Casting

[Columbia Craw]

My casting is much better than my shooting pool.

[dodgeguy]

4 hours ago, JediAmoeba said:

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.  

I solved that . I gave my spinning stuff to my daughter.

[CountryboyinDC]

5 hours ago, Catt said:

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

Amen to that.  Skip your bait perfectly under any willow tree with no bass beneath it and you might as well lob it into the tree itself.

I'm at best fair to middling at any type of casting, and can put the baits from a spinning outfit about anywhere but where I want them.

[OCdockskipper]

Two quick tips on casting distance & accuracy with spinning gear:

1. Use braid or Nanofil with a leader.  The inherent twist spinning reels puts on line (& creates a mess with mono or fluoro) is not an issue with braid or Nanofil;
    
2. Choose a reel with a neck short enough that your index finger can reach the spool.  This allows you to feather every cast in the same manner your thumb does with a casting reel.

 

 

 

It is really satisfying (as well as handy) to be accurate with both spinning and casting.

[WRB]

On November 17, 2019 at 2:23 PM, CountryboyinDC said:

Amen to that.  Skip your bait perfectly under any willow tree with no bass beneath it and you might as well lob it into the tree itself.

I'm at best fair to middling at any type of casting, and can put the baits from a spinning outfit about anywhere but where I want them.

Skip the lure under a willow tree and you get it back, cast into the tree it's no garanteed you get it back.

I only use spinning for bass with finesse presentations in more open areas. No problem casting a spinning reel accurately using my index finger, a technique used when trout fishing streams where accurate casts matter and willow trees are common.

Tom

[CountryboyinDC]

23 minutes ago, WRB said:

Skip the lure under a willow tree and you get it back, cast into the tree it's no garanteed out get it back.

I guess you're right about that.  The poor casting with the spinning outfits is on account of my upbringing.  I was taught on a Zebco 33 (after a simple pole), and never got good with a spinning rig.  I know people that can do wonders with spinning gear, and I should probably swallow my pride and ask them to show me how.

[Log Catcher]

I am a pro at casting. I can make a bad cast in to a good spot with the best of them. I might be a seven with bc gear. About a 6 or maybe a 7 with spinning gear. I will say I have to sit down to fish and my longest rods are 6'6". I'm sure that makes a difference compared to guys standing up and two handed casting with the longer rods. I don't cast for long distance and only try skipping with a spinning rod. 

[cookieman]

I watched a guy this summer casting and spinning to trees along the shore. He was on the spot 9 out of 10 times. When leaving i asked him about his casting and he said it was all in the wrist. I thought I was going to die laughing but he was serious.we went to the bank and he cast 2 time with each casting and spinning telling me first what and where he was throwing at. Hit all 4 times within 6 inches.

[JustJames]

My casting skill, let say 5, fixing backlash 9.5. I never practice casting or pitching at home, just learn when actually fishing. Good thing is I do a lot of casting but not a lot of catching so that help improve my skill a little.

[skekoam]

I used to be pretty good at casting a spinning reel, but after getting a baitcaster my spinning skills have gone down the tubes.  After getting a BC, I absolutely love it and prefer it over spinning any day.  

 

I will say, I have trouble pitching and flipping.  I can do full casts with no backlast, but try a pitch or flip and boom- birdnest city. Go figure. 

[new2BC4bass]

Maybe it is just me, but I find some rods easier to make accurate casts with than others.  Anyone else have similar results?  Never tried switching out the reel to see if accuracy improved.  Any of you ever switched a reel and saw an improvement in accuracy?

[redmeansdistortion]

Distance - 10  I can really rip it.  Some of my reels are set up specifically for distance as I fish the surfs and piers of the Great Lakes. 

 

Skipping - 0  Never attempted since I don't fish docks often

 

Flipping - 7

 

Pitching - 8  I fish a lot of rivers with heavy cover and accuracy is paramount in such a scenario as it can be the difference between hooking up or donating an expensive bait to the logjam gods.  When I first started pitching, I'd lose a lot of lures.

[bunz559]

Great points! My casting sucks. Regular overhead and side arm casts I am fine. My pitching and flipping could use a lot of work although I can get by 95% of the time. Quick roll casts and skipping is what I have the most trouble with. Around my area, we fish deep California reservoirs with hardly any cover or docks so roll casts and skipping isn't something we need to do often. But the few times when I do head up north and fish the Cal Delta or Clear Lake where there's tons of shallow and above water structure, these techniques would come in handy and I'm probably missing a lot of opportunities. I definitely need to work on these things.  

[Mobasser]

2 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

Maybe it is just me, but I find some rods easier to make accurate casts with than others.  Anyone else have similar results?  Never tried switching out the reel to see if accuracy improved.  Any of you ever switched a reel and saw an improvement in accuracy?

I can cast most accurately with a rod with a slight tip flex. I can feel the rod load up, and hit targets better. The reel I'm using doesn't seem to matter too much in my own casting

Some of the better casters I've known liked to keep their reels spool tension a little on the loose side. They relied mostly on thumbing the spool to cast. Of course this won't work for everyone

[redmeansdistortion]

22 minutes ago, Mobasser said:

Some of the better casters I've known liked to keep their reels spool tension a little on the loose side.

This is how I do it.  I keep mine loose to the point there's a wee bit of side play, especially for pitching and flipping.  When I'm going for distance I go a little tighter so the spool don't run away on me.

[bunz559]

21 hours ago, redmeansdistortion said:

This is how I do it.  I keep mine loose to the point there's a wee bit of side play, especially for pitching and flipping.  When I'm going for distance I go a little tighter so the spool don't run away on me.

What about brakes? When I start loosening the spool tension, without adequate thumbing, it'll usually blow up on me. Or is it all on thumb practice?

[Mike L]

No need to adjust the brakes every time you change techniques. 
Set them to get the greatest distance using the variety lures you plan on throwing with that particular combo. 
Then use the knob to fine tune the reel as you change out. 
 

Adjust the knob for pitching and flipping on the loose side and use your thumb to control distance. 
 

 

 

Mike

[MN Fisher]

9 minutes ago, bunz559 said:

What about brakes? When I start loosening the spool tension, without adequate thumbing, it'll usually blow up on me. Or is it all on thumb practice?

Part of it is thumb practice, part of it is brakes. I also set my tension for just a bit of side-play, and between the brakes and the thumb, I rarely have a backlash - maybe once or twice a trip, and they're usually cleared in a minute or two.

[redmeansdistortion]

15 minutes ago, bunz559 said:

What about brakes? When I start loosening the spool tension, without adequate thumbing, it'll usually blow up on me. Or is it all on thumb practice?

It's all in the thumb.  I pretty much exclusively use Ambassadeurs though so take my reply with a grain of salt since they are far simpler than most any low profile on the market.  A short pitch is pretty easy to control, it's when muscling it out there from a pier is when I up the spool tension a bit.

[Mobasser]

Some good casters I knew years ago used round reels with no mag brakes. This took more skill of course. Now, with mag brakes it's easier to fine tune.

[redmeansdistortion]

1 minute ago, Mobasser said:

Some good casters I knew years ago used round reels with no mag brakes. This took more skill of course. Now, with mag brakes it's easier to fine tune.

A lot of old timers I know don't use brakes at all.  They either remove the brake blocks or disengage them, then go fishing.  I see this often with guys that learned on knuckle busters.  

[Hammer 4]

17 minutes ago, bunz559 said:

What about brakes? When I start loosening the spool tension, without adequate thumbing, it'll usually blow up on me. Or is it all on thumb practice?

Set the tension so that there is very little to no side play, then set the brakes at a setting that will not overrun without using your thumb. Make some cast's, backing the brakes off until you get a small overrun. Then depending on your thumb technique, begin to loosen the spool tension ever so slightly. Make more cast's using your thumb. Once you can cast a decent distance w/o an overrun, try going down on the brake setting..Just takes practice.

[redmeansdistortion]

Just now, Hammer 4 said:

Set the tension so that there is very little to no side play, then set the brakes at a setting that will not overrun without using your thumb. Make some cast's, backing the brakes off until you get a small overrun. Then depending on your thumb technique, begin to loosen the spool tension ever so slightly. Make more cast's using your thumb. Once you can cast a decent distance w/o an overrun, try going down on the brake setting..Just takes practice.

Bingo.  My thumb technique involves keeping light contact with the spool.  I use enough thumb to where I can barely feel the line tickle the tip of my thumb.  You get used to it after a few trips on the water.

[WRB]

If you learned to cast a bait casting reel during the pistol grip era you know proper casting mechanics is all in the wrist. Today's rods have what I call a trigger grip that Fenwick first introduced with longer straight handle that anglers tend to 2 hand cast to get longer distance. The 2 handed cast tends to encourage anglers to use more arm motion or the baseball swing that defeats accuracy.

Tom

[new2BC4bass]

On 11/17/2019 at 3:06 PM, Columbia Craw said:

My casting is much better than my shooting pool.

Mine is too....today.  50 years ago it would have been the reverse. 

 

2 hours ago, WRB said:

If you learned to cast a bait casting reel during the pistol grip era you know proper casting mechanics is all in the wrist. Today's rods have what I call a trigger grip that Fenwick first introduced with longer straight handle that anglers tend to 2 hand cast to get longer distance. The 2 handed cast tends to encourage anglers to use more arm motion or the baseball swing that defeats accuracy.

Tom

 I've never thought of this.  Have never used a pistol grip rod.  Didn't take me long to start casting with 2 hands.  Maybe I should try some one handed casting with mostly wrist movement.  See what I can do.

 

EDIT:  I would imagine the pistol grip itself plus the 5'6" -6' rod length would make it easier than a split grip on the 7'-7'6" rods of today.  I got a great deal on a rod from a fine Louisiana gentleman because he only used one hand to cast and didn't like the rod for that reason.  I tried a one hand cast with it when I got it.....once.  Dang near threw the rod along with the lure thanks to the rod's grip.    Two handed casts with this rod from then on.