I love fishing. I live in southwest Ohio and I mainly fish in the Little Miami river for smallmouth bass and red eyes. I also fish in some local ponds for largemouth, crappie, and channel catfish. The channel cats are the biggest, usually. Biggest fish I ever caught though was a blue catfish that was randomly in the river! lol I have also caught carp, blue gill, sheepshead, sucker minnows (ick), sure I'm leaving something out.... Use an ultralight spinning rod and the catch is more fun. I usually use live minnows for bait. You can also pick up raw chicken livers or raw smelt from the grocery store to fish for catfish.
IME, fish seem to bite most in the morning, evening, and most especially right before it starts raining. Most bass and panfish are more likely to go for lively bait. The best luck is when I wade the river and find "fishy" looking areas to cast into (ie near a fallen tree in the water, near a brushy pile...places that are deepish and have hiding spots for them to lurk in).
For artificial spinners...crappie like the color green. Don't ask...they just do.
I realllly want to go someplace and catch a pike of some kind. I want to catch something big and toothy, lol.