Hello and please help!

[chelle]

Hi everyone! I'm a newbie here and looking for a bit of advice. Please forgive my ignorance, this is all very new to me...

For a long time now my fella has mentioned he'd like to go fishing. He's only fished a handful of times when he was a kid so he'd be very much a beginner but it's his birthday in a couple of weeks and I thought it would be a nice surprise if I could arrange a little fishing trip for him.

The problem is, I really don't know where to start! After looking online I'm a bit overwhelmed with the many types of fishing, specialist equipment for these types fishing, permits, etc... I have no idea what I'm doing but from what I've read I'm guessing we'll be best going down the coarse fishing route?

We live in Leeds, West Yorkshire and have zero fishing knowledge or equipment. What would he need to get started? I've seen complete fishing kits on Amazon for under £50 but would these be appropriate? What should I be looking for?

Also if anyone in the West Yorkshire area knows of any good places for beginners to fish I'd really appreciate it.

Thanks in advance

Chelle

 

[dangermouse]

Hi Chelle, welcome to FM.

I`d probably avoid the starter kits and buy some individual items, it might cost slightly more but generally speaking you`ll end up with superior tackle to that found in many kits.

I`d go for a simple float fishing set up. You should look at the following items;

A float rod
Reel and line
Some hooks to nylon
A disgorger
A tub of shot
A bankstick
Landing net and handle
A handful of floats

You`ll also need something to sit on and something to carry your bait in. No need to go spending a fortune on these though, a camp chair and any kind of sealable tub will do just as well as any branded tackle.

I`m not that up to date on the latest rods but I know Shakespeare do some reasonably priced rods and reels and I`ve no doubt someone else from here can suggest a specific rod and reel.

It might be worth taking a trip to a local tackle shop and telling them what you want and roughly how much you`re willing to spend. If you`re anywhere near Bobco Tackle in Leeds call in there. They have a good reputation and I`m sure they`d be willing to help out and could suggest some places to fish too.

 

[Peter Jacobs]

Hello chelle and welcome to FishingMagic

DM has given some good advice there.

 

[MRWELL]

Hi Chelle,first of all get a rod licence for coarse fishing it costs £27 and will last until next April you will then need another one for a year,you can get day licences but thats all they cover the duration of the licence, being new to fishing then coarse fishing is the best start a beginners set is all you need at this stage and the one you mention will do,the reason is this,if he does not like fishing then all you lose is £50 on the gear,if you go more up market you stand to pay out a lot of money so best keep it simple.

Most waters are called commercials and you need no permit just a day ticket that you can get at the pool side on most of them these can be around £5/6 but some are more expensive,Rivers are mostly run by clubs and are not for the beginner so keep to the coms,...sorry i can't help with any venues as i don't live in that area but i am sure someone will tell you a few...all you need to do is keep it simple for now and he will enjoy it...ho don't forget you will need a landing net and a chair (if not supplied) and a disgorger (for getting the hooks out of the fish) you local tackle shop should put you right on these things but don't buy any thing that expensive for now....good luck

 

[Jeff Woodhouse]

Welcome Chelle. You are very lucky to be well served with good tackle shops in the Leeds area. Type "tackle shops in Leeds" into Google and see what comes up, one of them being Eric's. Get yourself down there, tell them your budget and leave it to them to recommend what bargaisn they have in to suit.

I'd personally put aside at least £100 to get tackle that is capable. It won't be the finest, but it will certainly get the old man started with something he can carry on with if he enjoys it. If he doesn't then good tackle will always sell well on Ebay and you won't lose an awful lot, but hey, let's look on the bright side - he WILL like it.

Same goes for fisheries. You can ask a tackle dealer as they usually have full knowledge of where is best to go or do another Google search. Google will tell you most places including some excellent fish and chip shops and I can vouch for at least one of those. You see, even if you don't catch you can still look forward to a good fish supper. (PS: you can't eat coarse fish, normally)

 

[chelle]

Wow I wasn't expecting such a fast response, thank you so much all of you for your advice and such a warm welcome!

I thought a complete kit for £50 might have been a bit ambitious but the price tag was very appealing

If I knew 100% that he'd love fishing and get lots of use out of his birthday present then I wouldn't think twice about investing over a £100 in some half decent equipment but I am taking a bit of a risk with this one because I don't know how much use he'll get out of it and for this reason I'm a bit worried about spending a fortune... especially with Christmas around the corner too.. very expensive month!

Dangermouse mentioned Shakespeare fishing rods... This was one of the complete kits I've been looking at on Amazon.. Would I get away with something like this? Shakespeare Coarse Fishing Kit - 10 Ft: Amazon.co.uk: Sports & Outdoors@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41xMWxOdTDL.@@AMEPARAM@@41xMWxOdTDL

I think I'll head to my local tackle shop to get an idea of how much I'm likely to spend if I did it properly and make a call on it then. Here's hoping he'll use it more than once!

The other idea I had was to buy him some sort of tuition and hire the equipment but I'd like to give him something to open that he can keep.

 

[beerweasel]

Wecome to the forum Chelle. :w

 

[MRWELL]

I think the set you are looking at is fine,like i said and you have too,it is all down to if he likes fishing,£100 plus at this time of year is a lot of money to take a gamble on,with this kit it has most of what you need except landing net,get a campers chair as well and thats it,bait just maggots and he should do fine,if he knows anyone who fishes then maybe they could go with him and show him the ropes.

The line states 4lb in this set but i would not take a chance with it,many who know (the experts :wh) will tell you that these lines are mainly cheap lines and are not very good so you might need to change the line on the reel if it is preloaded,if not then it should be ok to use,if you need to load the line on to the reel ask the tackle shop to help you do it although it is simple to do but the line lay on the reel is very important when casting out,if wrong it will just come off in coils (whats known as birds nests) so it is better it be put on by someone who knows what they are doing...hope i don't sound like i am putting you off because thats the last thing i want to do...good luck anyway

 

[seksee]

Hi Chelle

I think that DangerMouse has given you some pretty solid advice there.

One point I would stress would be to buy some half decent fishing line separately - the reels you buy generally come loaded with line but its absolutely terrible. I remember being tangled up constantly when I first started (thinking that I must be doing something wrong) when in fact it was just very very poor fishing line.

As mentioned, you would definately be better off buying items separately rather than buying one of the kits - obviously it is a bit more work (for you) but well worth it for the better quality... and from what ive worked out, it would only cost an extra £15-20.

Here are some items etc. to point you in the right direction - hopefully some of the guys here will add their views on this too (they might think this is rubbish too ):

Rod - Shakespeare Omni X Match Rod 10ft - around £20 (online - amazon?)
Reel - Shakespeare Omni X Rear Drag Reel - around £10-12 (online - amazon?)
Line - Diawa Sensor - recommend 4lb to begin - around £3-4 (online - ebay?)
Hooks - Drennan Super Specialist Barbless Hooks Size 16 or 18 - less than £1.50 per pack (online - ebay?)
Disgorger - any will do - less than £1 online or in the tackle shop
Tub of Shot (weights) - something like this - first one I came across so there may be cheaper ones
Bankstick/Rod rest - any cheap one from the tackle shop will do - around £2-3
Landing net and handle - I think a telescopic one will suffice for a beginner - around £10 (argos)
Floats (and float rubbers!) - get them from the tackle shop - less than £5?

My calculations make this less than £65? And will last much much longer than the kit in my opinion... I bought the same Shakespeare rod/reel years ago and I still use them from time to time!

Hopefully this is the kind of info you were looking for! If you are on a budget and dont have time to scour the internet - head down to Go Outdoors... they have some really good stuff and its normally the cheapest (although you can't put a price on the knowledge a good tackle shop can give you!).

 

[Lord Paul of Sheffield]

Hi
Shakespeare are a under rated brand and do some good gear

A 13ft float rod , a fixed spool reel 4lb.line , a couple of floats,.try a local tackle shop to see what they can offer

Korum are doing complete kits , I'll look up the spec and price

 

[dangermouse]

Hi Chelle

I think that DangerMouse has given you some pretty solid advice there.

Cheers

One point I would stress would be to buy some half decent fishing line separately - the reels you buy generally come loaded with line but its absolutely terrible. I remember being tangled up constantly when I first started (thinking that I must be doing something wrong) when in fact it was just very very poor fishing line.

I meant to mention this. A spool of 4lb line will only cost £3-£4 and will be far superior to 99% of pre-loaded lines.

obviously it is a bit more work (for you) but well worth it for the better quality... and from what ive worked out, it would only cost an extra £15-20.

Yeah I was thinking of a top end of £75. The other thing to consider is that if he likes it (and I`m sure he will) then if you buy something half decent he`ll keep it a while and you`ll know he`s getting pleasure from your present. Go the cheaper route and he may want to upgrade pretty quickly.

Reel - Shakespeare Omni X Rear Drag Reel - around £10-12 (online - amazon?)

I bought one of those last year. Not the greatest reel (the line lay is a bit off) but perfectly serviceable and fine for a beginner. I paid about £10 for mine.

Hi


Korum are doing complete kits , I'll look up the spec and price

I had a look at that on Bobco, £59.99 but iirc there`s no landing net so you`re adding £10-£15 on top.

 

[bigfish74]

Hi helle good advice is given freely as you have seen here
If your other half doesnt know anyone who he could tag along with then id suggest finding a commercial fishery and having a wander down there talk to the owners and the other fishermen then he may get some sort of idea were to start you might even get lucky and someone may show you how they do things but the main thing is go fishing and enjoy it

Andy