Maybe your kid wants to level up from worms and bobbers to more “serious” bass tactics. Perhaps your non-fishy neighbor just watched the Bassmaster Classic and now he wants to join the fun. Or maybe someone in your life wants to learn to catch bass but you’re not that into fishing yourself. So, where do you begin?
After all, the sport can be as complex and technical as you want to make it. There are more bass-specific rods, lines, and lures out there than for any other species. But what veteran, hardcore bass anglers don’t always love to talk about is how little you need and how simple it can be to catch America’s favorite gamefish.
George Fiorille teaches bass fishing at Cornell University. The course is a part of the school’s physical education program, and it’s Fiorille’s job to get his kids comfortable catching bass on their own during the six weeks he has them. While he touches on all facets of the sport — such as explaining how baitcasters work, the benefits of braided line, how to use a topwater frog and so on — the catching portion is a very stripped-down approach. Given that this popular class gets signed attracts kids at all different skill levels, Fiorille has to make it as cut and dry — and productive — as possible. His lesson plan will work for anyone of any age who’s eager to stop waiting for a bait bite and start actively fishing to produce a smash.
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Spin to Win
Fiorille allows his students to use any outfit they want, but many of them don’t have one at all and have never even fished with lures. The solution to keeping the novices on an even playing field is simplifying tackle. That doesn’t mean a Star Wars spincast outfit (though he once had a student show up with one), but it also doesn’t mean jumping to something from KVD’s rod locker.
“We tell all the students to purchase a medium or medium-light spinning rod that’s six or six-and-a-half feet long,” says Fiorille. “A size 200 reel is perfect, and I tell them just to spool it with 8-pound monofilament. In the first part of the course, we’re in the classroom, and they learn everything about braid, fluorocarbon, and when to use each one, but on the water, the outfit we suggest is ideal.”
It can be tempting to jump right into more advanced gear when teaching someone to bass fish, especially if you’re already comfortable using it. But the key early on is to strictly catch fish. Knots in braided line and backlashes are setbacks that can result in lost confidence. Monofilament and spinning reels are far more forgiving, and there are not many bass swimming around that can’t be bested on 8-pound monofilament.
Hold, Please
Though properly holding a fishing rod is something a seasoned angler doesn’t think about at all, it’s not intuitive to a beginner. If you’re waiting for a catfish to come along or for the next bluegill to rip the bobber under, how you’re holding your rod is far less important. But once you begin actively fishing with lures, grip and hand positions matter. That’s because the rod now becomes a conduit for a bite you need to feel, not see.
“We’ll see kids holding the rod at the end of the butt while they’re reeling,” Fiorille says. “But I have to explain that doing so will eventually make their arms tired because the rod isn’t balanced in their hands. So, we show them to grip the reel foot between their fingers and keep one finger on the blank.”
Considering Fiorille has his students lean heavily into wacky-rigged Senkos and NED rigs, a finger on the blank is critical. These soft-plastic presentations are some of the easiest for beginners because you have to impart very little action to make the lure appealing to the fish, though Fiorille cautions that many rookies work them too fast and he’s constantly reminding them to slow down. Bites can be soft, however, so getting them in the habit of keeping a finger on the blank so they register the hit faster will serve the kids well in many other fisheries.
Go Flip Yourself
Almost every spinning reel on the market features an automatic bail. After the cast, all you have to do is turn the handle and an internal spring mechanism snaps the bail shut. But if you pay attention to serious anglers, they rarely use this function. I can’t remember the last time I used this feature either, but when Fiorille explained that he teaches his students to always flip their bails manually, I had to admit it’s a lesson I might have overlooked if I’d been the instructor.
“Every time you cast there’s the potential for a loop to form close to the reel’s spool,” he says. “If you trip the bail automatically and reel that loop or any slack onto the spool and cover it over with more wraps of line, it’s only going to create more knots and problems during your next casts. So, I tell them to always flip the bail by hand.”
Read Next: The Best Topwater Lures for Bass: 9 Classics That Still Catch Big Fish
Manually flipping the bail also greatly reduces the chance that loose line will wind up slipping under the spool. This can be one of the most frustrating problems for beginner anglers, as remedying it requires taking the reel apart, which can be time consuming and force those looking to operate independently to seek help. Like keeping a finger on the rod blank, Fiorille wants to engrain manual bail tripping, as this little trick allows you to keep lures in the water for more time, which ultimately equals more bass.
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