Fishing gear questions

[Daniel Riggs]

I'm planning to get back into bass fishing when I move back to Missouri in a few months. I was wondering about tackle recommendations starting out?  I haven't seriously fished since high school and back then I used mostly rattle trap, spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and mini spook.  I fished a lot in the evenings after school.  What other gear should I be looking at?  I'm thinking of largemouth, smallmouth and maybe some trout and crappie as well.  

Right now I have spinning tackle only. penn battle 2500 on a shimano tarumar inshore rod (medium 7 ft) and a shimano sienna 2500 on a 6 ft medium ugly stick.  ive been fishing mostly live shrimp down here, so I'll be starting fresh with lures. 

[Ketchup]

Rod/reel selection you have will be good until you get more into the serious side of the bass game.  As far as baits......  On the soft bait side, familiarize yourself with what is working on the body of water you plan on fishing the most, and stock up on similar baits as money allows. Those same baits will work on most other waters. Sometimes a matching soft plastic, or even hard baits, color can make a difference, so for instance, take a Berkley Power Worm. Been around forever and everyone has used them. Let's say you are fishing Table Rock today and killing "just a phrase" the bass on a motor oil worm, then head to Stockton tomorrow and can't get a bite on that same worm, doesn't mean worms don't work there. Maybe changing the color of that worm would have caught you a lot of fish, so try to buy a few colors of similar baits.   Jigs are a good bet to have handy anytime of the year.  I prefer 1/4 or 3/8 ounce in PB&J color or blue/black. They will work on any water, anytime of year.  Soft swim baits would be another choice to grab.  You can fish them multiple ways and catch fish.  If you get a chance, go to Academy Sports in Springfield "or wherever" as they have a large selection of plastics and get an idea of the style, color, shapes, lengths, etc.  

 

Hard baits are just as plentiful as soft plastics nowadays.  I will always have shallow, medium, and deep diving crank baits in the boat. I always have several colors of Rattle Traps on hand as they are fish catching baits.  Once you get more into the game, then you can buy a jerk bait and start figuring out the technique for working them.  So much info to be found on bass fishing on the web.  Good luck with your move, and for your reintroduction to the sport of bass fishing.  

[Daniel Riggs]

Thanks for the tips. I'm really looking forward to catching some fish when I get up there.

[MOBass]

The forums are a great resource.  Pick your 'home' body of water and start reading.  Go back a couple years for the same season and you will see some patterns emerge.  This will take the edge off what can be a steep learning curve.

My advice for gear is to stay pretty general with your first few rod/reel combos and learn what you like and then you can buy more specialized gear for what you really like to fish.  Shameless plug.....I have a fair amount of gear I will be parting company with next month so keep a weather eye on the buy/sell board.

[mjk86]

Your current setups will work fine to start.  Also if you got spooks and lipless baits you got the top and middle covered.  You just need a jig and plastic trailer colored the same as the bottom of the water your fishing, and you'll be in business. 

Solid advice above about reading back a few years.

[Daniel Riggs]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm all about buying used gear as well, so I'll keep an eye on the boards.