I want to do two types of fishing, and need some advice.....

[Goat Holder]

I'd like to catch some bass/catfish around the Starkville/Tuscaloosa/Birmingham latitude

AND

I'd like to catch some seatrout around the Destin area.

What type of pole/line/bait to I need to accomplish this? Treat me like a rookie, I've never done much fishing.

[RossDawg82]

I cant tell you about Freshwater but I can tell you about inshore. For trout, redfish, snook I would use a 7-7.5ft rod. I would use 10-12 pound test line and use shrimp or shiners whichever is easier to get.

[BeastMan]

Like RossDog82 said, I'd get a 7' rod and I'd pair it with a medium sized reel. I have a couple shimano reels and my dad has a bunch if okumas. I would imagine if it can handle a bull red, it can handle a catfish. My setup I've been using lately the most is a shimano Stradic 3000 reel on a 7' h20 express ethos inshore rod. It handles all my inshore needs (reds, trout, flounder, drum) and I've been bass fishing with it the last 2 weekends. It's not the ideal bass setup but it does well enough for me.

[State82]

For bass (and maybe cats), IF you can handle a baitcaster, that's what I would advise as opposed to spinning equipment. However, the spinning gear would be the ticket for your speck fishing. It's tough to point you to one specific rod for bass seeing as how I'm sitting here in my office looking at 32 different rod/reel combos sitting in several rod racks. But, I have a severe sickness when it comes to fishing tackle/equipment. I have over 1100-1200 crankbaits/spinnerbaits/topwater lures and untold pounds of soft plastics. That being said, if you are looking to buy just one outfit for the time being, I would probably go with a 7' medium to medium-heavy baitcasting rod. The rod powers/actions are going to differ from brand to brand even though they all have medium, medium-heavy, heavy, light, medium-light, etc. One manufacturer's medium-heavy may feel like another's heavy or medium so you are just going to have to pick one up in the store and see what "feels" right for you. As for the baitcasting reels you can spend $50 or you can spend $500. Don't spend $500. Go to Academy and get you any one of a large number of reels in the $50-$100 range that will hold around 125-150 yards of 12-15 lb line. You can get round ones or "low-profile" styles depending on your preference and hand size. People with smaller hands will want the low-profile reels just for the comfort factor. There are as many opinions on line size/type/brand as there are fishermen. For general freshwater use I would probably go with 15 pound test Trilene Big Game. Its my favorite monofilament. I could go on, but don't want to bore you.

[MSUDawg4Life]

Goat, I've been looking to start doing the same thing. I've been doing a little research and came across some informative buying guides on the Cabela's website.

Casting Reel Buyer's Guide
Casting Rod Buyer's Guide

Spinning Reel Buyer's Guide
Spinning Rod Buyer's Guide

[MSUDawg4Life]

This inshore fishing guide has an informative video about the equipment he uses. It seems to be basically the same stuff the guys on this site advise to get.

[Barking 13]

For bass (and maybe cats), IF you can handle a baitcaster, that's what I would advise as opposed to spinning equipment. However, the spinning gear would be the ticket for your speck fishing. It's tough to point you to one specific rod for bass seeing as how I'm sitting here in my office looking at 32 different rod/reel combos sitting in several rod racks. But, I have a severe sickness when it comes to fishing tackle/equipment. I have over 1100-1200 crankbaits/spinnerbaits/topwater lures and untold pounds of soft plastics. That being said, if you are looking to buy just one outfit for the time being, I would probably go with a 7' medium to medium-heavy baitcasting rod. The rod powers/actions are going to differ from brand to brand even though they all have medium, medium-heavy, heavy, light, medium-light, etc. One manufacturer's medium-heavy may feel like another's heavy or medium so you are just going to have to pick one up in the store and see what "feels" right for you. As for the baitcasting reels you can spend $50 or you can spend $500. Don't spend $500. Go to Academy and get you any one of a large number of reels in the $50-$100 range that will hold around 125-150 yards of 12-15 lb line. You can get round ones or "low-profile" styles depending on your preference and hand size. People with smaller hands will want the low-profile reels just for the comfort factor. There are as many opinions on line size/type/brand as there are fishermen. For general freshwater use I would probably go with 15 pound test Trilene Big Game. Its my favorite monofilament. I could go on, but don't want to bore you.

H2O Meddle.. you can sometimes catch them on sale for a ridiculous price of around 29 bucks. For the money, it's the shiznit. I prefer the revo reels. While your at Academy, go ahead and pick up one of the blue 7' med heavy rods to go with it... I prefer Falcons. but my combos are a little higher end (mid pack)

My advice on the S'vegas to B'ham latitude is to wait a month or two.. If you're in Starkville or nearby, I can probably take you sometime. I live near Columbus.

BTW, the Bassmasters Classic is this week in Birmingham. Some good buys at the outdoor show that's associated with it.

[Barking 13]

http://www.bassmaster.com/classic

expo: http://www.bassmaster.com/expo

[State82]

http://www.bassmaster.com/classic

expo: http://www.bassmaster.com/expo

I'll be there for the duration. Sure do hate to miss a 4 game series at DNF along with Daytona too. But, I gotta go to the Classic. Birmingham is by far my favorite Classic venue also.

[Barking 13]

Yeah, I've been to several, including all the ones at B'ham. I used to be a director with the MS BASS Federation. I also went to a couple helping Darrell Cook, http://www.cookstackle.com/Photo_Gallery.cfm My boat is about halfway down the page with the towel..

Note to self: never take a drunk dude from Arkansas down Bourbon Street.....

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

For bass (and maybe cats), IF you can handle a baitcaster, that's what I would advise as opposed to spinning equipment. However, the spinning gear would be the ticket for your speck fishing.

Perfect summary, he just needs to also know that there is a bit of a learning curve when learning to throw an open face reel as opposed to taking a spinning reel...bird nests will be your enemy when you first get started. One thing that helped me and many others was practicing stopping the reel with my thumb using a heavy weight as the bait. Just hold your rod tip in the air, press the release button, and let the bait fall until you stop it with your thumb right before it hits the floor. Here's a video that talks about using your thumb:

[Goat Holder]

Thanks for the guidance. You guys are some serious fisherman, ha. I'm just trying to go catch me a few with my kids, then cook them at home (I've got that part down pat). For whatever reason, I never really got to do much fishing growing up.

[Interpolation_Dawg_EX]

If I could fish once a week, I'd be a better person haha. There's just something about being on the water and not being able to see what's under the water that I love. You never know, that next cast could be a dink or it could be the biggest of your life!

[hailmari]

I'm wanting to get back into it, myself. I was a diehard fisherman up until I started at State. I never had time while in school and sold my boat for rent money. I'm missing it some kind of bad now.

[interangler]

If you are searching around for informative fishing guides then you must give a try to inshore fishing tutorials. You'll surely get more and more stuff and tips on fish hunting!