Whenever you decide to go on your next fishing trip you will need to have the best fishing gear available so that you can make sure that you can have the most productive day on the water. We are going to show you what you need to look out for when purchasing bait, fishing rods and reels. Some of the things we point out may shock you and some of the things you may not agree with us be we know that everyone is entitled to their own opinions so here we go.
Guy Harvey T Shirt
The first thing you need to get is bait. Depending on what type of fish you are going out for will determine what type of bait you use. Lets take Mahi Mahi as an example. If you plan to run and gun from weed line to weed line and tossing some live bait on the edges of the weed line you will want to use some small to medium size 
pilchards if possible. If you can't find pilchards at the bait store and the sun has come up and can't seem to catch any on the zibiki rig this is where you might get some luck. I remember when we came up to a nice weed line and the water was so clear that I could read the letters on my Guy Harvey t shirt that I looked down and there were a ton of small bait fish.
They looked like baby amberjack because they had a big dark stripe on their head. So we dropped the zibiki in the water and we got our bait there. This is always a bonus if you run out of bait as well because the Mahi Mahi love to hit these. I am serious we trolled by a nice weed line one time with rigged ballyhoo and nothing touched them. We went right back to that spot and caught us some of the bait fish that were hanging around the weed line and bam a school of 30 schoolies came out of the weedlines and all hell broke loose.
If you are primarily going to troll until you hit a school this is a very good way to find the school of Mahi Mahi. Some people like to rig their own ballyhoo and some like to buy rigged ballyhoo. Either way is fine but when you do go and buy the bait always check the eyes of the fish. If the eyes of the ballyhoo are cloudy or have a greenish tint to them stay away from them and ask the person running the bait store if there are any fresher bait.
Once you have your bait taken 
care of you will need to find yourself a good rod and reel. Some of these come in combos and some are sold separate. I am the type of person who will purchase a rod and then a separate reel and make my own combo just because I like certain brands of rods and reels better.
Fishing Accessories
Everyone has their own named brand fishing rods that they like or dislike and I happen to love Ugly Stick fishing rods. I swear by these things. I own 5 of them and each of them have been put through a beating. I chose these Ugly Stick fishing rods because they are relatively inexpensive and never break.They really can withstand a beating but they are very sturdy when it comes to reeling in fish. These fishing rods are lightweight and have a ton of action so that even when you are reeling in the smallest fish you are still going to have fun reeling it in.
Now you have a good idea of what type of fishing rod you need so the next thing on your list is the fishing reel. Again I am obsessed with Pflueger fishing reels. I also have 5 of these reels to match my Ugly Sticks. Can't you see the trend here? I have had a lot of fishing reels in the past but the quality of a Pflueger fishing reel is unmatched. The smoothness of the retrieve is outstanding but that is only one of the reasons why I chose Pflueger fishing reels. I love the way the drag sounds. When you have a fish on the line you want that drag to sing and let you know you got a monster on. I can't tell you how much I can't stand it when I see a nice looking fishing reel on the shelf and I test the drag and I can't hear nothing. At least when you are using a Pflueger fishing reel and you get a fish on you will hear the baby sing.
I hope this little article gave you some good advice on how to choose your baits and other fishing accessories and also which rod and reel combos you should choose. Just because I like certain fishing rods and fishing reels doesn't mean you will. Everyone has their own tastes in fishing gear and everyone has their own fishing store where they purchase these items. As long as it makes you enjoy your time on the water that is what it is all about. Tight Lines All.
