other assorted aquatic critters (fishes).
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