A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO FISHING

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You can also go after pond bass (or trout) with any of the lures I recommended. Just cast the spoons and weighted spinners toward a likely looking spot and reel in. Vary the depth of your retrieve by letting the lure sink to different depths before you begin to reel. Try fast, slow and jerky retrieves. Again, pay special attention to possible cover, and fish as close to it as you can. You'll lose a few lures to snags this way, but, to quote Granddad again, "If you aren't getting hung up, you probably aren't catching anything."

There are many ways to fish plastic worms (in fact, there are books on the subject). One of the easiest and most effective is to rig the worm with a large hook and egg or bullet sinker, cast it out and bounce it across the bottom by raising and lowering the rod tip while reeling slowly. Try to develop a feel for what the worm is doing. A strike may not be violent. Often, a bass will simply take a worm in its mouth as the bait is dropping (when you lower your rod tip) and hold it. Whenever the lure seems to stop unnaturally, respond by lifting the rod tip sharply to set the hook.

The Jitterbug is a surface lure, and probably most effective at dusk, or even after dark. Cast it near cover, let it sit till the ripples caused by its splashing-down disappear and try different rates of retrieval. It's often effective just to "pop" the 'bug in with short jerks of the rod, letting the bait rest after each hop. A striking fish will usually hook itself. Just raise the rod tip when you feel the hit, and fight the lunker to shore.

Lakes, Slow Rivers and Ocean Shores

Any tactics that work in a farm pond will work in larger bodies of water—if the artificial lures are suited to the fish available or if you use an appropriate bait. There's another form of still-fishing commonly used on big water, though, and it can be very effective. Known as bottom fishing, it calls for a heavier sinker and one or more hooks to hold the bait on, or just above, the bottom following a (usually) long cast.

Bottom fishing typically calls for live bait and one of the terminal rigs illustrated here. Watch what other fisherfolk, especially the successful ones, are using. In general, it's best to keep a tight line so you can see the sharp rapping on the rod tip that signals a feeding fish, or feel that electric jerking on a fingertip. (To do so, pinch the line, just above the reel, between your thumb and index finger.)

If you have access to a boat, you can cover a lot of water by trolling an artificial lure behind the moving craft. Match the boat's speed to the "action" (flash, spin or wobble) of your lure (usually a comfortable rowing speed or very slow motoring will do). Let out some line (say, 20 yards), and wait for the action. Once you have a strike, you can anchor in the spot and cast lures, or try live bait, or troll back and forth over the area a few more times to see if your first catch was part of a school.

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