The good thing about Florida is that you don't have to drive a lot to find some good finishing opportunities, in any city in less than an hour on the road you can enjoy a river, a pond or a lake, and the chance of fishing in saltwater is not more than two hours away.
For these reasons, fishing has become the most common hobby in the area, and whatever your reason is to dive into this world of patience and concentration, don't miss the opportunity of learning what the basic things to know are.
The first step as you know is to buy the right equipment to practice this hobby or do this sport, so look for the rod and reel that best suit your needs and budget, have in mind that there are several fishing reels; the spinning one, which is the most popular one and the easiest to use, it has an arch wire and a line spool that usually hangs underneath the fishing rod, and its size varies a lot.
Another available option is the baitcasting reel; this one is popular among fishermen of saltwater and shallow waters because it allows you to throw further and with more precision, therefore, it's used more by those inexperienced people and it is an open and spinning spool placed at an angle of 90 degrees in the rod.
A net is a purchase you must keep in mind, one with a short handle will work perfectly from a boat; in the case of fishing from the shore or a dock, it's better to use those with long handles or even a grid and its main use is to catch baits.
Don't forget that you need a place to carry the baits, knives, clamps, and every tool that is part of your team, the most popular is still the typical 'tackle box' that opens and some trays are taken out of it to store things. Those more experienced prefer to use the 'fishing bags' and at the time of going out to fish they fill some flat plastic boxes with these bags, taking only the necessary for that day.
There are thousands of options and only in time will you be able to know which ones adapt best to your style and likes, remember that very few States offer the variety of fishes and the opportunities of recreational fishing as Florida does, take advantage of it!