Skipping and backhand casting

[Alex from GA]

I can cast a bc backward but can't skip with it.  I find it much harder to cast a spinner backward but can skip.  

[mcipinkie]

Be modern fisherman.  Get out in the middle of the lake.  Stick your face in your depth finder and throw where the computer tells you to.

 

No skipping, flipping, pitching, or back hand casting required.

 

Watch 'em bite, Wind 'em in.

[Falkus]

On 3/28/2020 at 12:47 PM, Sam said:

If you skip with a baitcaster all I can do is tell you what a pro told me: lift the rod tip at the end of the cast.

 

That's what helped me on the skipping that I trained myself last year. I was getting backlashes until I started to move the rod tip up during the end that I read somewhere. 

 

*Boom*  --  I was skipping like a pro with 1/2 jigs, not perfectly but it's doable.  I plan to go down to 3/8 & 1/4 later on this year. What also helps is the smooth plastic to help it glide. 

[MGF]

The sv spool looks great but I don't have that much money in any of my reels...and I still skip. If the bait his the water right it'll slide smoothly along the surface and there's no problem. An educated thumb will do a decent job of keeping you out of trouble when the cast doesn't go perfectly. The answer for the tight-wads among us is practice...and the practice is fun anyway.

[MGF]

What I want to know is if anybody else is as addicted to skipping as I am? I have a little pond that I fish and don't even think there's many fish in it anymore...I think otters cleaned it out. I go there after work and just skip baits...hundreds, thousands of casts. I skip it out and reel back as fast as I can. I skip unweighted worms and light tube jigs on spinning and jigs on BC. I almost get annoyed on the rare occasion a fish grabs it. LOL

 

Out on the river, I catch myself going out of my way to skip under trees even when the fish are someplace else. On another weedy lake...I just end up skipping the docks. I even skip when there isn't anything to skip under. I'm really disappointed when I can't talk myself into using a bait that I can skip. We were on the river Sunday and I just couldn't get into fishing the jerk bait...I couldn't get it to skip very well. 

 

I think a nice skip/slide is just about the coolest thing in fishing.

 

 

[FrankN209]

This is one technique that eludes me. I need to practice this. 

[zell_pop1]

Sunline Shooter Mono casts better than the Armillo without the coils, I recommend that over Armillo for deep divers or topwaters.

Now in shallow waters with square bills in alot of cover Armillo is superior.

Weird this was supposed to go in the cranking mono thread.

Edited April 9, 2020 by zell_pop1

[Falkus]

8 hours ago, BaitFinesse said:

Step 1: buy Daiwa SV spool reel

Step 2: enjoy effortless skipping

 

SV103XS - Best Investment I ever made for skipping. Nothing else worked but that.

 

I haven't tried the Curado DC but heard it's pretty easy. if I have enough funds. I might just spend to "try it out" and resell if I do not like it. 

[NJBasstard]

4 hours ago, MGF said:

The sv spool looks great but I don't have that much money in any of my reels...and I still skip. If the bait his the water right it'll slide smoothly along the surface and there's no problem. An educated thumb will do a decent job of keeping you out of trouble when the cast doesn't go perfectly. The answer for the tight-wads among us is practice...and the practice is fun anyway.

 

My experience has been the same as yours. I have nothing against reels like the DC's or the people who use them, but in this case it's really just a way past learning good technique. I practiced a ton before I started getting the hang of it, but it's paid off in the long run. I'm not picking up a certain reel just to skip baits when I can get the same results from all of them with practice. My learning curve would've been a lot easier if I got the advice that me and others gave in this thread. 

[schplurg]

I can't believe it but I actually had success skipping a baitcaster today! Mainly due to this thread.

 

I caught no fish so I started screwing around. Had a Super Fluke with split-shot on it (forgot the bullet weight duh) and started skipping it. I can skip a spinner "okay" but my accuracy and consistency needs a lot of work. 

 

Thanks to everyone here with good advice, mainly raising the rod tip - that for me was THE key! It made sense when I read it here a few days ago, raising the tip will keep line peeling off the spool rather than the spool overrunning the line. You can delay the thumb a little that way too and let it skip.

 

Sometimes after a normal cast I raise the rod tip to peel line off to give me more slack. So when I read about doing that while skipping it was easy to visualize how that would work.

 

I'm not even good with a baitcaster so I was shocked how well I did. I got a few minor bird nests but overall it was a success. Great advice guys and thanks again!

 

To repeat - raise that rod tip!

[Falkus]

 

6 hours ago, schplurg said:

To repeat - raise that rod tip!

 

@schplurg 

 

*Clapping* awesome ! 

[Jaderose]

I can skip a frog like a mad man but then again, that isn't that hard.  Beyond that, it's a crap shoot.

[J Francho]

Most right handed guys I fished, ran the boat with the port side to the targets.  If you are righty in the back of the boat, a back hand cast is defintely a necessity.  

 

For skipping with a bait caster, I use zero brakes, and lots of spool tension, which is exactly the opposite of my normal setting.

[schplurg]

Further notes: I didn't change anything with the reel. And it's nothing special - an older Shimano Caenan. My friend got it and a rod for $2 at a garage sale and gave it to me. It's my first and only BC.

 

I have the tension so the bait falls at a moderate speed (still a rookie with the BC). I didn't fool with the brakes, I just said screw it, let's get us some backlashes and see if those BR guys know what they're talkin' about! They do! I got many small tangles but easily fixed.

 

I'm certainly not good at it yet. Some casts were too low, some too high or crooked. I just casted from the bank to open water. At least I know I can figure it out now.

 

Two days ago, after reading this thread, I figured I'd never even try it, but I'm glad I did. I am fairly good with coordination but I feel like anyone can do it.

 

One question - I cast left handed with a BC but when skipping I swung it from the right side with both hands, still thumbing with the left hand. Is that considered a backhand? If so I don't know if I can do a forehand lefty skip!  

[Quarry Man]

27 minutes ago, schplurg said:

One question - I cast left handed with a BC but when skipping I swung it from the right side with both hands, still thumbing with the left hand. Is that considered a backhand? If so I don't know if I can do a forehand lefty skip!  

ever play tennis? Ever slap someone with the back of your hand? a backhand cast is the same general motion 

 

https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2017/01/GettyImages_631265428.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=730&h=486

[schplurg]

Okay then I'm not really doing a backhand. I cast the BC left handed but over my right shoulder a lot of the time. I'm not left handed but I have tendinitis so cast left handed on BC and righty usually on a spinner just to give my arm a break. I guess I'm weird. 

 

I can cast the BC over the left shoulder though, but the spinner not so well yet. All my rods crank with the right hand.

 

Edit:

Then again, if I can cast from my "off" side, whether or not it is a true backhand makes no difference. I can cast from either side to avoid trees or another angler, so I guess that's what matters.

[Quarry Man]

I find it easier to skip backhand with a spinning rod. I was forced to learn that way growing up fishing a dock lake in a Jon boat

I always was in the front and we had our right shoulders towards the bank when facing forward. hope that makes sense. because we were in a small boat I had to back hand and buddy in the back on the tm hand to cast forehand/normally in order to avoid hitting each other.

[STBen1215]

On 4/8/2020 at 1:39 PM, BaitFinesse said:

Step 1: buy Daiwa SV spool reel

Step 2: enjoy effortless skipping

 

SV is excellent for skipping 

 

3 hours ago, Quarry Man said:

ever play tennis? Ever slap someone with the back of your hand? a backhand cast is the same general motion 

 

https://spectatorau.imgix.net/content/uploads/2017/01/GettyImages_631265428.jpg?auto=compress,enhance,format&crop=faces,entropy,edges&fit=crop&w=730&h=486

Hahah guess I need to practice slapping people lol just kidding. ?

[NJBasstard]

1 hour ago, BaitFinesse said:

Proper technique is required no matter which reel you use.  You are simply not going to get the bait where you want it without technique.  Reels that excell at skipping just make the learning curve less painful and are much more forgiving if not immune to blolwing up when mistakes are made and can skip baits that are impossible on other reels.  

 

A light weight spool and strong magnetic brakes are strongly preferred.  SV spool Daiwas make it look easy but some of the lighter weight spools in Lews with mag brakes work well too as do Fuegos and Tatulas.

 I've used reels with both the SV spool and DC and agree it would make the learning curve a lot easier. What I experienced is that both are more forgiving and that neither one required the same level of control as any of my other reels while skipping. If they did than they wouldn't come up all the time in conversations like this one. I have nothing against people who go that route. I made it a goal not to do things that way because I didn't want to be limited to one or two specific reels everytime I skip something when with enough practice I can do it with whatevers in my hand at the time. It was a painful learning experience but it's eventually paid off.. I'm happy I chose to do it the way I did and feel like it would benefit anyone else to do the same. If anyone chooses not to that's fine.

[schplurg]

Just an update to my sudden skipping "success".....

 

I was goofing around today with a T-Rigged craw and said "What the heck, let's skip a few"

 

I forgot to raise the tip AND didn't thumb it! Totally just spacing out! The result was an awe-inspiring explosion of line. I did manage to get it out but dang it was like 1/3 of the spool! Just spooled it last night so whew! Derp de derrr.....

 

The bait did skip though!  

[MGF]

A 17 or 20 pound mono line is nice for practice. It's inexpensive and untangles easy. If it works for some of your fishing so much the better.

[Fastbee]

On 4/8/2020 at 6:06 PM, MGF said:

What I want to know is if anybody else is as addicted to skipping as I am?

 

 

I might be...I grew up river fishing and getting under overhangs, cut banks and pole docks was a great way to catch fish, especially if others couldn't get there.  I learned to skip way before SV spools and DC brakes, to me the technique is more important than fancy reels.  Several guys have hit on things that I learned through trial and error:

 

Raising the rod is paramount

Be VERY aware of your thumb placement and pressure

Don't be afraid to fail...I cut 100s (if not 1000s) of yards of line off reels perfecting my skill

 

I also do what J Francho does...no brakes and decent tension.  High velocity (not to be confused with hard casting) is key, so loading the rod and really whipping the bait helps.  I find that a little thumb takes away the need for brakes and higher than normal tension keeps the spool from blowing up if you misfire a bit.

[FryDog62]

I’m semi-addicted to skipping, really enjoy sliding the lure like a water skier.  
 

I used to skip both forehand and backhand with spinning gear - I may be slightly better backhanded.  
 

Due to wrist injuries/surgeries, I am 100% baitcaster now.  Thanks to SV spools I can forehand skip cast as well as spinning gear.  Backhand is just so-so, I can do it without backlashing but lack distance.