The Essential Fishing Tackle Equipment for Beginners

There are variety of reasons people want to start fishing. Some value the meditative aspect of spending time near a body of water. Others are in it for the competitive spirit. And, of course, some of us just want something fresh for lunch.

Achieving mastery takes time, experience, and most of all proper gear. The prospect of going on a fishing trip sounds appealing to many Aussies, yet not all beginners are acquainted with all the necessary pieces in a fishing tackle. That is, those essential gear items which will bring success.

So if you are wondering “What equipment do you need for fishing?” stick around for a while and you will find out.

They are probably the most basic pieces of fishing tackle equipment known to everyone. Traditionally fishing rods were made from natural materials (reed, wood and similar), however fiberglass and graphite models outperform any other option these days. Such build makes these rods durable, flexible, and if they are telescopic, ease to carry and store. The technical specifications of fishing rods will become increasingly important to you as you progress, but at the beginning you can stick to a versatile rod of medium strength. You only want a pole that will extend your reach into the water, regardless of the type of fishing or your game. It takes some time to develop muscle memory necessary for fast extraction of fish with the rod.

Reels are those rotating mechanisms placed on your end of the pole. They are used to take the fishing line out of the water along with the catch. As a beginner, you should look for a spinning reel that prevents the line from tangling up. Thoughtful preparation can help as well (avoid overfilling the spool, beware of loops, the brake and wrong fishing lines), but choosing a lightweight and versatile reel is your best bet. Spincast or combo reels can be affordable too, however spinning reel can be used in a variety of settings.

Your line will break and tangle – this happens to everyone. Sometimes the best solution is to simply cut the birds nest created by entangled fishing line. Always take more line than you think you’ll need. These days you can also find many different types of fishing line. Retailers might offer you chafe resistant fluorocarbon line or strong braided fishing lines. Each line is produced with a particular degree of underwater visibility in mind so that you can be stealth. At the beginning you can use monofilament line because it’s the simplest out there. When you deploy it, it’s buoyant, and when you draw a catch it will stretch. You can always go for a wide diameter fishing line once you get the hang of it.

This is where things become delicate. To the uninitiated, all those small contraptions attached to the fishing line might seem inconsequential. Experienced anglers know that the make and placement of these tackle pieces and the knots used to tie them are central to the outcome of your fishing trip.

Single hook is the most simple to handle, so you can get many of those. You will need them because it is not unusual to lose a hook without being able to stage recovery. The size of your target fish will determine the size of your hooks. Over time you can attach more than one hook to the line but at the beginning stick to one.

Bobbers, or floaters, are also recognized by layman as ubiquitous piece of fishing tackle equipment. The serve to indicate to the angler that the fish bite so he can take action to extract them out. Usually they were made from cork and sported a stick through the middle (red and white colors were standard, too) but nowadays you can get plastic bobbers. Get a floater that is sensitive to movement, and go for a model that is as small as possible to avoid losing your lure without even noticing.

Sinkers are added to fishing tackle to increase the weight thus allowing your hook to reach into deeper waters. Tungsten, brass, steel, and bismuth are the most prevalent materials for sinkers these days (it used to be lead), and they come in different shapes. As long as they keep your hook deep and the bobber straight, you are good to go.

You either love or hate this part. Fishing depends upon having a good bait to encourage fish to stuck their jaws onto your hook. Live baits can bring you a lot of success – and this covers earthworms, insects, and small fish (if you are after a big one). Since obtaining live lures can get messy, most of the anglers these days go for plastic lures. Their make has significantly advanced through the years. High end lures mimic the movement, the look and the smell of actual fish. Apart from the science involved in developing such piece of tackle, you can still hear a lot of fishing legends regarding use of specific lures (color or shape) to catch certain fish. Some anglers hold to a particular lure because of superstition. As a beginner, we would advise you to select a lure that closely resembles the typical prey for your target fish in the food chain. You know how they say – if it looks like a fish, if it swims like a fish, and if it smells like a fish, most probably it is a fish.