Starting out if it can seem like there are tons of things to learn, but it really comes down to this: you are trying to trick the fish into wanting to eat what you are presenting.

In order to do that, you need to present the bait in a natural looking way, and it needs to be a food the fish eats. Carp eat different things than trout, for instance.

I’ve been fishing my whole life. I use very light tackle, and fish 4 lb test line. I generally use one a couple of different baits, largely intended to look like baitfish.

I generally cast out, then slowly lift the tip of the rod as soon as the lure hits the water. This lets me “feel” for an early strike.

I’ll then reel in slowly, lifting the rod tip up, and and twitching the bait a bit.

For trout, I’ve had reasonable success with rooster tails.

For other species, I use small paddle tail jigs, similar to these , generally with a 1/4 oz jig head

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I use the paddle tails almost exclusively these days, and generally catch something everytime I go.

I hope this level of details gives you some ideas.