Casting

[Mobasser]

Reading through the forms, I see lots of questions and opinions on rods, reels, lines, and bass lures of all kinds. These post are good, because they help folks learn about new tackle, and get opinions on the gear we use to catch bass. One topic I rarely see is casting, especially accurate, target casting. I've known a few very good bass fisherman in my lifetime, and each one was good at casting. One of them told me that accurate casting was eqaully, if not more important than the actually bait your throwing. As we all know, it takes some practice to cast very well. Flipping and pitching are great ways to present baits to bass, but, no one approach is perfect in all scenarios. Being able to drop your bait within inches of your intended target is still where it's at. It will help you hook and land more bass for sure. I try to practice my casting in the off season. On a scale of 1 to 10 my own casting skill starts around 7. As the season moves along by mid spring, I'm probably in the 8 to 9 group as far as accuracy. I don't think I've ever been a 10. Even after all my years, I still have an overshot cast, short cast, etc. It happens. How would you honestly rate your own casting skill, on a scale of 1 to 10? Regardless of what rod, reel, line, cost etc accurate casting will catch you more fish. It's well worth trying to get good at this simple basic skillset. How do you rate your own casting skill?

 

[new2BC4bass]

I am probably lucky to be a 5 on my best day.  This past year in particular saw me getting out only a few times.  I have no room to practice where I live.  When I practice it is often at a boat ramp on the Lehigh River.  At this time of year those targets are mostly leaves floating by with a few foam coffee cups and plastic water bottles thrown in.  Yeah.  People often suck. 

 

I'm almost always throwing for distance.  I always fish from shore except when on vacation in Florida and even there most casts are for distance.  I have no control of the boat.  I am more accurate at 30-35 yards than 15-20 yards for the simple reason such a short cast is almost never made by yours truly.  It is a thrill to hit the occasional leaf. 

[The Bassman]

I'm probably an 8 with spinning and quite honestly a 6 with bc. My right shoulder requires that I use an underhand/roll type cast. works great with spinning but accuracy suffers with bc (for me anyhow).

[Grim_Reaver]

I'd rate myself about a 7 in general. Only time I would say higher is if I'm using a swim jig or spinnerbait. For whatever reason, I can drop them on dimes with a nice roll cast.

[MN Fisher]

38 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

How would you honestly rate your own casting skill, on a scale of 1 to 10? Regardless of what rod, reel, line, cost etc accurate casting will catch you more fish. It's well worth trying to get good at this simple basic skillset. How do you rate your own casting skill?

On average - about a 6 for BCs and 7 for spinners. The majority of my casting is side-arm - the only time all my casting was overhand was when I fly fished...which ended about 30 years ago.

 

I plan on doing more practice with overhand casting this next year and improve my aim.

[dodgeguy]

if im really concentrating im a 9.5. i dont use spinning anymore.i dont skip so i dont count that in my repitoire. even a major league pitcher throws a wild ball sometimes . i do agree accurate casts are important. especially when fishing under overhanging trees and laydowns with tons of branches.if im not concentrating im a 8. thats generally funfishing with my daughter.

[A-Jay]

 

Good Topic ~ and one that I do agree can be over looked especially by novice bassheads. 

We often read here about new anglers who are struggling to get bit. 

Accordingly we are often very eager to offer all types of advice on where, when, how to fish as well as which baits to present.

Rarely do we inquire as to the 'casting skills' as a possible concern.

Guilty as charged. 

    However, (and I'm certainly not alone on this one) I'm all about having the right tool for the job and just as important, being able to use it effectively.

'Casting' certainly fall directly into that category.

Having been at this fishing game a while, all kinds of fishing, my personal casting skills have developed & adapted over time based on whatever the target species may be and the environment I was in to do it. 

As a youngster, bank fishing helped develop target & tight quarters casting skills.

Later on as a ocean surf caster - using heavier gear, standing in waist deep water, battling waves and long bombing casts into orbit for nights at a time, developed a totally different side of the art.

 More recently chasing brown bass in the north woods, first from a canoe & now from the Pro-V Bass boat, the vast majority of my presentations require both distance & a fair amount of accuracy. 

Confidence of success for me here is fairly high and success can help feed that.

As for rating my abilities as compared to other anglers or giving myself a 'grade', I don't believe I'm really in the best position to do that nor do I feel the need. 

Because the bass I'm hunting down will always let me know when I'm getting it wrong and when I get it right - loud and clear I might add.

YMMV

A-Jay

 

[Russ E]

 I don't try to compare myself to others for casting accuracy. I personally try to stay as accurate as possible.

I practice constantly year round. backhand, underhand, overhand, pitching, skipping, sidearm. and every other possible variation.

I often think my neighbors feel I am a little off, as I am standing on my driveway in subfreezing weather, skipping and pitching a jig across the cement.

 

[A-Jay]

26 minutes ago, Russ E said:

 I don't try to compare myself to others for casting accuracy. I personally try to stay as accurate as possible.

I practice constantly year round. backhand, underhand, overhand, pitching, skipping, sidearm. and every other possible variation.

I often think my neighbors feel I am a little off, as I am standing on my driveway in subfreezing weather, skipping and pitching a jig across the cement.

 

I do this year round ~

And the few 'drive bys' we get have to be thinking the same.

A-Jay

[Sam]

10 Spinning Rigs

 

8 Baitcasters, without any skipping attempts.

[Catt]

I'm probably an 8.5 with skipping my biggest weakness.

 

While I agree with the importance of accuracy we are assuming we know where the bass is.

 

[Mike L]

I’d say..

5-6 for skipping

7-8 for normal spot casting

8-9 for pitching

9-10 for flipping 

 

All baitcasters

(don’t use spinning at all)

 

 

 

 

Mike

[Mobasser]

3 minutes ago, Catt said:

I'm probably an 8.5 with skipping my biggest weakness.

 

While I agree with the importance of accuracy we are assuming we know where the bass is.

 

Catt, good point. Skipping is my worst also.  It should probably be, location first, then casting accuracy. I see lots of guys just randomely throwing baits, and I've wondered how many more fish they could hook if they would practice casting

[JediAmoeba]

With a baitcaster I am a solid 8.  My weakness is casting to my right.  Everything from my left up to 20 degrees to my right I will always hit my mark, no matter the style if cast.  As I go farther right...my confidence wanes.

 

With a spinning reel I am a solid 2.  Everything about spinning reels makes me angry.  I cant tell you how many times I have a big ball of snarly line fall off the spool...I rip it off pull the lure back in and grab another rod.  

[WRB]

Catt is the only member that I can recall who practices target casting at various distances regularly. My guess is Catt is a expert caster.

Accurate casting is important because you are not wasting time making inaccurate casts.

To be good you need proper casting mechanics, you are not swinging a baseball bat.

I am really surprised at a majority of bass anglers have poor casting mechanics and that leads to inaccurate casting. 

I am not a shoreline cover bass angler so don't spend a great deal of time making skip casts under boat docks and that is my weakest casting skill and takes me awhile to dial it in. I consider myself a good caster not a expert exhibition quality caster or trick caster. Very consistant at hitting within 1' between 30 to 50 yards, depending on the wind.

Tom

[Catt]

35 minutes ago, WRB said:

Catt is the only member that I can recall who practices target casting at various distances regularly. My guess is Catt is a expert caster.

 

Expert! Not!

 

Consistent! I consistently screw up the same way every time!

 

When flipping, pitching, & punching we a making a educated guess as to where the bass is located. 

 

Ever make a bad cast & still get bit?

 

What I see more than inaccurate casting is poor boat positioning & not making follow up cast.

[greentrout]

casting and casting for accuracy ...

 

many yrs. ago i had the opportunity to fish with a gentleman who did some tournament fishing ... didn't take me long once on the water to see who was the better caster and bass fisherman ... he could put a spinnerbait on a dime with little disturbance on the water ... over and over again ... put me in my place ...

 

academy used to have a yearly contest for casting with youngsters and adults ... eye opening ... no longer see it ... a shame ...

 

i use a spincast when in a jon boat to skip ... it works for me ... will use it from the bank, too ...

 

overall i believe i'm a little better than your average bc caster ... but certainly no expert ...

 

and, too, the baitcasters today are much easier to cast for the beginner than 20 yrs. ago ...

 

good fishing ...

[ike8120]

My best guess would be a 4 and still working on improving.

[WRB]

Yep, follow up cast at a different angle can make the difference.

I have been watching MLF and noticed some of the pros are highly skilled casters with Andy Montgomery is a standout. Andy has excellent casting mechanics, relaxed and makes it look so easy. My suggestion is watch Andy cast closely, that is how it's done correctly.

Tom

[LegendaryBassin]

47 minutes ago, WRB said:

Yep, follow up cast at a different angle can make the difference.

I have been watching MLF and noticed some of the pros are highly skilled casters with Andy Montgomery is a standout. Andy has excellent casting mechanics, relaxed and makes it look so easy. My suggestion is watch Andy cast closely, that is how it's done correctly.

Tom

While his style and technique is what we all deem textbook there is no correct way to cast. The correct way is what works for that given individual as we all vary in shape, proportions,  range of motion, etc. You see this a lot in analyzing golf swings as well. There are golfers like Jim Furyk that have a horrendously ugly swing but if that results in winning tournaments and making millions then it's good enough for me haha

[Dens228]

I'd say backhanded cast I'm about a 7.  Forehand I'm about a 4!  

Two summers ago I jacked up my shoulder that really affected my forehand so I resorted to mainly backhand and got pretty good at it.  As payment my forehand got much worse..lol

[WRB]

Golf it's extremely important to have good swing mechanics for hitting the ball squarely so it goes where you intend it to land, that is 1/2 of a golf swing. Putting is the other 1/2 and Furyk has good putting skills. Less then 1% of pro golfers get away with a herby jerky golf swing.

We are all different and develope our hand eye coordination at a young age, ounce developed it's difficult to make changes after we have learned a skill, but it can be done with lots of practice.

I learned to cast at early age from a very good bass angler and fortunate in that regard.

What I didn't know for decades is 1am left eye dominate and right handed, this results in seeing things towards the right side of where they actually are located. The brain tries to correct this aiming to the left like automatic windage. This became a problem when golfing missing to the right unless compensating by aiming more left. I do the same when casting and tried to learn to cast left handed but not nearly a skilled as right handed. 

Lots of factors to consider that practice can over come, it all starts with good mechanics.

Tom

[MassYak85]

It usually takes me a bit to find the "sweet spot" for a given lure but when I do I'd say I'm usually an 8. Some days I can't keep lures out of the trees, others I can really thread the needle. The things I really need to work on are skipping lures and pitching. 

[GReb]

Bait casting: 

Long distance - 6

Short distance - 8

Skipping - 5

Flipping - 6

Pitching - 9

 

Spinning - 2 lol

[OCdockskipper]

2 hours ago, Catt said:

Ever make a bad cast & still get bit?

Docks are the dominate cover on my lake, so when I take people out who have limited casting skills, I sometimes am forced to teach them how to skip (with a spinning rod) because it is the only way they will get bit.  Using a 5" unweighted wacky rig senko helps, but it can be an exercise in patience.

 

One thing I learned early on is if the skip they makes goes high, hits the side of the dock (or boat ?) and then drops down straight, I tell them to hold off on reeling it back in.  A good percentage of the time, the noise of the miss will catch the attention of a bass under the dock & he will swim towards the noise to find a senko drifting to the bottom.  If they hook up, I'm sure to tell them "Good miss".