Still learning myself and don't know your area,
Do you have a so called fish finder?
They don't really find fish as such but they do help you understand the topography of the sea bed around you, which helps work out where they are.
What was a surprise to me when I got into small boat fishing, mostly with Bass in mind is how much lighter the required gear is for inshore than I imagined. 1 or 2 oz leads and worm on some form of flowing trace on a spinning rod, streamed out behind the anchored boat and you can switch to drifting with plastic lures once things warm up, up here red gill evo lures in various colours fished deep and retrieved fairly quick we're hitting Bass last Summer. But you need to watch 360 degrees and know were your boat is drifting to.
The lads who go to Aberdovey seem to find plugs on the surface work better for Bass than red gills there
An experienced crew member is a big asset - maybe get shadowed by a second boat too to start with, is there a club down your way?
A chartplotter would be helpful too, but not cheap. There are apps you can add to your phone though.
Don't take too much tackle and keep it organised otherwise stuff gets under your feet and is an accident waiting to happen.
The RNLI do free advice on board checks and I recommend having one.
On my boat most things have a back up, ie spare anchor, fixed plus hand held radio, a flexible orange bucket to drop your catch into doubles as a baler and as a prop guard for when towing
And don't overlook the trailer bearing maintenance.
It can all be a bit frightening and fun at the same time, stay safe!
Look forward to hearing how it goes.
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