Andrew pretty much has you set-up on the what and how. In my opinion, what newbys don't take into account is the time at which they fish and give up too easily. You can be on the right banks but at the wrong time. Many times I have been putting the boat in at midnight and have several guys pulling out claiming the fish aren't biting, when we nailed them from 1-4. Another tip would be bait placement while casting. I really like my bait to "tick" the bank. Miss the bank by 3 feet and sometimes they just don't hit. Some folks parallel the bank, but I'm too wild of a caster and too many times my lure merely dangles from an unseen treelimb. If it weren't for my loveable sarcasm and my luck for shaking baits from trees I would have no fishing partners.