New Member (nOOb)

[Hungry]

Hello guys,
New member from North York. I have taken interest in fishing since last year and it's quite fun!
I have sports fish license from last year and renewed this year. (Which I find is overkill now since I always catch and release)
I've been researching online and caught carps at G.Ross Lord park at finch and dufferin.

However, everywhere else I go, it's been hard times and very discouraging. All i've caught was couple of perches at stouffville resevoir.


I am happy with catching anything the size of my hand and bigger and any kind of fish!
Except I want to leave the usual fishing place at G.Ross Lord Park and its smaller than hand-sized-carp (Dropping a piece of corn on a hook in front of you and waiting forever untill the bobber moves gets old! )
I plan to go to Toronto Island this weekend and have some questions regarding spots. Right now, I am at work, where all the picture uploading sites are blocked, so I will post later tonight the map of Toronto Island to get some clarification.

Anyways, I plan to take worms and I have some plastic baits from my $20 canadian tires fish rod combo I have bought last year. I've read people use shrimp as well and it works good? (Do I need to use the grey uncooked shrimp flesh or the pink cooked shrimp flesh?) What size hook should I purchase for Toronto Island? Any other recommendations? (Spinner/spoons ?)


And Also my cheap rod recently broke, and I plan to get a new rod/reel. I've been eyeing at baitcasting type reel, so is the shimano curado 50e good for various type of small fishing? The rod that I am planning to get is shimano compre 6'6" Medium power Fast action 2 piece rod.
The rod has lure rating of 1/4 to 3/4oz. (Will this be a limit for me? or does not matter for beginner like me?)

I really do hope to learn more about fishing on this forum!
Sorry if I dont make sense in this post. (was trying to type it fast, because I am at work)
Thank you!

[jwm]

Welcome aboard! Again! Your last post was held for moderation cause you included an image and it was your first post. I've approved it now.

As for the rod you mentioned it sounds like a good action/weight for bass and pike.

[Hungry]

Do you think it is too heavy for panfish?
What kind of fishing line do you recommend? (berkley nanofil 10lbs test seems to be on sale, is it good? or do I need ligher/heavier line?)
I guess I will pick up #4 hooks and do I use 1 whole night crawler? (texas rig?) I am used to snipping them into smaller size and putting it on smaller hooks.

Thank you so much for the help!

[jwm]

Yea this would be too heavy for panfish. Anything medium would be IMO, I prefer light/ultra-light for panfish personally. If you're going with a baitcaster I would still recommend powerpro, pick a size appropriate to the reel you buy probably around 30-40# powerpro. If you're going to be using a spinning reel you can try the nanofil or the new suffix braid. That hook size is probably fine, could probably even go a little smaller and cut them like you said. Are you fishing with a float/bobber?

Here's a quick video on texas rigging


http://youtu.be/5h-GD2QP5hw

[Hungry]

Ah...
Thank you so much for guiding me to the right direction.
I will pick up 30lbs powerpro and Gulp sinking minnows.

is #4 hook too small to texas rig a sinking minnow? (the baits are like 5inches long?)

[Clive]

I'd go with a 2/0 or 3/0 Gamakatsu EWG hook for those sinking minnows! There are some big bass at the islands, and there may even be a few pike lurking under those docks/boats!

[Hungry]

Nice,
so I will try 2/0 with sinking minnows and 4 with worms