Fishing varies wildly depending on the species you are targeting. The best advice is probably to look on YouTube for fishing videos in your area.

For pan fish baiting a hook and waiting for a bite (possibly using a bobber) generally works well. It’s easy to target them during the breeding season when they make “beds,” at other times you may need to find an area with a drop off or weeds. You generally want your bait to be off the bottom by a reasonable amount.

For something like bass you tend to use crank/jerk baits that you need to keep moving to entice a hit. You can generally find them in similar areas to pan fish as they eat those species. The idea is generally to pass lures through areas that allow a bass to hide and strike anything that swims by.

At certain times of the year you can target spawning fish in various rivers. Generally at these times what you use isn’t too important, it’s more about being there when the fish are passing through.