How To Catch Your First Bass

Well, the PLUSINNO kit is advertised as the perfect way to get into fishing, but I’m here to tell you that the first bass you catch is going to be a direct result of your own patience, not the gear’s magic. I’ve been testing budget combos for the last 24 years, and my knees gave out long before my curiosity did. I’ve got a 70-pound yellow Lab named Biscuit who knocks rods off the rack daily, and if a rod survives her tail, it’s got a chance. Here’s the truth about catching your first bass and the gear that’ll get you there without breaking your heart or your wallet.

The Real Problem: It’s Not About the Cast, It’s About the Tip

Every single week, a customer comes into my shop with a broken telescopic rod. Nine times out of ten, it’s the tip. They’ll hold up the two pieces and say, “It snapped on a bluegill.” I believe them. The thin end section is where every budget manufacturer cuts corners to save a buck. My logbook has 24 years of action curves, and the failure point is always the same. I’ve seen a tip break on a small bass that didn’t even pull hard, just a quick headshake and the rod went from a 6-foot tool to a 5-foot stick.

The PLUSINNO is the one I’ve fished the hardest this season. I bought it for ~$45. It’s got a decent backbone for the price, and I’ve landed a few keeper bass on it, but I’m not going to pretend the tip is anything but fragile. One buyer on March 12 wrote, “Tip broke in a month catching small bass.” That tracks with my experience. The rod loads fine on a cast, but you can’t horse a fish in with it. You have to play it, let the drag do the work. If you try to lift a bass straight up the bank with that thin tip, you’re going to be shopping for a replacement tip at Walmart for ~$5. I’ve done it twice.

Why I Actually Like the PLUSINNO Despite the Flaw

Here’s the thing. I keep it in my truck. It lives in a semi-hard case that fits behind the seat, and when I see a roadside lake, I pull over. The reel is the best part. It’s smooth and quiet, and I’ve cast it over 50 times in a session without the bail springing too early. That’s rare for a budget combo. I’ve had clients fight with bails that close mid-cast, and you lose a lure and a good hour of light. This reel doesn’t do that.

The kit comes with lures, but they’re mostly junk. I didn’t catch anything with them. The plastics are cheap and the hooks are dull, so I swapped them out for a 4-inch worm on a 1/8-ounce jig head. That’s the honest truth. You’re buying this for the rod and reel, not the tackle. The pre-spooled line is a gamble too. Some batches come loaded, some don’t. I got one that was empty, and I wasn’t happy about it. But for ~$45, you’re getting a combo that will survive a season of weekend fishing if you treat the tip with respect.

The Tripquips Gamble: A Family Set That Might Fight Back

If you’ve got kids, the Tripquips 2-rod set at ~$60 looks like a steal. Two rods, two reels, a case, and enough gear to get started. But I’ve got to be blunt. One buyer said, “One of them won’t retract all the way,” and that’s a dealbreaker for a telescopic rod. If the sections stick, the rod is useless for transport. It becomes a 6-foot pole you have to carry around, which defeats the whole purpose.

I’ve also seen the wrist-snap failure. My 11-year-old nephew, Tommy, snapped one of these on his first cast. He didn’t even hook a fish. He just flicked his wrist to extend the rod, and the section gave out. That’s not a kid problem, that’s a design problem. If you’re marketing a rod for kids, it has to survive a kid’s motion. The sections are thin, and the metal is brittle. I’ve repaired more of these in my shop than I care to count.

But here’s the flip side. When you get a good batch, the Tripquips set is fine for pond fishing. The reels are basic, but they work. I took a set to a neighborhood pond with Tommy after I fixed the broken section, and we caught a few bluegill and a small bass. The action is slow, which is actually good for beginners. It doesn’t cast a mile, but you don’t need to cast a mile for a bass that’s sitting under a lily pad. You need accuracy and patience.

The Cost-Per-Day Math Nobody Does

I talk to a lot of buyers who are stuck on the upfront price. They’ll agonize over a ~$20 difference between two combos and then buy the cheaper one that snaps in a month. That’s backwards. Do the math over a season. A ~$60 Tripquips set that breaks in week two costs you ~$30 per fishing trip you actually got. A ~$45 PLUSINNO that survives three months of weekend fishing costs you ~$4 per trip. The PLUSINNO is the better value, even if it costs more upfront.

But that only works if you accept the limitations. You can’t put 40-pound drag on a telescopic rod. I run a backbone test against a 40-pound drag on everything I review, and these rods fold. They’re not designed for big fish. They’re designed for bluegill, sunnies, and the occasional bass that’s dumb enough to hit a worm. If you’re fishing for trophy bass, you’re in the wrong aisle. Spend the ~$200 and get a real rod.

How to Actually Catch Your First Bass: The Guide Part

Forget the gear for a minute. The rod is a tool, and the fish is the review. I’ve run charters out of Destin for 24 years, and I’ve watched a thousand people cast. The ones who catch bass do three things right. First, they fish slow. Bass are lazy. They don’t chase fast-moving lures. You cast, let the worm sink, and then wait. Count to ten. Then twitch it. Then wait again. Most beginners reel too fast, and the bass just watches it go by.

Second, they fish the edges. Bass don’t hang out in the middle of the lake. They sit under structure, near the bank, under a dock, or next to a fallen tree. Cast parallel to the bank, not across the middle. You want your lure to travel along the edge where the bass are holding.

Third, they set the hook with the rod, not the reel. When you feel a tap, don’t crank the reel. That just pulls the line tight and lets the fish spit the hook. You lift the rod tip up, sharp and quick. That sets the hook in the bass’s mouth. Then you reel, keeping the rod tip up. If you do that, even a fragile tip will land a 2-pound bass.

The Lures That Actually Work

I’ve tested more lures than I can count, and I’ll save you the trouble. The lures that come in these kits are dead weight. Throw them out. You need three things: a 4-inch plastic worm in green pumpkin, a 1/8-ounce jig head, and a small spinnerbait. That’s it. The worm works when nothing else does. It’s slow, it sinks, and it looks like food. The spinnerbait is for when the bass are aggressive and chasing baitfish near the surface.

I’ve caught more bass on a green pumpkin worm than every other lure combined. It’s not flashy, but it catches fish. One buyer on May 2 said, “I didn’t catch anything with the lures included in the set, but I swapped in my own and got a bass.” That’s the pattern. The kit is the delivery system, not the solution.

The Reel Is Half the Equation

I’ve got a saying in my shop: a good rod with a bad reel is a bad combo. The PLUSINNO reel is better than most in this price range. It’s smooth, and the drag works. The Tripquips reel is basic, but it’s fine for a kid. The problem is the bail spring. When it fails, it fails mid-cast, and you lose your lure. I’ve seen it happen on both brands. You can’t fix it. You just replace the reel, which costs more than the combo.

Here’s my advice. If you’re buying for yourself, get the PLUSINNO and take care of the tip. If you’re buying for a kid who’s going to beat it up, buy the Tripquips but expect to fix it. The difference is in the details. The PLUSINNO has better guides and a smoother reel. The Tripquips cuts corners on the sections and the tip.

My Honest Bottom Line

Catching your first bass isn’t about the rod. It’s about fishing slow, fishing the edges, and setting the hook with the rod. The PLUSINNO is the best budget combo I’ve tested this year, but you have to treat the tip like it’s made of glass. The Tripquips is a gamble that might work, but I’ve seen too many broken sections to recommend it with confidence. Buy the PLUSINNO, swap the lures for a green pumpkin worm, and hit a roadside lake this weekend. That’s how you catch your first bass.