by Bruce Middleton, December 29, 2008
Accurate casting, no big splashes and pinpoint lure control…
Practice, practice, practice is the key to accurate casting. You have to invest some time every day in order to be proficient at casting. You have to master the overhead cast, the side arm cast, and the under hand cast, the skip cast and pitching and flipping. Just as little as 15 minutes a day can make a huge difference in your ability to place a lure where you want it. But if you can devote 30 minutes a day to casting practice you will be casting like a pro in less than a months. But just because you can cast great doesn’t mean you can quit casting practice, especially in the off-season of winter when you aren’t fishing or fishing very little.
The first cast to learn is the overhead cast. This is a power cast and usually is used with two hands but one hand casting gives you more control. You start out with the rod tip at 9:00 and bring it back to 3:00 over your head and with the wrist, snap it forward in a quick snap back to 9:00 releasing it at about 1:00 to get the most distance. This cast, once learned is your power cast. This will be the cast you use to send a bait or lure well past a target and reel it back into the target area. This cast does have a handicap though. It has no control over the splash and it regularly makes huge splashes scaring bass and other fish away. It is also very wearing on your arm(s) after a full day of casting this way. It often leaves a large amount of line on the water to reel in before it gets tight on the lure. And on windy days the wind can move the lure a long ways away from where you wanted it to land. It can also leave huge and ugly rats nests on your reel if you are not careful.
The sidearm cast is less stressful on your arm opposed to the overhead cast. You start out with your casting arm elbow tucked into your side while standing at a 45-degree angle to the target. Your whip the rod tip back from 7:00 to 11:00 and snapping the wrist and moving the arm back to 7:00 release the line at 10:00. Now since this cast is parallel to the water and easy to control how far you want to cast it and you have almost complete control over the splash. With some practice you will be able to eliminate the splash almost all together. The shorter the cast the less the splash you get. Control over distance of any cast, comes with rubbing your thumb over the reel spool and adding pressure to it to slow the spinning of the spool therefore the distance of the cast. With an open face reel this is controlled by using your free hand to cup it over the spool adding resistance to the line coming off.
The underarm cast is the hardest cast to learn but the easiest to use after it is learnt. It leaves the least amount of splash of all three types of casts and is the go to cast for getting under docks, tree limbs and other structures. Basically the underhand cast starts with the casting arm elbow tucked in the side. You then make a complete circle with the lure on the end of the rod and release it at about 5:00. This will allow the lure to sail along parallel to the water and makes the least amount of splash. It is a perfect cast for getting under things like under hanging trees or limbs, docks and other such structure that you want to cast under. It is also the least wearing of the three cast mentioned so far. Most right-handers use a clockwise swirl casting motion and a counter clockwise swirl is used by lefties more often than not. But in either case the speed of the swirl of the bait or lure and the distance the lure or bait is from the rod tip will impact the distance you cast dramatically.
So what is a flip cast? (Assuming you’re right handed) Simply put, it is a two handed method that uses a set amount of line. You first pull off enough line so you have a full arms length of line in your left hand from your reel to the first eye of the rod, and the bait hanging down the length of the rod level with the reel. You then let the bait swing forward and then back, in a pendulum motion, and when the lure reaches the 10:00 position you let the line out with a flip of your rod tip while controlling the distance with your left hand, (using the rod tip for control) until the lure lands where you aimed it. You let out the line in your left hand all at once so the lure falls on a slack line. You can then push the release button on the reel if you need extra length but most of the time you won’t. Remember this is the shorter of the two casting methods.
A pitch is a one handed method (you eliminate the line in your left hand) where you use the same pendulum swinging action of the rod tip but when you get to the 10:00 position you push the release button on the reel and let the bait fly out on its own, controlling the distance with your thumb, like any normal cast you are using the rod tip to aim the cast with. All this assumes you are using a bait-casting reel.
The skip cast is one cast that is the easiest and the hardest to learn at the same time. If you imagine skipping stones atop the water and replace your arm with a rod and reel the mechanics of the cast come fairly quickly. Just use the rod as an extension of your arm and practice the timing of letting go of the line to get it to go to the intended target. However the aiming part of this cast takes some real practice to get it to go where you want it to, especially when those places are tight places to get in and out of, say like between a boat and the dock it is tied to. The only hard part about this cast is keeping the rod parallel to the water, which isn’t difficult at all. Using a short rod helps immensely with this cast. With this cast it should be noted that it is bait specific. That is to say that a Texas rigged worm works great with this cast but with a spinner bait it doesn’t work at all or just barely. Jigs are another rig that work well with this cast. Small tight, compact lures work well but big lures and treble hooks don’t. They just grab the water too fast and stop too fast. Kind of like trying to skip a rock that isn’t flat.
Now to be fair there is a variation of this cast that uses a short 3-foot kiddies rod and the rod is used like a slingshot in order to snap the bait under places or between places where no other method or rod will do. You hold the rod handle with a firm grip with one hand and then bend the rod tip back (keeping the entire thing parallel to the water) hanging on to the jig or plastic with the other hand being careful not to get stuck with the hook, and then let go of the lure and trip the reel a micro second later so the lure or bait skips back under a dock or other place. I have used this technique quite few times and a Kiddy rod works just great for this. This modified skip cast can be done with a regular rod but takes real practice to master. But remember, a single cast under a dock is worth four around the dock. Again this cast is so much easier to control with the shortest rod you can find. Hitting the target area with a short rod is barely hard to accomplish but the longer the rod the more practice it takes to get the bait to go where you need it.
There is one final way to get your lure out to the fish. While it is not a cast it has been around since before the invention of the modern reel. That method is trolling and it was once the only way to catch bass. This method has its followers and is still a viable option today for taking bass. This is especially true during spring and late fall when bass are out in deeper water or suspended over deep water. All you do is follow a set depth with a lure or bait that will dive to a specific depth and then follow that depth line around the lake never varying that depth unless you change lures or the speed at which you are traveling. The speed you travel at in the boat really affects the depth the lure runs so modifying your speed is one way to control the presentation depth.
Now that you know and understand the six basic casts you need to master you have to practice them until you can hit a pie plate at various distances using different baits and lures. Why different baits and lures? Because they have different weights, different shapes and they handle differently on the rod. Speaking of which, the length you hang the lure down from the tip makes a whole lot of difference in how the lure will act when being cast.
Also too there are times when you want to hang a specific lure down lower from the tip than usual, like say a spinner bait. Spinner baits are usually hung down low (usually about 16 to 18 inches) from the tip of the rod so it doesn’t get tangled up in the main line as it is cast. It doesn’t allow the spinner bait to roll over on itself and wrap the line around the spinner. Instead it sails through the air without rolling and getting wound up in the line. And hanging a lure farther down from the tip of the rod can give you more distance on a long cast. This is due to the whipping action of the rod tip.
The line you use also affects the distance and the way the lure acts as it is being cast. Old line that has been in a reel too long will be curly as it leaves the reel causing the cast to be shorter than normal, will leave loops of line on the surface of the water and prone to making bird nests on the reel. Line that is not too heavy will shorten the casting distance even on a short cast or flip. Good new limp line is the best thing you can have on a reel. It will maximize your casting distance, it will leave you with no loops on the water to reel in before setting the hook and it will make casting more effortless. Lighter weight test line will cast farther than heaver poundage line because of the diameter of the line. The larger the diameter the line the shorter it will cast to some degree.
The rod you use will also determine how far and how well your casts will go. Too stiff a rod and you will have trouble even getting the line and lure to go where you want it too. Too limp a rod and it will take much more arm movement in order to get the lure out to where you want it. It will also be very hard to get a firm hook set with this type of rod. But like the three bears, when you use one that is ‘just right’ it will make casting a real delight. Most casts will be all but effortless and the lure will drop right where you aimed it. Getting used to it will take a few days instead of weeks. But each rod you use doesn’t necessarily have the same stiffness or length. You will more than likely have medium, medium heavy and heavy rods to suit different fishing needs. Getting used to how each rod feels and how you cast them will add to the time it takes you to control the lures and baits used by each rod. Some rods are cast specific. A very heavy rod for instance is best for flipping and pitch verses casting. So be aware of each rods use when you use them.
The length of the rod will also effect how far you can cast a lure. Generally speaking the longer a rod is the longer you should be able to cast a lure with it. This assumes that you are comparing the same stiffness of rods side by side. The reels also will effect how far you can cast. Generally speaking a spinning reel should be able to out cast a bait casting reel, which has an automatic anti backlash feature. There are a lot of things to consider when it comes to how far you can cast a lure.
Getting used to all the rods in your fishing boat can be a real drain on you time and energy but the results will bring years of pin-point accuracy casting with every rod you own and with every lure and bait you put on it. The pros on the Professional tour were asked once in a survey how much they practiced casting before and after they became a pro/ the average answer was between 2 and 3 hours a day for 2 years and about 8 hour a day once they made the pro circuit. The hours practicing are on lakes practicing their trade when they are not involved in a tournament. That is a lot of hours to practice casting but when a $150,000 is on the line you would practice that much too.
In order to obtain repeatability in your casting you must always have your lure at the same distance from the rod tip every time. This sounds like a simple thing and not worth mentioning but in fact this can make a huge difference in how the lure flies off the rod tip. The velocity will vary tremendously with the length of line from the tip of the rod to the lure. This in turn varies how far and how fast the lure will fly through the air. On an overhand cast this is not a problem but on an underhand cast this can cause the lure to hit the water at a far greater speed than you intended. But generally speaking hanging the lure at the same place all the time also helps you control the size of the splash, which is very important.
A quiet entry also requires that you as the angler choose lures and baits that are appropriate for the type of casting you are using as well as other factors. It makes no sense at all to pitch a one-ounce jig down the side of a dock when a ¼ or 3/8-ounce jig would make a less splash and noise when it enters the water. Use common sense when it comes to matching lures and casting styles.
Most casting reels today have gear ratios of say 5.2:1 or 6.3 to 1, which is very fast. What this means is, that for every turn of the handle, the spool goes 5.2 or 6.3 times around. Although some reels use this ratio to show the total amount of feet of line the reel winds in for each turn of the handle. It can be confusing but actually they mean the same thing. One reel is faster winding that the other. This reels in a lot of line very quickly. When trying to fish slowly with one of these 5.2:1 reels you have to be aware of these ratios and really slow down the time it takes to turn the handle. This is also why so many anglers’ fish slow baits so fast, they don’t understand the reels they are using. It’s also very important to remember the gear ratio when you change rods that have a different reel on it out on the lake. Just a glance is all that is needed to remind yourself of how fast the reel will wind in the line.
When buying a reel whether that reel is a bait caster or a spinning reel, one of the first things you need to consider is the reel-winding ratio. Most reels fall into the 5.2-1 and 6.3-1 range. Both have their place when fishing, as you may need a slower winding reel for one condition and a faster winding reel for another. You should know what each reel on each rod is rated at. To eliminate any confusion I use a piece of paper under clear tape, taped just above the reel on the rod, that shows the gear ratio of the reel, rod flexibility (i.e. is it a medium action rod or a medium heavy rod) and what the line poundage is there so that there is no confusion later. This way, at a glance I know exactly how fast or slow the reel will work, the rod type and what the line is I’m using. And lastly it is important to understand that when it comes to casting lightweight lures that a spinning reel is a better choice. It doesn’t have an anti-backlash feature to slow the cast down and the line comes off the spool easier making for effortless casting with lighter weight.
The other thing to remember about a new reel is the size of the spool that the line goes on. A big spool will let the line off the reel faster whereas a smaller spool will let out a little less line with an identical cast. This is true for both spinning and bait casting reels. Also too a bait-casting reel with a working anti backlash mechanism will also reduce the distance you can cast to some degree verses a spinning reel which has no such option.
When it comes to putting line on your reels there is right way and a wrong way of doing it. With a spinning reel it’s best to set the new line spool on the floor and reel the line so it loops off the spool. That is to say, the spool should not move at all. With a bait casting reel the correct way to reel on line from the spool is to put a pencils or other round object through the hole in the middle of the spool and as you reel the line on the reel the spool turn round and round on the pencil. If you do it any other way you will form loops on the water after casting, even with limp lines, for the first several casts, until the line has a chance to straighten out.
Very thin and tiny crochet hooks make short work of tangled lines in your reel. The tiny barb is just small enough to grab the line with and untangle those backlashes.
Boat control comes into play when casting especially the shorter flipping and pitching casts. You must get the boat in position so you are inside the distance needed to make these cast. This takes a lot of finesse. You need to do it with as little noise as possible and in as short a time as possible. This combines to lessen the noise output that may scare a bass away from the area you wish to cast to or it may give the bass lockjaw. This too takes a lot of practice especially on windy days. And if you were to hit something under the water with either the trolling motor of the boat, the explosion of noise will certainly scare any bass for quite a ways out of the area. This would force you to move a great deal down the lake before you would find any bass willing to bite your offering.
Now that you know all there is to know about casting lures and baits, it’s up to you to take the time to master each style. Make sure you can at least cast a lure in all the styles, as this will enable you to cast to places never open to you before. Once mastered you will be able to drop a lure any place you want with great ease and that after all is the object of casting in the first place.
Bruce Middleton
bpmiddleton@peoplepc,com