I am a novice as well. I went out a few times in the last week and had success. What I was most pleased with was I caught fish on flies that I tied. While fishing Saturday afternoon I had been catching numerous bluegill on a prince nymph that was store bought when I decided to try something I had created. I tied on a squirrel hair what-cha-ma-callit and caught a few on it. Next I tied on a wooly-buggar wanna be I had made without the standard materials and WOW! The bass and crappie just knocked the heck out of it. There was no looking for a bite as they hit as hard as they could. Well needless to say I was pretty excited about the whole deal so had to get back out on Sunday evening and try again. I tied on another wooly-buggar a little larger this time and bang! As soon as it hit the water there was a commotion and a very nice large mouth inhaled it. This could be fun!