Fishing gear...

Any fishing experience in the forum? None here. A few years ago I received a SHAKESPEARE® CONTENDER® SPINNING COMBO as a gift for 5 years with a company. A list was provided from which to pick my gift and I figured a fishing pole was appropriate and I didn’t have one.

Question — Considering the rod & reel combo: 6’, 2 section rod; the spinning reel is spec’d to take up to 110 yards of 8# monofilament. So what kind of fishing is this set-up good for? Fly fishing? Bass? Trout? Probably not Steel Head or Salmon.

What would be a good starting set-up wrt line, hooks, weights, lures et al? I have no reel (hee hee) idea. I have no fishing experience and I don’t have any relationship with Shakespeare. Any ideas?

I'm interested in hearing what people's advice is.

99.9% of my fishing throughout my 50+ years has been with a worm on a hook - mostly looking for panfish and yellow perch. I usually had a smallish hook with a clamp on weight 8-10 inches above it, and then I used a bobber to watch for bites. I HATE when they swallow the hook before I can set it!!!

On one trip somewhere - as a kid - we were using plastic worms to fish for Northern Pike - with some success. They were fun to catch but the panfish were much better to eat.

For a while in high school I lived along the Grand River in Michigan (goes across the state), and fished for carp - just for the fun of it. I used worms with a very heavy weight that was allowed to run free up and down the line (with a match or similar tied above the hook to keep the weight from crunching it. The carp would grab the hook and run like crazy. They were really big!! We didn't eat them, and the law prohibits throwing them back, so they ended up in my neighbor's garden.

That type of reel is my preferred set-up for anything that bites the hook in fresh water. I usually rig it with 10# mono-filament line or a similar thickness/stiffness of other lines. I don't know about salmon size fish. All my experience is in the Southeast or Midwest for fresh water and off of a dock or brackish canal for saltwater.

My tackle is usually like KenK's. Float, sinker, & hook in a lake, pond, or deep slow pool.

Fly fishing requires a totally different setup.
With an 8lbs line it would be OK for spin fishing for trout and medium sized bass. Definitely not for salmon or good sized steel head. It might also be good for smaller pike. I managed to catch pike up to 30" with a similar line.
For a beginner lures with a length of about 1.5" to 2" and a weight of about 1/10 oz to 1/5oz might be good. The heavier ones are easier to cast but require more speed. For spoons I used Effzett spoons. For spinning lures I exclusively use Mepps Aglia (#3 or #4 is fine for your setup). I have no affiliation with either Mepps or the manufacturers of Effzett spoons.
You might try dropshot fishing too. It involves less casting and can bring goos success.
With a rod that short, I would not bother using natural baits and a floater (OTOH I got special gear for that anyway).

Thanks M_a_x. I’m obviously a neophyte when it comes to catching fish. The more I read, the less I knew. Line weight, hooks, lures, bait, sinkers, floats and then there’s the fish themselves and what they like to do and where they like to hang out.

I checked out that rod/reel combo and while the reel has pretty good reviews, the rod has a breakage issue. If I get serious I’ll probably move the reel to an Ugly Stick. Meanwhile I can start putting other gear together — hooks, lures, bait, sinkers, floats ...

That is also a freshwater set-up and since most of the water here is of the salt variety (Pacific Ocean off Southern California) I may need to focus on saltwater gear. There again, different fish, some way bigger.