43yr old noob! Help!

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Andrew D

Member
Joined
Mar 15, 2012
Messages
14
Location
Stoney Creek Ontario
So as the title says I am 43yrs old and new to fishing.
I have done some research and thinking on what i want to fish, so now it is time to pick some gear. And here is where the question lye's

I will be fishing in the Niagara region, Grand river, Lake Gibson, Hamilton, Bronte, Niagara river....etc. was thinking bass, trout, walleye, and anything else i might be luky enough to catch :)

So first is the ROD AND REEL. ( spinning ). ALSO i will be fishing from "SHORE"

I was thinking a "combo" Shimano Sedona, Mitchell 300x or Pfluger 6900. Any feed back on these products? Any othe recommendation at $100-$120.00 range?

Also any one had any experience with Bass Pro's line of rods and reels? I see they have some good prices.


Thanks, have a good one.

Oh i will have many more questions, thought i would start with this one.
 
I've always been a canadian tire special type of person. This year will be the first year i buy my self a good reel, and thats going to be a large one for my peir rod. SO I am of not too much help right now but hopefully someone else will be able to. :)
 
what area are you located in if your from around kitchener I a couple places that always have good deals
 
Welcome to fishing and OFF.

When I started fishing some 20 years ago I made the mistake of going heavy with the line. The rod and reel combo were unknown name brand but made of graphite. I still have it and the rod is still great, reel needs lube. I'm the kind that gets bored easily and would rather catch anything then nothing. Now most of my rods are ultra light and 6 or 4 Lb line. One of my favorite rods is a Bass Pro Micro Lite series with a Mitchell Avocet II reel. The two are perfectly balanced for each other. For the price it's a great outfit that I caught a 10 lb sheephead. Yeah, 10 lbs on 6 lb line. The rod has amazing back bone, flex and sensitivity to it, making all catches a thrill. Check them out next time your at BP. I'd like to get another one but I think I have to limit my total rods to 12. :( If I don't I may need some intervention......lol. I do have a BP reel with 9 ball bearings in it and it seems ok. It's not as smooth as others with less BBs. For some reason I've ended up with more Abu Garcia reels. They are great and affordable, some may say not as good as Shimano, I agree but not as costly either. Save some money for the hundreds of lures you'll end up buying.......lol.

Hope this helps. Good fishing and let us know how you made out. ;)
 
Welcome to fishing and OFF.

When I started fishing some 20 years ago I made the mistake of going heavy with the line. The rod and reel combo were unknown name brand but made of graphite. I still have it and the rod is still great, reel needs lube. I'm the kind that gets bored easily and would rather catch anything then nothing. Now most of my rods are ultra light and 6 or 4 Lb line. One of my favorite rods is a Bass Pro Micro Lite series with a Mitchell Avocet II reel. The two are perfectly balanced for each other. For the price it's a great outfit that I caught a 10 lb sheephead. Yeah, 10 lbs on 6 lb line. The rod has amazing back bone, flex and sensitivity to it, making all catches a thrill. Check them out next time your at BP. I'd like to get another one but I think I have to limit my total rods to 12. :( If I don't I may need some intervention......lol. I do have a BP reel with 9 ball bearings in it and it seems ok. It's not as smooth as others with less BBs. For some reason I've ended up with more Abu Garcia reels. They are great and affordable, some may say not as good as Shimano, I agree but not as costly either. Save some money for the hundreds of lures you'll end up buying.......lol.

Hope this helps. Good fishing and let us know how you made out. ;)

Thanks... i am heading up to basspro next weekend, to do some "looking" around. But i some what agree i think 6 pound line will be a good start point for me.

thanks again and please everyone keep the advice and info coming.
 
IMHO, by far the best spinning reel for the price is the Shimano Sienna 2500 series.
The UglyStick is a durable rod but the Voltaius (sp?) has a much softer tip and feel to it. I switched to these and the Selus rod's for my wife and kids because they are good and don't cost much to replace.
Line will depend on the water (clear vs stained) and type of fishing you want to do. As a basic line to use you can never go wrong with 6lb trilene XL. learn how to tie knots too!
 
I forgot to mention, the BPS line of rod's are ok too. I have the Cranking stick and like it for trolling jerkbaits.
 
Thanks for all the feed back so far, I went to bass pro and picked my self up a rod and reel! Exciting ( first one ). :smile:

So i went with a Shimano Sedona reel and Bass Pro Tourney Special IM7 Premium Graphite rod. It is 6'6" length medium power and fast action. Also went with Berkley Trilene XL Smooth 8 pound line. Also picked up some 6 pound line.

Also picked up some essentials, tackle box, hooks, jigheads, weights, leaders, swivels, snaps....etc

Also on this shopping spree picked up:some rubbers, spoons, spinners and lures. To many things to list!



So are there any lures, spinners, spoons....etc that you guys think are ABSOLUTE must haves? Again will be fishing for walleye, bass, trout....and anything else i might be lucky to catch.
 
Hey Max, thats soo exciting getting all the stuff eh? Good for you, I wish you the best of luck with your adventures!! I would suggest that you can never go wrong with having some good ole earth worms with you every time you go out. They will always bring you at least 1 fish depending on where your fishing.
 
Thanks for all the feed back so far, I went to bass pro and picked my self up a rod and reel! Exciting ( first one ). :smile:

So i went with a Shimano Sedona reel and Bass Pro Tourney Special IM7 Premium Graphite rod. It is 6'6" length medium power and fast action. Also went with Berkley Trilene XL Smooth 8 pound line. Also picked up some 6 pound line.

Also picked up some essentials, tackle box, hooks, jigheads, weights, leaders, swivels, snaps....etc

Also on this shopping spree picked up:some rubbers, spoons, spinners and lures. To many things to list!



So are there any lures, spinners, spoons....etc that you guys think are ABSOLUTE must haves? Again will be fishing for walleye, bass, trout....and anything else i might be lucky to catch.

You did very well for your first trip to pick up supplies! Very good choices, and you got the essentials...

For lures, I'd have a few Rapala flat raps, Rapala X-raps, DT series crankbaits and x-rap poppers. The colors you choose really depend on the area and style of fishing your going to be doing.

I also get a Johnson Silver minnow weedless spoon for pike.

Some soft plastics for walleye and bass. Yum salted 3" grubs are great on jigheads. Also some Berkley Gulp minnows, either 3-4", also great on jigheads. Pick up some salted tubes, and tube hooks. Some crawfish plastics are great to have as well, and a few 1/2 skirted bass jigs (to rig with the plastic crawfish)

Get at least one spinnerbait, either solid black, or white, or both, lol.

A couple inline Mepps spinners as well (very good for multi species fishing.

Make sure you have a line clipper and a good pair of pliers. Also look for a cheap pair of polarized sunglasses(about $12 at Wal-Mart).

Your line choices are great to start with ...

Make sure you spool you reel correctly as well, here is a good link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY6APA8vd1M&feature=related

and the list will keep growing, trust me
 
In that video, he should be using an arbor knot to tie the line on to the spool. I just put the line on with a pencil through the middle of the spool, put some pressure on the line as I reel it on the reel. No problem with line twist.
 
In that video, he should be using an arbor knot to tie the line on to the spool. I just put the line on with a pencil through the middle of the spool, put some pressure on the line as I reel it on the reel. No problem with line twist.
As long as the spool runs away from you if you set it on the ground it's all good. Hence the reson then now sell line spooling stations.
 
You did very well for your first trip to pick up supplies! Very good choices, and you got the essentials...

For lures, I'd have a few Rapala flat raps, Rapala X-raps, DT series crankbaits and x-rap poppers. The colors you choose really depend on the area and style of fishing your going to be doing.

I also get a Johnson Silver minnow weedless spoon for pike.

Some soft plastics for walleye and bass. Yum salted 3" grubs are great on jigheads. Also some Berkley Gulp minnows, either 3-4", also great on jigheads. Pick up some salted tubes, and tube hooks. Some crawfish plastics are great to have as well, and a few 1/2 skirted bass jigs (to rig with the plastic crawfish)

Get at least one spinnerbait, either solid black, or white, or both, lol.

A couple inline Mepps spinners as well (very good for multi species fishing.

Make sure you have a line clipper and a good pair of pliers. Also look for a cheap pair of polarized sunglasses(about $12 at Wal-Mart).

Your line choices are great to start with ...

Make sure you spool you reel correctly as well, here is a good link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hY6APA8vd1M&feature=related

and the list will keep growing, trust me


Wow... thanks alot for me feedback and A BIG thanks for the video link.


I already picked up mepps: black fury, mepps agilia, johnson original silver minnow, blue fox vibrax shadow spinner, eppinger original daredevil, luwr jensen kroodile, a few different berkley rubbers, gary yamamoto senkos, strike king kvd tandem willow, rapal rap shad glass, rapala original floating, abrogast hula popper, abrogast jitter bug, bomber square a.

I must admit my first shopping spree was exciting intersting......and costly! LOL

Can not wait to get out soon! Was hoping this weekend, but doing some ot at work.....got to pay for this stuff somehow!

Thanks again for the info.
 
In that video, he should be using an arbor knot to tie the line on to the spool. I just put the line on with a pencil through the middle of the spool, put some pressure on the line as I reel it on the reel. No problem with line twist.

Not really. I mean, do whatever your comfortable with, but two or three overhand knots is all that is needed. Just dont let a fish spool you, if that a risk, then yeah, don't use this method.

All I ever do is 2-3 overhand knots, or I wrap the line around the spool 3-4 times, then tie my overhand knots.

And no problem Mad Max, glad to help. If your not comfortable with the knots used in the video,

http://www.animatedknots.com/arbor/index.php

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/776588/arbor_knot_how_to_tie_an_arbor_knot/
 
This is definitely one of those grey areas. The Triline line that they were using is made by Berkley who makes a spooling station unwinds the line the way they say not to do it. To each his own.


Good point!

I'm just trying to provide some usefull vids for people to get started though.

The line SHOULD be going away from you in most cases(IMO)

Thanks for pointing that out!

But yeah, grey area. Thats why I said to do what is comfortable for you, and you have experience with

Also, these are the guys from Knot Wars, I think they are def. credible
 

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