A Way to Start Fishing

Jan. 08 2026

This guide is intended for those who cannot start fishing in the 'normal' way by going out with friends who already fish, or being taught to fish by a relative. I had to start from scratch and it took me several years to catch a fish because I had no one to help me. My hope is to give you the information necessary to turn $100 into a caught fish. Please read it entirely before doing anything.

When to start

I suggest that you begin scouting in winter. If you want to fish, you need to find a place to fish.There are fish all over the place, and your best bet is to look around in a mapping program near your home to find possible locations to fish at. Really, just about any lake or pond will have fish. Fishbrain will have some data about fishing areas, as well as your local conservation organizations. At this point, there is no need to worry about depth, or structure, or cover, or anything like that. Find your fishing hole, make sure it's one you can get to, and go visit it. Walk around, look for a cozy place like a bench or a pier.

Doing this in winter will give you something to do as you begin pulling together your plan to start fishing, and can give you some good information. There may be people ice fishing there, indicating it's a popular spot for catching fish. Vegetation will be dead or trimmed, giving you better access to the bank to look around.

Spring, however, is the when the fun begins. In much of America, Spring is when the spawn begins. Fish are waking up from a cold winter and they are hungry. This means aggression. It is by far the easiest part of the year to catch fish and will give beginners their greatest chance of hooking a fish.

Licenses & Equipment

This is one of the more discouraging parts of learning to fish because there are more types of equipment across the whole gamut of fishing gear than there are types of fish. It seems that every major game species has dozens of techniques to catch them, with equipment to match. Bass especially have caused the market to explode in fishing gear because they will bite almost anything. Right now, there is nothing for you to research. I have done it for you so you can buy what I tell you to buy, do what I tell you to do, and catch fish.

The very first thing you will need to purchase is a fishing license. This will vary by your location, and ranges from $5.00 to $56.00. Here in Iowa it is $22.00 for a yearly resident license. That is the number I will use for tallying up costs. Often your state will have an online portal with the ability to buy licenses online. Sometimes you need to go in person. Either way, an online search will point you in the right direction. Do not buy a 1 day or 3 day pass. Get the full year, even if it seems expensive.

After purchasing a license to fish in your area, the next step is procuring gear. This is where the cost starts to ramp up and can explode to blow any budget out of the water. I will lay out the ideal beginner set up, then explore more budget concious options.

Generally, all this equipment can be purchased at a local big box store. Farm stores and online shopping may work as well. I strongly suggest ultralight gear. I assume you already own basic utility items like a pocketknife. You will need:

• A rod and reel
• Bobbers
• Hooks
• Bait
• Fish handling gear

For the rod and reel there is only one option under $30 of any value: a Shakespeare Micro Series 4'6" Spinning Combo for $25.97. It punches far above its weight class. The reel is a 2 bearing system and outperforms single bearing reels in the same price space. The rod is nearly flawless, its only problem being that it has steel guides instead of ceramic. However, if that is too much, know you can go cheaper, but it's not going to be as easy. Two options include the Ozark Trail Wayfarer for $12.38, and the ProFISHiency 5' Micro Telescopic Fiberglass Spinning Combo for $26.99. These are slower, heavier rods that are less sensitive, but they are cheaper. The ProFISHiency combo also comes with the rest of the gear needed from this list except for the bait.

Bobbers are a free for all here. I prefer using bobbers an inch in diameter or smaller. Ozark Trail or similar will work well here. Expect to pay between $1.78 and $2.32 for a pack of bobbers. Red and white snap on bobbers will work fine. So will foam, or wood. Strictly speaking, a bright floating object of any kind can be used here.

A bag of size 6 bronze baitholder hooks will work very well for our purposes. Pick up the closest thing you can find to the Eagle Claw Renegade Aberdeen Fishing Hooks for $1.16 or the Ozark Trail Bronze Baitholder Light Wire Fishing Hooks for $0.97. These will bend out on anything larger than a panfish and that's ok. You will have plenty of time to research more techniques and equipment later once you decide whether to continue fishing.

Bait is a big deal. You can go as cheap or expensive or crazy as you want. I tend to run one of two baits when I fish. I will dry out a can of corn then dump it in a jar with a bunch of BCAA powder as a feeding stimulant. My favorite bait however are Berkely Crappie Nibbles for $6.93. It's a pre-rolled dough that is hook ready and perfectly sized for panfish. Considering the cost, however, it may not be in reach for everyone. This is where your own creativity can shine. Bread, corn, pretty much any cheap human food that sticks to a hook will work here. I will warn you away from using dried cranberries, however. I have tried them over and over and fish here will not touch it.

Finally, you need something that you can use to easily pull hooks from the fish's mouth. I really like my Ozark Trail Fishing Foreceps for $3.47 as they let me get deep without hurting the fish too much, but any needlenose pliers will work. I used to fish without pliers but it makes catch-and-release fishing so much harder.

All together now, with this gear and your license, you should be spending somewhere between $40.00 and $60.00 and be ready to fish.

Getting onto the water

Now it's time to fish. Get out to your fishing spot with your gear and unwrap everything. Carefully remove the wrapping on your fishing reel's spool and open the bail. Thread the fishing line through the bottom of all the guides on the rod, through the tip, and pull out an additional foot or so of line. Close the bail. Locate the drag knob on the top of the reel and turn it clockwise a few times. Grab the line above the reel and try to pull some more out of the reel. Adjust the knob back and forth until you can pull more line from the reel using some effort, but not so much the line digs into your hand uncomfortably.

Remove a hook from the bag and tie it to your line. You can research whatever knot sounds good to you, but the easiest knot in my opinion is the Palomar knot: Double up the line, feed to through the eye of the hook, tie an overhand knot and push the hook through the tag end loop before cinching down. Cut off the excess and you're ready to go.

Clip on a bobber about 12-18 inches above the hook. Depending on your bobber, there will be different ways to do this. One regular round red and white bobbers, the button on top will push out the bottom hook, and pushing the button down while holding a thumb on the bottom with push out the top hook. Both hooks must be engaged to the line.

Thread a piece of bait on the hook and gently push it to iether the bottom of the 'U' of the hook, or up onto the shank. You should now be ready to cast.

Casting

This might be the hardest part of learning to fish. You need to be able to hold the rod in such a way that you can hold the line with your index finger while casting. Generally, this involves holding the rod near the reel so that the arm of the reel that connects to the rod is between your middle and ring fingers. Using your index finger to hold the line above the reel against the rod, you then open the bail, swing the rod backwards, forwards, and during the forward swing, let go of the line with your finger. Once the hook hits the water, you can close the bail. This will take practice.

Don't worry if you can't cast very well or very far. You are building skills that translate to all spinning fishing reels. Practice comes with the act of fishing. Stay calm and carefully handle any tangles. Focus on accurate castings.

Once the hook is in the water and the bail is closed, it is imperative that the very next thing you do is to pull any slack out of the reel. You can do this by hand or by gently movign the tip of your rod upwards. This one thing will reduce so much frustrating line tangles in the future.

Now comes the fish. Take a seat and relax because your job now is to watch your bobber. This isn't the most exciting way to catch fish, but again, that comes later once you decide whether to adopt fishing as a hobby.

The bobber should now be in water, floating around- maybe the wind is moving it a little bit, maybe you played with the reel and brought your line in a bit. Regardless, watch the bobber. Within a few minutes you should see the bobber start to move more than the water conditions would suggest. What you want to see is the bobber dunk underneath the water. This means a fish has taken your bait! The next step is the set the hook. This involves forcing the hook into and through the flesh of the fish's mouth, soon enough after sensing the bite that the fish doesn't swallow it entirely. If it's been a few minutes since you have cast and you're not getting any action, reel it in, pick a new spot, and cast from there.

You should set the hook as reasonably close to seeing the bobber dip as possible. Give your rod a firm, but gentle, flip upwards- very much like how you would flip a frying pan when you're frying vegetables or rice. An upwards motion here is ideal, as any other direction greatly increases the chances of pulling the hook out of the fish's mouth. A successfull hook will change how the line and rod feels in your hand- you'll feel the fish and its weight on the end of your line. It will feel alive and struggle to get away from you.

Reeling in Your Catch

You'll find that reeling in your fish is similar to many other activities you've likely done in your life. The main thrust here is to reel in while the fish isn't fighting, and let it pull your drag while it is. You want to keep enough pressure on the fish to keep it hooked, but not so much you are hauling it straight out of the water.

• Keep your rod at or below 45 degrees while reeling
• Let the drag do most of the work
• Reel in when you feel the line starting to slack

Pulling your rod too high when a fish is fighting can cause damage to the rod. Fishing rods are designed to have lots of flex and strength, and between the rod and reel, most of the work is done there to catch fish. There is no reason to crank your rod up high in an attempt to drag a fish in. Keep it lower, and alternate reeling and resting to tire the fish and gently bring it in.

When you adjusted the drag earlier, it was for this moment. The fish needs to be able to pull some line out with resistance to tire it out. Your reel should click when the drag is engaged which lets you know that it is working. Once the clicking stops, you can start reeling again.

For efficiency, and to respect the fish by not needlessly prolonging its suffering, once your line starts to slacken, this means it's time to reel in. This keeps pressur eon the fish and brings it in faster. Your chances of it throwing a hook are greatly lessened, and you'll bring the fish in faster the less time you spend letting it freely swim while hooked.

Repeating these moves will slowly but surely bring a fish in close enough that you can grab your line and lift the fish from the water. You have now caught a fish! At this point it is important to move quickly. Put your rod down safely (on a bench, have someone hold it, or wedge it under your arm or hold it with your knees) grab the fish firmly and use your fishing foreceps to remove the hook. Then gently throw the fish back into the water.

Now you can bait your hook again and cast it out. At this point you should have a pretty good idea of whether or not fishing is for you. Keep fishing for a bit to be sure. If you decide that you like fishing and want to continue, the gear you have will work very well for you for the rest of the season. The internet is full of other, better informed people than myself, so I suggest trolling the internet and picking which parts of fishing appeal to you and begin researching that. The world of fishing is so big, everyone can find their niche. At the bottom of this page is a link to a list of gear I use and enjoy.

Considerations for those learning on a budget

If you are very blessed to live in an area with a discount tackle store, you can find great deals. I live near the Pure Fishing factory outlet and they regularly have steep discounts on gear. If you can find something similar, you could get a half-off Shakespeare Catch More Fish Panfish Spinning Kit. I don't know how good it is, but it's a nearly all in one kit, and I know it's better than the Wayfarer. There are some highly location dependent ways you can save money. Thrift stores are a good place to find gear. The gear might not be great but since the used market for fishing gear is either rock bottom prices or scams you could find older rods and possibly reels for very little. Possibly as low as $5.

There are probably local organizations that will rent out equipment to you. Here in Iowa just about every county conservation office has some gear you can borrow. I regularly donate tackle to mine, so inquire at yours and see what they can do for you. That's probably the lowest cost method and could reduce your financial outlay to just getting bait.

Links: Fishing Gear List