Beginners guide to fishing: Choosing fishing gear

Beginner's Guide to Fishing, Part 1: Choosing Your Gear

So you’ve decided to give fishing a go? Welcome to it! Waiting for you are moments of sheer joy, peace, elation, confusion, sadness, and rage. It’s the goal of our Beginners Guide to Fishing Series is to eliminate as much of the confusion, rage, and sadness as possible and steer you towards the more joyous, peaceful parts of the sport. 

The world of fishing can be incredibly overwhelming. Chances are you’ve perused the internet for “how-to fish videos,” watching the experts rip bass after bass out of the water. Maybe you’ve gone to your local sporting goods store and started walking through the fishing aisles, gazing up and down at wall after wall of what seems to be lures. As someone who’s passionately fished his entire life, getting into the hobby can be daunting. The amount of gear, fishing terms, variables, and suggestions in front of you can be extremely overwhelming, to say the least. They say the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So let’s dive in. 

Picking Your Gear: Rod and Reel

This guide will be tailored toward freshwater fishing. That being said, most of the knowledge, tips, and tricks, will be applicable anywhere you decide to get your line wet. 

When going to purchase your first rod and reel it’s important to understand that there are different types of both, which have very different techniques and applications. Generally speaking in terms of reels (the part with the handle that spools the line) there are casting reels, there are spinning reels, and then there is a push-button hybrid version called spin casts. As a beginner, it’s highly recommended to start with a spinning reel (pictured here).

Spinning reels are good for almost all styles of fishing and are the most user friendly. When it comes to gear, let’s crawl before we walk and run. Once you’ve found some rods with these types of reels you'll need to pick one that’s attached to a rod that’s right for you.

Rods and reels can be purchased separately or as a combo. When starting out, a combo purchase may be your best bet. In terms of rods, you’ll be looking at variables such as length and action/power. As a new angler, it’s important to understand what these terms mean, but don’t overthink them yet.  I think everyone understands what the term "length" means.

Typically longer rods will give you more casting distance and are good for bigger baits. Shorter rods have their advantages in certain scenarios as well. They can come in quite handy when fishing from a kayak or fishing around trees and shrubs. The terms "action" and "power" can be used as a singular term, or as two categories describing the rod. Essentially action describes the “bendiness” of the rod while power describes the strength or backbone. Starting out, a good play would be to get a rod in the middle of the spectrum.

Action ranges from slow to fast and power ranges from ultra-light to heavy.  Find out what a rod’s action or power is, as well as length, by looking on the rod itself towards the base. Listed here will also be recommended lure or bait weights. This is important because we don't need a massive rod designed for ocean fishing if we're going to be throwing little lures at trout or bass. A middle of the road rod would be somewhere in the 6.5-foot range and have medium fast power and action. Finally, you found your fishing rod. Does it come with a line on it? We should talk about line…..

Picking Your Gear: Fishing Line

Okay, so you’ve got your rod in your hand, now we need some line to put on it. Even if your reel comes with a line, it’s a good idea to buy a spool so you have an extra. Would you believe there are several different kinds of line that all have slightly different functions? Of course you would, you just spent an hour looking at slightly different rods and reels…

The three most common styles of fishing line are MonoFilament, Fluorocarbon, and Braid. If you're just starting out, you’re getting monofilament. Grab some 8 pound and head to the lure section. Monofilament is by far the most commonly used and user-friendly line to spool your reel and fish with. Below are the characteristics which differentiate the types of line. We can change things up once we’ve gotten deeper into the hobby

MONOFILAMENT- User-friendly, high stretch/low sensitivity, neutrally buoyant. Easy to cut and tie, difficult to see in the water.

FLUOROCARBON - Typically used as a “leader”. Attached to a braided line. More resistant to abrasion, invisible to fish, sinks, more difficult to spool. 

BRAID- Zero stretch, high sensitivity, intensely strong while also very thin, floats, high visibility, difficult to cut.

Each style of line will come in different poundages or “tests”. On the reel you’re holding it will list its recommended line weights and how many yards or meters it should hold. Don’t make the mistake of equating the test strength with the size of the fish you are going for. A 3 lbs bass can easily break 8lb tests. Typically in terms of monofilament, panfish and trout would fall into the 4-8 pound range, bass can go from 6-20 pound test and bigger apex fish like pike or musky will require a much heavier line. Your line will also directly influence your ability to cast your lures. Heavy lures will require a bigger line so as not to snap, while light lures will need a light line to be able to have a chance at some distance. I told you to grab the 8Lbs Monofilament and move on because it is, in my mind, the best all-around line style and weight for you to jump into the sport with.

Stay tuned for the next part of our Beginner's Guide to Fishing: Choosing the Right Lure

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This article was written by Fishbrainer Pro Staff: David Schaeffer

Follow David on Fishbrain at ShiftyUsmc