When you find yourself in a tackle shop, you’ll find lots of great tackle from which you can choose. In this section, we’ll discuss rods, reels, and lures.

A rod is a long pole that works just like a lever, for you to catch fish. While your grandparents may have used rods from cane, these days they’re usually made out of fiberglass, graphite, or another kind of composite material. Most rods come equipped with a reel-holding clamp and guides through which the line will run, but you’ll have to purchase the reel and line separately. In the mean time, choose among the different designs for different tasks, including rods for boat fishing, jetty or pier fishing, or bait casting.

The reel is a machined device. Basically, it holds and spools the fishing line, but its design will differ depending on the kind of fishing you plan to do. A casting reel has a revolving spool; a spinning reel allows the line to coil off a stationary spool; a spincast reel looks like a spinning reel but it has a nose cone; and finally, a fly reel stores the thick line used for fly fishing. Reels will come equipped with a line spool, a brake to slow running fish, a handle so that you can reel back your line, and a foot that allows you to clamp it to a rod.

So what’s fishing line? Line is the special filament—usually, nylon, although some are also available from braided fibers and wire—that you use to fish. Fly line, however, is a specialized plastic coating around a core material; and fly line is often tapered (meaning that it changers diameter from one end of the reel to the other) to make it easier for you to cast. When you finish fishing, make sure you gather up your excess line—its dangerous to other anglers, and wildlife.

A fishing lure is anything artificial, that’s designed to attract fish, and has hooks. Lures may include flies, hard plastic or wood plugs, soft plastic imitation plugs, or even jigs, spinners, or spinnerbaits. Lure also includes metal spoons.