Newbie to Bass Fishing

[Mogs]

Hello Ladies and Gents,

I'm Mogs, Its great to virtually meet you and totally new to bass fishing. I have been rock and surf fishing for all my life however, I have been living in Gauteng Centurion area for around 13years now. I don't get much time to travel to the coast to fish so I decided to take up bass fishing. I have tried Carp fishing but its not something I'm totally passionate about. Bass fishing I feel is as closest to sea fishing I can get. As I am new I would love it any of you can give me any advice or tips. 

I currently have the below setups:

Rod - Sensation Tournament Weapon Pro 
Reel - Abu Garcia Blue Max 
Line - Berkley Vanish 12LB Clear 

Rod - Shimano Alivio DX Spinning Med/Heavy 
Reel - Daiwa Laguna Spinning 3000
Line - Boss Braid 20LB 

Thats all i have so far, please can you guys advise me what else as beginner i should get. 
my intention is to fish as much as i can in the Centurion and Pretoria area and later as i get more experience i will try other spots around Gauteng. 

Any and all advice will be really appreciated, thank you in advance. 

Best regards 
Mogs 

[Navrik]

Welcome Moz.

Welcome to the addiction.

Unfortunately I am from Cape Town but I believe Rietvlei dam is close to Centurion and has produced a few nice fish recently.

I would suggest joining a club of sort. Chat to your local tackle shop. They should be aware of clubs in your area.

Baits wise I would start with Flukes, Senkos, Grubs, Topwater like a popper, Hard Jerkbait and maybe a creature bait like a craw. Colour wise stick to maybe Green Pumpkin, Watermelon and Junebug. Maybe Black at some point. Crankbaits likes a lipless. Stay basic with something like a Sexy shad colour. Don't go all out and buy too much to start Start with the basic and gain confidence and then add to your arsenal of baits.

Hooks wise Extra Wide Gap Hooks in say 3/0, 4/0 and 5/0 should cover you for most applications. Lead sinkers are fine to start off and cheaper but tungsten provides a bit better feel as it is harder than lead.

Hope this helps. Shout if you have any questions A few nice WhatsApp groups also around that you can learn a lot from and make friends to fish with.