Originally Posted by Brian G

If the water you are going to fish contains a fair number of silver fish like roach skimmers and perch then as a start a 13 foot rod will be ideal, use a waggler float with most of the weight set to lock the float with a couple of number 8 shots around half depth and either another number 8 or a number 10 about a foot from the hook, cast out and feed 6 or 8 maggots or pinkies via a catapult, and repeat every couple of minutes, this should see you get a few bites, you can also slowly work the float back towards you and through the area you have feed, I would use reel line of no greater than 3lb breaking strain with a hook lenghth line of 1lb to 1 1/2 lb hooks size to start with would be a size 20 but if bites are iffy or slow be prepared to go smaller.
If feeding pinkies try both single and double on the hook, or a single big maggot.