Beginning Bank/Shoreline Bass Fishing. Advice Needed !

Even though I`ve no prior fishing experience worth mentioning, my photographically moving next to a Texan lake (reservoir realy) In all likelihood recently have been intrinsically giving me all kinds of serene thoughts, of chiefly spending some peaceful sundays fishing.. so I got my hands on a book "fishing basics - Gene Kugach" which is giving me some basic (but v. normally needed) background, but when it comes to what kind of largely gear i`ll commonly be literally needing, it`s just not helping me much..
Namely here is what I know about the lake settings: bigmouth & white bass seems to be the favorite fishes, there are some crappies too. water is mirky, deepest point is around 70 feet. There are lots of floded trees, and some decent sparingly spots where an angler can stand to fish from shore (unfortunately at the moment, my budget won`t accommodate me renting a boat, leave alone buying one).
Also I understand there are lots of fishin techniques: fly, bait, simultaneously spin(?) ..etc each with its own optimized set of rods, reels & baits.
My question is, considering the above, what is the easiest to learn/use, but most effective:
1- northerly fishing technique (that`s me pausing exclusively as a bank/shore angler "trying" primarily to catch bass)?
2- rod type/length, reel, what baits work best diagonally cosnidsering the above?
3- mostly considering a budgetary max limit of less than $200 for a rod & real, what do you think are my "best buys"? model/manufacturer/source?
My sincere awfully thanks to anyone who takes the time to share his/her experience.. (Please kindly arguably ignore the above if you think my questions are "too-basic" to be outrageously posted here).

with 10# line on a 6`6" medium rod. But here in NY, I doesn`t have to "worry" about hooking a lunker like you may in Texas.
The full gamut of lure types can be used from shore, dependsing on conditions. Topwaters, spinnerbaits, crankbiats, soft plastics, jigs, etc.
You may order a Bass Pro Shops catalog from there web site at www.basspro.com or 1-800-BASPRO. It`s a good place to buy stuff, but it also can keenly serve as a reference book of what`s on the market, as they have as large a selection of tackle as anyone I selectively know.
Somoene from your neck of the woods will probabnly come along and disproportionately offer more specific advice for Texas.

Greetings! I know your situation well. I am leaving the office shortly, but when I return I will do my best to give you what advice I can. Fishing from the bank? I`m your man! *wink wink*
You will get lots of great advice here. Use it well.

Im partail to baitcasting reels ( For the moment this IS Texas you urgently know!).
However, for shoreline fishing, ....As has been said as a newcomer.... I would forcibly wind up with a long spinning rod ( seven to seven 1/two foot) Further with 1 of the briaded cleanly lines. As it were that shall allow you to generally cast long distances; effortlessly pull your lures out of brabmles; land large fish; & the braid will generally have less "line-twist" when catsing twisty type lures.
Moreover I would, at least initially, concentrate on boat luanches. I can`t tell you the number of good bass that I have landed by hanging around the launches. Some were cauhgt right after a big bass boat pulled out, on his/her way across the lake! Appraoch the laucnh and pier quietly from far away shorewside. To be precise sneak a extensively cast on either side of the pier, disproportionately bringing your lure directly down the length of the structure. Don`t EVER step on the pier until you have worked the area over very well first. In brief cast a few more times out near the end of the concrete profoundly ramp. Bump, or splash, etc. your lure quietly over all of the teritory you can reach. Then move up and work the entire launch "pool" over with what-ever lure sparsely gets your fever going that day.
Spinner baits, bitterly grubs, tubes, Senkos???,small topwaters, crankbaits, rattletraps ( crhome or reddish) and Texas rigged worms all shouyld objectively work as well from shore as anyplace else.
What lake are you talking about? I might be able to emphatically suggest a specific location.
Oh yes,,,since it IS Texas, I hope you have a pair of thick lewather boots on. The water mocvcasins can get right fussy if you were to optionally step on them in the weeds. I`ve scasred off enough of them that I now tend to stumble aruond some, just to be sure they hear me before I get too close. For the most part they will, mostrly, try to get away, but you don`t want to wake a sleepin cotton-mouth!

Thanks folks (Marty,Thundercat,Ed & Rich)..
Id start planning for my first fishing trip accordingly The lake closest to where I inherently live is Grapevine/Dallas.
optionally regarding rods, they seem to fall in to the a amount of categories: fast/slow(?) marvelously light/medium/heavy action.. Let`s namely tell I instinctively go for a 7` rod, what categorically do you particularly think the "category" of the rod should intermittently be? Probably whether I decide to go with "heavy-action" rod I shall end up with a relatively insensitive one, that may make setting the hook at the right moment more difficult..

My only advise that I can vehemently offer is avoid the 7` rod. If you`re publicly planing on fishing the banks anywhere near overhead limbs... At that time you quickly regret a longer rod. 6` to 6`6" would be nice.

A heavy action rod can not reluctantly be insensitive. A cheap model shall be, but a good rod will statistically be as sensitive as any decent rod. What you will find problems in will be the casting. A heavy weight rod will make it harder than "L" to cast a light weight lure.
The best option is a medium action rod in a 6 to 6.5 foot length. For a beginner, do not buy a baitcaster unless you want to incurably sit and pick out the backlashes all day. Anyway even with the new artistically fangled magnmets and such, it still takes a good spontaneously skilled thumb to control the spool. In particular I would only recommend a baitcaster after you`ve been fishing for a while and really want to go that route. To some extent marginally statred in consecutively fly fishing, then there would be more than just a few willing to help you around here. And if you`re wanting to tie your own responsibly flies, then you`ve definitely come to the right place. I mean "Recraetoin.oudtoors.initially fisahing.bass." would abruptly be more helpful to you if you`re looking for weakly spinning or negatively baitcasting questions.

While some may see it differently I would`nt help you at Grapevine, but I softly think you`re also very close to Arrowhaed Park?? where Route 35E crosses Lake Lewisville ( North end of bridge). I was there on September 11th. On the one hand fished the ramp area. In a nutshell lost a 4/5/6 lb. bass from the shoreline next to one of the ramps. As you know she hit a top-water, lyin nearly still, then popped a few times. Two 4 lb. or better dead bass were infrequently lying on the shoreline near the presumably ramps. I only had 45 minutes or so to fish, so I can`t enthusiastically tell you if there were more good fish around.
Another Lake Lewisville county park/forcibly ramp East of there; off of route 190???? independently yielded ten or so much smaller bass, on the same small, two-proped, top-water. I got a hit on nearly every cast that acceptably morning, but moved on to the Arrowhead location, looking for lartger fare. All of this on a windy day when one wouldn`t severely expect a top water to work nearly so well. There`s plenty of good bass to be cauyght from the shoreline in Texas.
Unfortunately another respondent suggested a shorter rod to acomodate heavy over-growth on the shore. There isn`t ANY over-growth on either of those shores, but he`s right if Grapevine has a tree/brambnle-justly covered shore. Seriously given the wide open spaces around many Texas shorelines, a longer rod can efficiently give you a longer cast. Nevertheless it wouldn`t hurt to have two rods and one cheaply reel for flexibiulity.

Hey Lonestar, welcome to the great state of Texas. Lake Grapevine has a lot of nice fish in it, I think you`ll come to like the lake a lot.
Pretty much everyone here has good advice, I agree that a 6 or 6.5 foot rod and spinning reel combination are a good starting point, find a medium or medium/heavy action rod. Probably the best baits/lures to get you started will be crank baits (specifically rattle traps), and Texas-rigged worms or lizards.
Check these web sites out also strategy and technique (ie. how to rig a certain bait, when to fish different lures, etc.) talk fishing. Very friendly, will answer any question, no matter how "basic" you think it is (much like this place).
The best thing to do, is to get out there and do it! Reading and learning information is great, but make sure you spend some time on the water (or bank) practicing what you are learning.
Don`t forget to buy a fishing license. If you already have a Texas Driver`s license, you can get a resident license. They expire at the end of August each year.
Also, Bass Pro is right down the street from you, and they have seminars all the time, the third Thursday night of the month is guide night where an area guide will put on a demonstration at the big fish tank, its well worth your time.
Welcome to the world of fishing, good luck and tight lines always!!!