Question About Baitcasting Technique

[adam lancia]

I've seen some guys on youtube videos casting and it looks like they turn the reel perpendicular to the water halfway through their cast. What's the reason for this? Any ideas? Thanks in advance!

[gulfcaptain]

Sometimes when you load up the rod casting, turning the reel over helps with the line flowing out of the reel.  You can achieve a greater distance.  Also leads to less backlashes with that little bit of rotation since you change the angle the line coming off the reel. 

[K_Mac]

Whether I am pitching or casting the natural rotation of my wrist causes the reel to rotate 90° with a baitcaster. I remember back in the day when I learned it was suggested for the reasons given above. For me it is just what works best.

[adam lancia]

Ah ha! Thanks for the input guys, I'm always looking for ways to spend more time fishing and less time picking out backlashes

[new2BC4bass]

Ah ha! Thanks for the input guys, I'm always looking for ways to spend more time fishing and less time picking out backlashes

 

Switch to spinning gear then!                    Just kidding.  I'd rather pick out overruns than switch.

 

I've tried both ways, but guess I am not good enough to be able to tell the difference. 

 

Most of the time I am not paying attention to how the reel ends up.  You've brought up a point that I have read about before.  I will try to pay more attention the next few times I go out to see how the reel is pointing after a cast.

[adam lancia]

You're assuming that I sold all my spinning gear I see.. LOL! Not a chance of that since I can't afford the kind of baitcasters that will throw tiny inline spinners for trout. I run out of skill long before those high end reels are any good to me anyways!

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

 Casting with the spool perpendicular is a more natural movement. Better ergonomics takes the stress off your elbow from the repetitive motion. The line flows out the round rings and their still round no matter which way the reel faces so I can't see the motion having any effect on that.

[STPC]

Sometimes when you load up the rod casting, turning the reel over helps with the line flowing out of the reel.  You can achieve a greater distance.  Also leads to less backlashes with that little bit of rotation since you change the angle the line coming off the reel. 

 

How can the angle of the line coming off of the reel change?  I kind of understand what I think you're trying to explain, but this confused me more since the line will always come out at the same angle off of the reel and into the first eye on the rod... 

[gulfcaptain]

If you think when you cast the rod loads up, if you rotate the rod where the line is running through the guides where they are below the blank the lure or bait tends to carry the energy from the rod better as the energy from the blank has an upward force..  If you do this and try and cast with the reel on top the line slows as it runs across the guides with a downward force and causes the lure to have more of a straight shot into the water which will carry the energy of the cast causing a sudden stop.  With the reel angle (rotating the rod to where it is below and using the force of the rod) the lure will have an ark which will carry the bait farther and slow as it starts it's way down and let the line spool off the reel in a more natural way.  This works for long distance casting, it was a trick learned fishing with conventional reels in the ocean where getting a 2 to 3 oz surface jig 50+ yards away from the boat to skitish fish or being able to toss a 4"anchovy 20yds away with heavier gear.  So when fishing casting reels, other then the line guide on the reel the techniques are pretty much the same.  You get more out of your cast with less force which causes less over runs or backlashes.  Pitching is a whole different topic though.  Hope this helps some.

[adam lancia]

Great discussion guys, thanks! It raises one question though. When talking about casting a baticaster, I take none of you cast your baitcasters overhead, correct? I do a lot of shore fishing from spots that I can't cast sidearm as I see most doing in videos so I am forced to cast overhead almost all the time. When I'm fishing from my friends boat however, I'm going to make a concerted effort to cast sidearm and toy around with keeping the reel perpendicular to the water to see it's effects. So my question is; what is the best way to control my casts while casting overhead? Thanks!

[hatrix]

Turning your wrist so the spool is vertical to the ground as opposed to parallel makes a slight difference in how easily the spool spins but I don't put much into. It is because of physics and I am not so sure what others were talking about. It naturally will want to turn vertically on its own so the force of gravity is equally applied to the spool. With the spool in its natural position of being parallel it is not since the spool is not A symmetrical in regards to gravity. Only turning your reel on its side so the plate or handle face up or down will achieve this.

[EmersonFish]

Great discussion guys, thanks! It raises one question though. When talking about casting a baticaster, I take none of you cast your baitcasters overhead, correct? I do a lot of shore fishing from spots that I can't cast sidearm as I see most doing in videos so I am forced to cast overhead almost all the time. When I'm fishing from my friends boat however, I'm going to make a concerted effort to cast sidearm and toy around with keeping the reel perpendicular to the water to see it's effects. So my question is; what is the best way to control my casts while casting overhead? Thanks!

I cast baitcasters overhead, and from every other angle you can think of, depending on what I need to do. If there are trees in the way, or another fisherman in a small boat, or whatever; you still have to get the bait out there. You can't make a soft landing cast overhead, so if you need to do that, hopefully you can pitch the bait where you need it; but casting overhead isn't an issue. Just raise your launch angle a bit so you don't spank the water with your bait before you are ready and give yourself a mess to clean up. But you are correct; all things being equal, overhead casts are probably not most people's preferred method.

As far as controlling an overhead cast, like I said, a higher launch angle, finish your cast with your tip a little higher than you might. Make sure you can feel the bait load in your "backswing" so to speak. If you don't need to make a full cast because the target is close, don't bother going overhead; pitch the bait where you need it.

[adam lancia]

Turning your wrist so the spool is vertical to the ground as opposed to parallel makes a slight difference in how easily the spool spins but I don't put much into. It is because of physics and I am not so sure what others were talking about. It naturally will want to turn vertically on its own so the force of gravity is equally applied to the spool. With the spool in its natural position of being parallel it is not since the spool is not A symmetrical in regards to gravity. Only turning your reel on its side so the plate or handle face up or down will achieve this.

I guess it could decrease spool resistance but that would imply that the spool bearings take axial loads as good, if not better, than they do radial loads. I'm not sure that's the case though, especially when considering stock bearings.

 

I cast baitcasters overhead, and from every other angle you can think of, depending on what I need to do. If there are trees in the way, or another fisherman in a small boat, or whatever; you still have to get the bait out there. You can't make a soft landing cast overhead, so if you need to do that, hopefully you can pitch the bait where you need it; but casting overhead isn't an issue. Just raise your launch angle a bit so you don't spank the water with your bait before you are ready and give yourself a mess to clean up. But you are correct; all things being equal, overhead casts are probably not most people's preferred method.

As far as controlling an overhead cast, like I said, a higher launch angle, finish your cast with your tip a little higher than you might. Make sure you can feel the bait load in your "backswing" so to speak. If you don't need to make a full cast because the target is close, don't bother going overhead; pitch the bait where you need it.

Thanks for the input, I'll give those suggestions a try next time out!

[A-Jay]

All of this is quite trilling - but I'm going with this . . . .. . . . . .. .

 

As long as I can put my bait exactly where it needs to be, how it needs to land, when it needs to be there - The position of my reel & arm angle during that evolution is of little to no concern to the bass.

 

A-Jay