Summarize this article in one sentence.
Cut down as many trees using your Copper Axe as you can. Use your mouse or right stick to point your cursor to the point where the tree and the ground meet.  Then press the attack button. The tree will drop wood and almonds that are then automatically placed on your inventory when you get in close proximity to them.  The specific attack button is different depending on what platform you are playing on, as well as the control scheme you use.  The attack button is labeled at the bottom of the screen.  It's usually the right trigger button or right shoulder button. It's advisable that you get 200 to 300 blocks of wood early on since a lot of the early-game items use it as a crafting ingredient/requirement. Open your inventory screen and switch to the crafting menu.  Craft a basic workbench. Once it's crafted, you can then place it on a flat surface and exit out of your inventory screen. To open the Crafting menu, first open your inventory by pressing Esc on PC, the Triangle button on Playstation, Y on Xbox, and X on Nintendo consoles.  Then use the mouse or the right and left shoulder buttons to switch to the different menus.  The crafting menu is in the lower-left corner. Move your character close to the workbench and then open your inventory again and switch to the crafting menu. Now you'll need to look for the wood fishing pole on the items that are available for crafting. You can then place it on your inventory after you've finished crafting it. The wood fishing pole is the easiest to craft of the four craftable fishing poles in the game. Other fishing poles like the reinforced fishing pole, Fisher of Souls, and Fleshcatcher, both of which require lead/iron anvils and metals like Lead, Iron, Crimtane, and Demonite bars to craft, another option would be buying the Sitting Duck's Fishing Pole from the travelling merchant, this is a very expensive option costing 35 Gold and being a rare item for him to sell. Once in Hardmode, you can get the Golden fishing pole and the Hotline Fishing Pole as quests from the Angler.

Summary:
Gather wood. Craft a workbench. Craft your first fishing pole.