Less than 50$-This price range is asking for it. Your equipment even if its simply spent on an outfit may not necessariyly be of good quality. Still, it is possible to find a few fairly good quality combos at near to this price range.
75 to 100$-This is a good price range to start with, but you may find your equipment breaking at the end of a long summer
Up to 150$-This is a good price range, with this price range, you can get started with a good quality rod, good quality reel and a few lures
Rods-Rods are obviously one of the more important parts of your fishing arsenal. A great rod to start with would either be a medium or a medium heavy action spinning rod and a length between 6 1/2 and 7 ft long. Go with a good name such as Abu, Shakespeare or Berkley or hundreds of other good names. Be prepared to spend at least 50$ on this element of your tackle. A good starter rod should be able to handle between 6 and 12 lb test and cast lures between 1/16 and 5/8 oz. This is a great starter rod, especially for Smallmoth Bass.
Reels-This element of your tackle is attached to your rod. It should be a spinning reel for your first rod. A fairly large line cap say 170 yds of 6lb test will do well. Don't be surprised if you have to pay more for the reel than for the rod. Get a reel that feels good in your hands. Listen to the salesperson's advice. The ratio should be around 5.1.1 or so and should include some form of anti-reverse. Don't be cheap.
Line-The line is also very important. Some reels coincide better with certain types of line, such as Mono or Multifilaments. Even more so, certain brands thereof. Listen, yet again to the salesperson and listen to his/her advice. Still, with the price of multifilaments beinning to go down, it mya be worth investing in a spool of 6 or 8 lb. test for your new combo. Consider Spiderwire.
Lures-Yes, as anxious as you are to buy lures, you should really buy them last. But I have suggetsions of my own on what to buy first.
| Rebel Pop-R | Tandem Spinnerbait | Assorted jig styles and colors (More later) |
| 4" or 7" Worm | Red Devil | Mepps Spinners |
| Cordell Super Spot | Rapala Shad Rap | Hooks (more later) |
These are a few lures to start off with. Their size should be relatiely small, as you will catch more fish with smaller lures.
Hooks-You will need an assortment of hooks and sinkers for trolling, fishing through timber or weeds, or dangling beneath a bobber. When the word "Hook" coems to mind you'll probably think of some worms dangling beneath a bobber strewn upon a hook. Yes, you will need a few sizes of live bait hooks but you'll also need hooks to rig plastic worms, rig soft jerkbaits or rig other types of livebait. Different colors of hooks also add added confusion, such as Red or Silver, Blue or Brown? Start off simple with brass or silver-polished hooks then, when you get into teh walleyes, get a little more complicated. Don't bother being cheap on hooks either, they're cheap enough at high-quality. Also, go with several different shapes and sizes of sinkers.
Jigs-Jigs are great lures, whether jus the head or dressed with feather or tail, jigs are great. Go with marabou, bucktail and plai jigs in white and black, this should be a great start. For walleye fishing, consider going with more jighead styles such as Northland's jig heads. Plain jigs are great built-in sinkers for soft plastics.
Now you know how to get started in the great world of fshing ahead, eventually you may want to add new rods, reels, lines and most certanily, more lures to your arsenal but teh things recommended in the tips above is all you need to get sarted in your fishing career.