Beginner Angler

I'm looking for some pointers on how to set up my fishing rod for myself and lil ones. Anyone have any pointers or tutorials...lol

To the Texas Fishing Forum. As for setting up your rod and tackle it depends on what you want to catch. To keep it simple sunfish are usually a good start. Get you an ultra light combo. They are not that expensive and you can buy a good one at Acadamey. I like the Shakespeare UL combos. Get some size six or eight hooks along with some size five shots. Get a few small size floats. Find a community pond or a nice creek and fish by overhanging trees,and brush piles. You should find some Bluegill in those spots. The more you fish the better you will get. It takes lots of time on the water to start getting good at it! Best of luck. You picked a GREAT past time to get into!


Side Note: You can also check out some the State Parks. The have places to fish and some even have public docks. Some of your major lakes also have public docks.

Tomorrow at Eisenhower State Park is a Learn To Fish day that is completely free. It's designed to teach kids how to fish. It starts at 9:00 am with simple instructions and then two hours of actual fishing. All equipment is furnished. Depending on where you live, it's a great chance to learn a lot in a short time.

1. Buy Lottery Ticket
2. Win Lottery
3. Buy $75,000 Bass Boat plus $10K for rods/tackle
4. Catch Fish

How old are your kids? If they are pretty young, then you're probably going to want them to catch something quickly to keep their attention. I do this with my 4-year old. Tie a snap swivel to their line and get some pre-tied hooks. Like these: Link to hooks

Then put a small bobber about 12-18 inches above the hook, depending on how deep you want to go.

Then get some earthworms at wal-mart. Try to find the earthworms, not the nightcrawlers. The fish will pick the nightcrawlers off your hook without getting hooked themselves. earthworms are a bit tougher in that regard. Cut a piece of work about twice the size of the hook you are using and thread the hook through the length of the worm. so the hook should be mostly covered by the worm, with the rest of the worm dangling beyond the hook (and hopefully wiggling like crazy).

Go out to a local pond and look for areas where there may be some small fish. Overhangs or near some structure. the worms pretty much guarantee you'll catch some sunfish if they are around. If you find a good spot, you'll be catching sunfish on almost every cast as long as your worm is fresh.

Best tip...do not use baitcasters with little ones! It's hard enough with grown men starting out!

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Depending on age, getting the fear out of your mind of them getting hooked, we used these: https://amzn.com/B00ER95H0I

Keep the kids hydrated, bug sprayed, and sunscreened... we have 4 and that helped keep ours happy.

Keep it simple - spincast reel like a zebco or daiwa for the kids, and maybe a spinning reel for you or older kids. Check out this page if you don't know that they reel types are. Simple hook and bobber from the bank (small hook) with a red wiggler worm. You will catch brim - great fun for the kids! For more info see this page.

Sport Angling

All good advice.