"Joe Giddings" wrote in message
nk.net...
I have been out of the fishing loop for quite a while now. My old rod was
broken (snapped the tip off in the trunk during a move) and my reel simply
vanished. So, I went to the store and picked up a $30 Shakespeare rod
(Ugly
Stick, med action) & spinning reel (Whatever came with it, don't remember
at
the moment) combo.

Next was the tackle box. Well, I opened it up and everything was a
disgusting mess. The hooks were all rusted on everything, and most of my
good stuff was missing or in poor condition. I salvaged a few things (my
hula popper, my first hard lure, for instance. The skirt is in terrible
shape, but I can replace that). I tossed the mess of a box and went and
bought an $10 box.

I won't even comment on the condition of the plastic worms I had in there.
Yuck.

Essentially, I am starting all over again.

So, now I have a new rod & reel, and a new tackle box with a spool of 8lb.
test line, and nothing else. I plan on buying things like hooks, bobbers,
sinkers, and their like, but I am very uncertain what else I should think
about tossing into this thing. I will mainly be fishing on the local
rivers
here in eastern NC, but I may be doing some lake stuff too. You never
know.
The Tar River and Pamlico can be a bit murky depending on where you go, so
I
need to be ready for murky and clean waters.

Any suggestions?

Oh, and I am not exclusively a bass fisher. Sometimes, I just like to
toss
out a line with a bobber on it and see what bites whatever passes for bait
on that day. I have caught many a sunfish and their like on bread (didn't
like my sandwich that day), of all things.



Best to ask the local bait & tackle shops what is biting, when and where,
and what to use for bait Joe. They see a lot more fishermen than the local
Wal Mart and generally know what is happening in your local waters.
Obviously then, the right thing to do is to buy your day's worth of bait
from them and whatever else you may need that day. They (bait and tackle
places) are great information resources that we should try to patronize so
as to keep them in business.

If you are looking to bass fish here in NC, then just about everything they
sell in the tackle department will work he crankbaits, spinnerbaits,
plastics (worms, creatures, tubes, flukes, you name it), jigs, topwater, the
list goes on and on.

I'd try to help you out, but I live outside Raleigh and mainly fish the
lakes around central NC (Shearon Harris, Jordan, Falls, Kerr Lake and Gaston
as well). If I ever am heading down east to fish, it is to put out at
Morehead City/Atlantic Beach and it's for sound, waterway or ocean fishing.
Don't get into the rivers down that way much.