Learn to fish in 12 easy steps

1. 1
   Choose a location. Make sure to fish in water that actually has fish in it. If there aren’t any fish, you aren’t going to catch anything. Many newspapers have local fishing reports that will list locations and tell you what fish, if any, are biting and what they’re biting on. You can also ask around at angling shops, marinas and camping supply stores in the area. You can also check by throwing in food scraps and waiting a few minutes. Most likely your local park with a lake has fish, as most towns stock fish in parks often. You can try secluded spots too, like around levees or ponds and lakes in the woods.
2. 2
   Choose your bait, and your hooks. Once you have some idea of what fish you’re looking to catch and what they’re eating, you can pick the right bait. You need hooks that will FIT INTO the fish's mouth. #1 hooks work well for many things, but size 8 to 5/0 will work well for some fish. Ask your local tackle shop about the hook sizing system (i.e. 6,4,2,1,1/0, 2/0). The smaller the hook the better the chance of a bite, also a very thin line will result in more bites because its not obvious. Making a hook knot is difficult with small hooks. Ask a tackleshop owner or another fisherman to teach you.
   • Because fish eat insects and aquatic life, there are literally millions of effective baits to choose from. The old standards are tough to beat, though. Consider using worms, salmon eggs, grasshoppers, shrimp, liver,bacon , or synthetic baits--Power Bait, for example--that are made to resemble and smell like live bait. You can either purchase live bait at the local angling shop, or you can gather your own. Many anglers gather worms in a lawn after a rain or late at night with a flashlight. You can find grasshoppers along the banks of a stream. Try catching minnows with a net and bread crumbs or a minnow trap. Keep them in a bucket full of water and keep them alive for as long as possible. Hook it on the upper tail/lower abdomen so that when a fish swallows it head first the hook will catch, also because it gives the minnow full mobility to swim.
   • If bait is plenty start feeding some bait around the place where you want to fish. Repeat this regularly especially in swift streams.
3. 3
   Choose the appropriate bait fishing method:
   • If the water is quite swift--a small river or stream--it is probably best to attach weights (sinkers) to your line about 12" above your bait. By weighting down your line you will keep your bait in place an inch or a few inches above the floor of the water—right where fish are likely to be hunting.
   • If the water is not moving rapidly, as in a lake or a large, slow river, consider using a brightly colored cork or bobber. A bobber is generally a brightly colored plastic device that floats on the surface of the water. The bobber will attach easily to your line, and you should place your bait below the bobber. Adjust the distance between the bobber and your bait to accommodate the depth of the body of water. You want your bait located where the fish are, so consider shortening and lengthening the distance between bait and bobber, or even adding small weights (also called split shot) to keep your bait perfectly suspended under water.
4. 4
   Cast your line, or place it in the water and wait for a bite. You can tell if a fish is biting by touch, by watching a loose line or a bobber, or by attaching a bell to the end of your rod. Make sure with a slow movement of the rod that there is no more slack in the line when you try to hook the fish. Waiting for a bite can take a lot of patience, but that’s what fishing’s all about. Using light tackle combined with feeding around your bait will produce bites much quicker. When you catch a fish feed a little extra, because fish often live in smaller or larger groups that you want to stay around.
5. 5
   Wait. That said, if you’re waiting for 10-15 minutes and you still haven’t gotten a bite, try casting somewhere else and wait again.
6. 6
   Hook that fish. Once you feel a tug on the line you will want to "set" your hook. To do this, simply give your fishing rod (and consequently the fishing line) a quick jerk backward and up. If you have a fish on line, it will fight back and your line will follow the movements of the fish. It can sometimes be difficult to tell if you have a bite or if you’re just feeling the current or a fish bumping into the bait. Only practice can help you get a feel for it.
7. 7
   Pull the fish in by pumping and lifting the rod vertically while simultaneously reeling. Don't use the reel to pull in the fish, except for very small fish. Keep the line tight. More fishare lost to loose lines than anything else. A loose line provides an opportunity for your fish to "throw the hook" right out of it's mouth. By keeping tension on the line you will ensure that the hook remains in the mouth of the fish. All modern reels have an adjustable drag but nylon lines drag can be adjusted by pulling with the hand. If you feel the nylon stretching, the drag should begin to work. Even very big fish get tired when pulling against a constant line pressure. Try to use the rod to steer the fish to open water.
8. 8
   Get hold of the fish by moving your hand from head toward the tail without get lanced by its fins, but if you move your hand against the grain, you'll get speared, ouch! Using a net for this purpose is very effective to get the fish under control. Keep the fish in the water if you plan on releasing it. If you plan on eating the fish, get the fish out of the water as quickly as possible and take the hook out away from the water. You will find fish to be quite slippery and fast, and more than one fish has been lost by dropping to the ground and rapidly returning to the water.
9. 9
   Remove the hook. Again, if you are planning on releasing the fish, try to take the hook out inflicting as little trauma as possible to the fish - don't rip the hook from its lip, gently BACK it out, so that it comes out the way it came in. There are special tools designed for taking hooks out, although needle nosed pliers work quite effectively. You can also use the needle nosed pliers to crush the barb on your hook, to make it easier to remove the hook. Some professionals recommend doing this before casting your line out (especially when fishing for catfish), to make it easier to release your catch. It truly works best with circle/octopus circle type hooks. These hooks make it easier to set the hook in the lip/corner of the fish's mouth; without much effort on your part.
10. 10
    Decide if you are catching and releasing or keeping the fish. If you are going to cook the fish, you may want to consider cleaning the fish at this point.
11. 11
    Repeat the process. Check your line for damage, and then re-bait your hook. Keep reeling 'em in!
12. 12
    Also look for fish moving along the shoreline! This is a really great place to find them and they just jump out of the water.