First, you need to find a place.
This can range in difficulty, depending on where you are located, but there are plenty of public areas out there. If you check the maps of your area online, you can usually spot the various bodies of water around you. Once this has been accomplished, you can start rolling the dice on where you want to try your luck. I’ve often found myself driving in a certain direction for upwards of an hour, only to find that this lake that I found on the map was no more than a glorified puddle. This probably won’t happen to you, so long as you’re willing to put in a little bit of research before hand so that you have a little better idea of what to expect.
Second, you need equipment.
Equipment can range from the size of hook you use to the license that Uncle Sam requires you to have with you. Licenses are important, obviously. Once, I was stopped by a game warden who seemed a little threatened by my casual and perhaps annoyed reaction to his request to see my license. I agreed to show him, but I didn’t do it with the haste that he might have liked, apparently. He then spoke in a rather forceful tone. “Sir! Please step off of that rock!” So, I stepped off of the rock. He then asked my buddy if he had a license. He wasn’t fishing, just enjoying the weather, I guess. He said to the man, “No. I’m just watching.” So then the game warden asked, “Do you have your watcher’s permit?” Anyhow, after a little research, I later concluded that watcher’s permits are not required in all fifty states or any of the states for that matter because they are not real.
This is all just a long way to say that the one thing that you really need to buy is a license and I can say with certainty that Watcher’s permits are optional. The other thing you need is a fishing rod. You can buy cheap ones or go and rummage through your Grandpa’s shed. Garage sales are also good places to find something. Honestly, you never know what you’ll find there. Mostly junk, but you never know.
Anyhow, it’s all about the fish we catch, not how we look doing it.