Help a beginning shore-basser stock the box... for $100

[Ground Pounder]

Greetings folks,

I'm a beginning basser from Southeast Michigan, and new to bassfishin.com. I've been an occasional fanny-fisher my whole life - mainly using the "bait it, chuck it, and see what happens" strategy for crappie with the kids on nice days, and cats on the Detroit River over some brews with the boys on summer nights. But sure enough, after netting a 2 lb. largemouth in my local reservoir a couple weeks ago on a simple spinning rig and worm jig, I'm hooked!

(no pun intended)

After spending the last couple weeks pouring over all of the info here at bassfishin.com and numerous other sites, I'm ready to plunk down a few bucks for some proper tools. But, as you can imagine, my eyes go spinning like a slot maching when I look at all the goodies available. So, I figured this might be a good place to get some recommendations first.

If you were helping a shore-basser stock a bass-box, with $100 to spend, what would you recommend?

Okay, loaded question without more information, right? So here's a little more insight into my fishing situation:

Location : I'm in Garden City, MI, a western suburb of Detroit. The majority of my bass-fishing time will be spent on Newburgh Lake, a local reservoir of the middle Rouge river. I'd guess that about 75% of my bassin' time will be in this water, with occasional trips planned through the rest of the summer and fall to Kent Lake and Portage Lake.

Conditions: I am, for the time being, land-locked. I don’t have access to a boat, and while the future may hold some possibilities, I wouldn’t count on getting off shore until next spring, at the earliest. So let’s assume 100% of my fishing will be done from shore on the lakes linked above.

Time of Day: The majority of my fishing time will be after work in the evening, between 7pm and 10pm on Newburgh lake, except those Saturday trips to Kent or Portage, which are expected to be from 6am ‘til whenever they can pry me off the lake.

Gear: Okay, here's a tough one - I don't own a bait casting outfit. While that’ll change soon (as I keep my eyes on the local classifieds and garage sales), I want to fish now. So here’s what I’m currently working with:

- Rods (all spinning): Shimano FXS-66MB2, 6’6”, 6-14lb, Medium-Fast / Shakespeare Ugly Stick SPL 1100 6’6”, 6-15lb, Medium / Shakespeare Ugly Stick SPL 1101 5’6”, 4-10lb, Light / Shakespeare Alpha XT SAS 2502, 5’0”, 2-6 lb, Ultra-light.
- Reels (all spinning): Shimano R4000 (10 lb mono) / Shimano FX200 (6lb mono) / Shakespeare Excursion EX235A (8 lb flouro) / Zebco 50 Classic (8 lb mono).

Goals: Okay, of course the first goal is to catch fish! But I also want to work on mastering some different things – techniques, presentations, heck, even knot tying. I’m a pretty persistent guy, so a trip that yields no fish isn’t going to bum me out, especially if I’m learning something.

I think that pretty much covers it (if there’s something I’m not considering, please let me know!). Any input you folks can give is greatly appreciated, and please feel free to contribute any and all ideas for resources, tools, tips, etc. that my lure-crazy brain isn't thinking about!

Thanks,

GP