Casting accurately is extremely important and can dictate your catch success by itself. Being an accurate caster is part of fishing I really enjoy. It’s an accomplishment within an accomplishment when you get bit. I also want to be efficient as a caster. I want to be a backlash free as possible. I taught myself to cast spinning rods, surf rods, bait casting and thirty years of fly fishing.
During the last sixty years I have learned some things that when applied, improved my casting skills.
Understand the physical mechanics of your wrist joint and hand and the motions as a joint system. Sounds dry huh. The wrist has a range of motion. Point the thumb up and move the hand up and down like driving a nail. Limited motion. Place the palm facing flat and down. Move the hand up and down like slapping a table top. The result is a larger range of motion. First range is primary in fly casting and overhand spinning. The second is the motion that becomes the foundation for baitcasting. Still dry.
Understanding the purpose of the rod and a balanced combo and how to set up the reel is next. The tip of the rod should be the final extension of your hand/fingers. Have you watched an NBA player drop a three pointer? Watch his finger tips and release . The lure’s speed and direction come from the rod tip. Control the tip and you control the lure. Still dry?
The rod should do the majority of the work. The flexibility of the blank is for two reasons. Fighting the fish and powering to lure for lure speed. If you’ve ever fly fished, this makes even more sense. Knowing how to load or stress the rod in one of the many casting motions and then control and direct the lure as the blank unloads is the key to maximize distance and control direction.
Not so dry.
Now the reels come into play. Finally!
spinning is easy. Release the line. Hope your distance is correct by the lure speed you generated or slow the lure speed up to stopping it by placing your forefinger near the spool edge or pressing the finger to the spool edge.
Casting reels require more control. Properly set your cast controls but understand, the thumb is the ultimate cast control! Remember the wrist motion concept. Your motion is lead by the back of your hand, not the thumb.
A backlash is just the result of the spools spinning faster than the line can exit the rod tip. The spool must slow at or more than the lure’s ability to pull the line from the rod.
Light or wind resistance lures slow faster. Heavy lures generate spool retain speed faster. Match the speeds and no backlash.
Rods can be loaded with various motions. Back forth, loop or circular rotations forward and reverse and in a pendulum swing. Learning how to generate the motions and apply them to load the blank takes practice and familiarity.
Learn in the yard, not on a Trip. Set realistic distance goals to start. Same for target size. Vary distance and locations and mix it up. As you move forward learn to cast with two hands to reduce fatigue. You can begin a cast with your dominate hand/thumb and finish with your off hand and off thumb.
It’s been a long read. Sorry but I’ve taught my grands kids using this model and others. It works. Have fun.
