How Many Casts

[WVbassin87]

I bank fish. usually i can only fish from about 5-9am, so i hit the local river. Terrain and current vary. it starts slow and lined with downed trees, then towards the lower end it picks up a good bit, but is REALLY rocky. all of it is fairly shallow, and typically stained a deep green on the slower end and clear over the rocks. how many casts would you throw to one area before moving on?

[Choporoz]

Depends a great deal on what your options are.  The water's always bluer up and down the bank.  Then again, I can be a real sucker for a nibble or surface activity....especially if my options are limited.  I've been known to spend hours fishing the only accessible spot with only a couple fish to show for it.

[fishva]

When I'm fishing I spend a lot of time thinking. And this is what I think:

Most fish don't think in terms of spots. The idea of a fishing spot is applying human reasoning to a creature that doesn't have the capability to reason. We mostly move from spot to spot because it makes us feel productive, or because it tickles the part of our brain that gets satisfaction from exploring or seeing what is ahead.

Fish are like nomadic man. We didn't move for the fun of it, we moved because we were chasing resources. Fish are like that. Always chasing resources that have moved or replacing ones that have been killed off or depleted.

Just because a fish is or isn't there at any given moment doesn't mean it wasn't there the moment before or won't be there the moment after.

So basically, have fun, stick with a spot as long as you can take it, and move when you feel like it. That's the best way to have a fun (and productive) day of fishing.

[Chris9999]

I either fish a round 10 minutes before moving but when I bank fish I will usually fan cast as I walk.waiting for a bite. So technically Im always on the walk but still

[teh_skeeze]

I don't fish for bass in rivers, but I do fish for trout often. As with anything, it depends. If a spot looks promising, but I'm unsure, I will throw something a dozen or two times before switching up my lure. You'd be amazed at how something so simple as changing up can make a pool that seems lifeless become productive. If I know that a pool is holding fish, I will fish it for an hour before moving on.

[sparky241]

ill fish for about an hr. if it isnt good activity ill move on to the next spot. ill change baits a few times in the process

[Sam]

Interesting query.  Just how many casts does anyone make to any one target?

 

I would think "not enough."

 

Woo Daves told me to throw into the living room; then the dining room; hit the kitchen; throw to their bedroom; check out the bath; lob into the den; and hit all the places the bass live not once, but five or six times for each.

 

Other pros have told me that they landed "that monster bass" by continuing to throw at one target over 15 times before she hit their baits. This was especially true for crankbaits and topwaters.

 

As for plastics, if you have the patience you can flip and pitch to a target from different angles many times. Use the "fan pattern" as your guide and continue to throw to the target from various places as you move from left to right and then back from right to left. No guarantee you will get a hit but at least you gave it your all.

 

Remember, if you can see into the water the bass can see you. If the bass can see you it does not matter how many times you flip and pitch to a target they are not going to hit it. Wear dark clothing and try to walk 50-feet from the bank when changing positions. Try to have your baits hit the water as quietly as possible at first, and then with some noise if you don't get any bites the first time around.

 

I have seen largemouths turn to look at what made the noise and then rush over and hit the bait. So fish quietly and with some noise, too.

 

Wish I could give you a specific number of casts that guarantee a strike but I can't do that for myself - needless to say for others.

 

Have fun and let us know what you catch.

[Snakehead Whisperer]

Really depends on the mood of the fish on any particular day. When they're in a positive mood, a couple casts to an area will usually solicit a strike. No strike, no fish there. When fish are in a neutral/negative mood they might not bite at all, or until you put a lure right on their nose. I've casted to areas literally hundreds of times to catch one fish lurking there. Might have been because the fish got ticked off, or might've been because I eventually cast within a millimeter of it's face...or maybe because of some totally different reason that it eventually struck. Only the fish knows for sure.  

 

Too many variables though. Sometimes it takes 10 casts or more to get a strike on a black and blue jig, but a green jig will get devoured the second it hits the water. This year I can't seem to buy a topwater bite most days, but a dead sticked soft plastic will elicit vicious strikes. Totally different pattern than last year in similar conditions. 

 

My opinion would be to make as many casts as it takes (or as many as you can stand.)

[SirSnookalot]

Fishing for several different targets over the last 4 days I'e had 1 strike and 1 fish caught, just a 36" cuda.  Been peacock fishing in the PM and haven't seen one of them either.  How many casts, I don't know but whole bunch.

[einscodek]

I bank fish alot as well cause its sometimes a hassle to get the boat out

This is really an art and no easy answer

you read and read and read but when yer on the water in the pressure of the situation

you are relying on intuition and judgement which come together from a deep-down understanding (or nor understanding) of the experience and knowledge you have accumulated

so do you stay in one spot or move on?  I think Rick Clunn put it best when he said you have to be an aware fisherman taking in everything around you and then you can make the best decision

as they say the 90% of fish are in 10% of water

depending on the season, weather, conditions that 10% may shift around

so like the pros, imo you need to cover water to find out where the strikes are coming from narrowing down where they are right now

then narrowing down what they are looking for in lures

the conditions are changing all the time and sometimes even when yo have them figured out, something changes so you need to adapt

this is also a bit different if you are say going after the biggest fish rather than just any fish

sorry if this is a bit drawn out w/o conclusion

[Bankbeater]

It depends on the area that I am fishing.

[HeavyFisher]

No matter what area, or the conditions, I cast around 15 repeat casts to the same spot. 

[RoLo]

I've never given much thought to the number of casts per spot, but the number is wildly volatile. 

Instead of scattergunning, I work predetermined holding sites along a waypoint route.

Depending on the feedback we're getting that day, the time spent at any one site

can vary from zero (pass-by the spot) to upwards of an hour. 

 

Before moving to the next holding site, I'll generally fancast the spot with a subsurface lure,

mid-depth lure and bottom lure. I prefer to keep the lure in new water and don't repeat cast lines,

unless of course I'm given a reason to repeat a cast.

In short, we give priority to aggressive bass before marking time with passive bass.

 

Roger

[ColdSVT]

Ive casted 20+ times into the same spot untill i ticked off he fish i knew was in there enough that she hit!

Unless the fish are being super agressive.