Anyone Else Yard Fish?

[Josh Smith]

Hi Folks,

 

As I make modifications to by beloved Abu Ambassadeurs, they of course needed tested.  I take them out into the yard to test cast before actually fishing them.

 

This evolved into practice casting daily.  There are plenty of trees to simulate fishing, just no water.

 

The spot I've chosen to do this only has a castable distance of about 40 yards before I hit the tree line to the woods, but the woods has overhanging boughs from trees and underneath them makes good long-range practice for getting under overhanging branches at the lake.

 

My wife thinks I'm weird for this.

 

Come to find out, when Dad got his Abu Garcia 5000 back in the '70s and mounted it on the Lew's Tournament Grade fiberglass rod, he'd practice out back by pitching to the neighbor's basset hound and playing tug-of-war with the dog!  (The neighbors knew this and enjoyed watching it!  They were family friends I guess.)

 

Practicing casting is relaxing to me, like shooting my bow, or 1911 pistol, or .22 rimfire, or even black powder and centerfire rifles.  I do all these in the yard or the woods, depending.

 

So, does anyone else do this?  Yard fish, I mean?

 

Josh

[kikstand454]

Guilty.

I will throw a paper plate, a small saucer and a Frisbee out from the back deck and stand on the bottom step and pitch/ cast to them.

[A-Jay]

Yup - and it's a year round evolution  . . . . . .

 

 

A-Jay

 

 

[F14A-B]

Yes, whew! Finally others confessing about it.

One place, folks would laugh every time I would do it...

No problem, keeps me sharp between trips, and as you say... Is relaxing to boot!

[FlipSide]

i have a cardboard box that i wrote pitchin box on because my lady kept throwing them away lol.

 

i too am guilty of yard fishing.

[Heron]

I find yard fishing to be essential, particularly during any "off-season." 

[gulfcaptain]

Cats make great subjects to fish for while practicing (without a hook of course) Have to do something when we can't go fishing.

[RAMBLER]

I like the physical act of casting, so, I will cast in my yard for practice and just to relax. 

I am right handed and like to practice casting left handed.  It's surprising how fast my left hand and wrist will tire, and yet, I can cast all day, right handed.

[Jd_Phillips_Fishin]

I do it all the time

[atcoha]

was out front just a little while ago...doing the same thing.

[Fish_Whisperer]

All the time...  My daughters playhouse has tiny windows and openings,  practice my pitching into them, along with a small bowl I will throw out and pitch to from different distances.  It's good practice to also place larger  objects in front of your target to simulate different situations.

[Jolly Green]

I like to practice when the squirrels are out; they will stalk and pounce like lions on my practice plug.  I also have a small drainage pond out back that I can use for casting and dog-walking practice, as well as bonus entertainment watching herons yank some of the hundreds of puny bullhead out of it.

[K_Mac]

I've spent many happy hours pitching under and into a wide variety of targets. I would rather figure out how to make accurate and quiet presentations in the yard anyway. Gives me more time to fish and puts more fish in the boat. Many of my neighbors don't quite know what to think of me as a result. That is a great unexpected benefit!

[reb67]

I like the physical act of casting, so, I will cast in my yard for practice and just to relax. 

I am right handed and like to practice casting left handed.  It's surprising how fast my left hand and wrist will tire, and yet, I can cast all day, right handed.

I started doing this in the yard {practicing left hand casting} because when fishing bank lines on the river there some places you can't cast to do to the position of the boat and you are right the left wrist tiers quickly but it is get better.

[everythingthatswims]

Or sitting in the living room pitching jigs at my little brothers until they make me stop. Most dogs try to eat fishing lures when they see them moving...for some odd reason, my dogs don't even look at a jig crawling across the rug in front of them 

[Darren.]

Never called it yard fishing, but yeah, I cast n' retrieve in the yard often enough!

[Nick_D]

Yea, and my wife always asks if I caught anything.

[Sam]

Yes, all the time.

 

Not only do I cast but I have a 24-inch round plywood cutout that I pitch and flip to with various baits at various distances.

 

Only problem is reeling in the line with treble hooks after a cast can be a pain so I walk to and from where the bait lands in the field reeling in line as I go.

[joefish]

My flipping and pitching sucks so I really need to do some yard fishing. Guess I won't be the only one.

[Montanaro]

Yeah...had a passerby ask if they were biting well.

[buzzed bait]

Or sitting in the living room pitching jigs at my little brothers until they make me stop. Most dogs try to eat fishing lures when they see them moving...for some odd reason, my dogs don't even look at a jig crawling across the rug in front of them 

 

mine could care less too....

 

i would get some weird looks at this snooty a** town home i used to rent... but yeah it didn't bother me much.  now i have all the room i need out back and it's great!  

[Raul]

You don't think you can drop a jig in a tea cup 30 yards away without some practice, do you ?

[OntarioFishingGuy]

No, but i have damaged a couple rods by hitting the ceiling while 'hallway fishing'.

[Mswen]

Cats make great subjects to fish for while practicing (without a hook of course) Have to do something when we can't go fishing.

 

When I learned to fly fish, they told me to practice casting in the yard, without a hook.  I was doing this one day, and I tried to pull forward from the backcast, but it was stuck.  My sister's cat had snagged the end of the line and had it pinned to the ground.

 

If you cut the hook off a marabou jig, it makes a great cat toy.  I had one kitten who would play with one for hours, while I would pitch and cast to him in my living room and yard.  Afterwards, I would have to hide my fishing gear in the closet (it was a small apartment) or he would get into it.  I woke up in the middle of the night one time to this "Thok, thok, thok, thok," sound.  I had left the rod in a corner of the living room, and the line wrapped around the tip, to keep the jig in place.  Angus had climbed my desk and could just reach it, and he was swatting the jig against the wall, trying to dislodge it.

 

What do you use to keep from snagging on the grass?  Lead weights don't cast the same as most lures.  Cutting the hook off of a cheap jig is another option, or removing the hooks from a crankbait.  I know they make practice plugs, but that seems like an unnecessary expense. 

[jbw252]

Yes Sir...Guilty as charged.  Although I call it squirrel fishing. Thanks to "Chris at Tech" for teaching me that term.