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Today was the first day I have fished in over 25 years. Grabbed my wife, 5 year old son, two $12 poles from Wal-Mart, one spiderman pole, some random lures and night crawlers and headed out to the Cumberland River in Tennessee. We had a blast. My wife caught a small catfish, I caught a sunfish, and my son had a blast showing off the worms to all the kids. He did a great job explaining how "they don't bite". I did have "one that got away" when a very nice size striper broke the line on my sons spiderman pole when i got it to surface. With that said any pointers out there for "the beginner". My wife and I really want to get back into it. Thanks and good luck!!

Glad you guys got out to enjoy the outdoors. When you say pointers, you might have to be more specific. Are you talking about tackle? Locations? Methods?

Let's talk tackle and locations for starters if that narrows it down? We will be fishing a large river that has barge traffic (I read somewhere that that is good to point out). The river has bass, catfish, sunfish etc.... I would say we will fish for bass and catfish primarily. Thanks!

Love the title of the thread..I thrive in keeping it simple...and yet catching the big one..

Most importantly is your line ...so I got some questions,,

A, what size cat fish may be the biggest you will tackle..
B, are you using live bait..
C. Are you fishing around lily pads and weeds or just an occasional brush pile or rock pile


The reel...if your under a tight budget...keep your Spiderman..lol they do work

Rod...use what you have,,

IF you want to do better..I'd recommend going back to Walmart...where you can get an open faced spinning combo..since kids may be using it..a 6 footer is great,,I wouldn't get nothing less than a medium action..the action is written right on the rod..

Most cheap line has swirls and tangles easily which can destroy a fishing trip..break down and buy the 6.00 spool of Trilene XL. 10 pound test...learn how to tie the improved clinch not for less break offs..

A, what size cat fish may be the biggest you will tackle.. 3-5lb average size
B, are you using live bait..Yes and also artificial
C. Are you fishing around lily pads and weeds or just an occasional brush pile or rock pile.... Brush pile and rock

Thanks for the rest of the advice. Not hanging up the spiderman pole yet .... Might be my lucky charm!

The only expense you may have is better line..I'd go with 10 pound Trilene XL ..about 5.00 at Walmart..

I presume you are using a closed faced reel..They tend to have unreliable drags..most likely why you lost your fish..and line hang ups..I no onger have any of these type of reels.

Back in 1983 my wife and I were on a very tight budget..We picked up 2 cheap open faced Diawa combos for about 20.00 each ,,,they lasted for a few years..I landed bass up to 7 pounds on it and catfish up to 5..It's all you need..

If you need advice..when fishing live bait..don't use any split shot bigger than a BB and your hook should be a # 10..It's about 1 inch long..I like the gold hooks. I generally tie on the hook and then put a split shot about 10 inches above the hook..cast out as far as you can and put your rod in a forked stick and watch..{ -; catfish and shellcrackers are very suttle.

If you use a bobber..try to keep your bait about 12 inches off the bottom.

I don't have much advice to give as I primarily fly fish, but Chuck gave you some sound advice!

When I used to catfish, I would just use the "3-way rig" on this website with chicken liver.

http://www.whiskerkitty.com/RiggingOptions.html

It worked better for river systems where a bobber would float away more quickly, reducing the amount of time your bait stays in the strike zone.

Thank 0004,

One thing may need to be varied..it really depends on how swift your river is for the sinker..most of my rivers were the slow easy type..but I have seen some mighty rivers as well that would require more weight.

guys i would suggest he go after panfish. their quite easy and your family will have a blast catching them. if you do a good job and really enjoy it, then go for something more complicated!!
as for catching panfish, its very simple lol as long as you have a pole i like either ponds or right next to docks. just put a hook and slip bobber on you line and hook up a worm! :p ;)

Great advice and pointers guys. I will b off to a good start. My wife loves to fish and I forgot how much I enjoyed it. Her and I will be doing some serious fishing soon. I like the point about fishing for the panfish and sunfish. That is something I want to do with my son. Lots of fun, action and activity for my boy until he is older. But yeah I would like to set up systems for my wife and I. The river we fish is pretty wide strong and steady. And deep! I wasn't getting hits until my line and drifted closer to shore.

yeah if you start kids out fishing for hard species like bass, you risk them getting frusterated and quitting. (that actually happened to me for about 3 years)

kid should be priority
not every outing will be action packed and productive
start targeting finicky fish, kid may lose interest
keep him on the pan fish,
act as if every fish he catches is the biggest you seen
if the small fish are biting high and near, teach him how the bigger fish may be under the school of smaller fish or just outside the school,
maybe have your pole as the second pole targeting the bigger fish, cats, bass etc...
kid will get a joy out of outfishing dad,
tackle, keep it simple, those kits that come with the $12 poles are great, and always good to have the extra storage boxes,
as for the reels, they will foul up , just get used to opening them and undoing the knots, dont get frustrated,
have seen plenty of brand new $12 poles and reels in trash cans near fishing spots, always pull them out re-spool them and work fine for kids

Keep the pointers coming. I appreciate all the input. I am taking good notes and have made a couple trips to Wal-mart tweaking and adding to my tackle box! The wife and I are going kayaking and fishing this weekend. Should be a blast.

I hope you and your wife enjoys your kayak trip. I fish a river here but for mostly different types of fish. I find in a lot of cases if the current is strong the fish will travel closer to the shoreline. I am thinking it is because they can get out of the current behind little points that may stick out from shore. Also any rocks that maybe out in the river has little hiding places for fish to hide in. As Chuck has stated the line and drag are the 2 biggest things you would want to worry about when starting out. Current requires you to play out the bigger fish. They are surely fun to catch in moving water and you need to hang on your rod pretty tightly once you start getting hits. My favorite hook size is a #4 eagle claw. You would also want to add swivels to your line to keep it from twisting up on you.

I also agree with letting the little fellow catch some sunfish when he can. As stated it will give him enjoyment when they are on the bite. I like taking my grandson with me to catch white perch and I enjoy every bit of watching him reel in a fish. Good Luck to you and your family. Enjoy your fishing outages with the young fella..

I reckoned I mis read the original lost..I didn't"t know that kids were involved...

Also, when I introduced my wife to fishing..we were poor..so our number 1 goal was to put fish on the table..my 2 boys had decent fine motor skills at the age of 3,,so they were using the same tackle as mom and dad.itt was fun but we tried our best to get a few meals as well. Here's picture of my 25 year old when he was only 1. I started my other one fishing when he was 10 months...