Skip Cast-Thumb Control on Bait Caster

[5/0]

I’ve watched several videos on the techniques of this cast; roll, sidearm, pitching, etc. But none touch on the thumb control needed during the actual skipping of the bait. When and how should it be applied?

Any tips on this Would be appreciated!

Can this technique be practices at home on concrete?

 

Joe

[riverbasser]

My advice, go to the water with your skipping setup and throw it all day. Tighten the brakes to almost max and as the day goes on and you are getting better slowly loosen the brakes.

 

This is what I did, even after learning to skip i still have to warm up a few times on a new day of fishing.

 

Some things you just have to learn from trial and error.

[5/0]

4 hours ago, BaitFinesse said:

Maybe?  I would just use a reel where little to no thumb is needed to skip.  I just sorta rid my thumb over the spool on my SV reels to stop the spool when the bait stops but I don't have to do that.

Starting with a spinning rig sounds like a good idea.

[JustJames]

Just to put it out there. I’m also not very good with skipping and I don’t see the need. All the docks in my lake is floating docks with boat lift. I maybe skip once a year or less.
I have Alphas SV but don’t see the need to use that reel for skipping, it feel so fragile I wouldn’t even use it for Senko or fat Ika let alone 3/8 jig.

[iabass8]

i don't understand the alphas sv being fragile statement. it has brass gears and an alumnium frame. I use mine for flipping/skipping plastics....it's rock solid. 

 

OP,

 

there is no magical when/how to apply braking for skipping. people do it differently /w the same efficiency. practice is the only thing that will help. 

[JustJames]

It is just my opinion of Alphas SV being fragile. I didn’t say it is a bad reel and I’m still using it but strictly for light line fishing. Feel whatever you like but I’ll stand by my feel. You won’t see me using Alphas SV for jig, chatterbait or 1oz topwater lure.

[MGF]

I skip a lot partly just because I love to do it. Sometimes it seems to get bites even in open water too. I don't fish many docks but there's plenty of low hanging branches in the river or on the pond that I fish sometimes.

 

I would recommend starting with a spinning outfit. It won't educate your thumb but it will give you a chance to learn to skip without having to worry about an overrun. An unweighted worm, NED rig or a small tube is just the sort of thing that I'm often using on the river.

 

Some might disagree but I think the right jig/trailer skips better than just about anything I've tried.

 

I don't have any expensive reels. I'm mostly using a pair of  Abu Black Max's and I can skip just fine with them.

 

The thumb...just like any other cast it doesn't really ever come off the spool. Here's the thing though. With a nice smooth skip (or slide) the thumb work is easy. If the skip is more of a crash and burn then an overrun is far more likely. That's why I say that it makes sense to try spinning first.

 

A trick that I picked up somewhere along the way is to peel off a cast's worth of line and run some tape around the spool. Now an overrun can't go all the way to the bottom of the spool and trash all your line. 

 

Also, I recommend starting with some fairly heavy mono ...17 or 20 pound. It casts easy, a bird's nest is fairly easy to remove and it's INEXPENSIVE. It doesn't hurt as bad if you have to cut it off and re-spool.

[NJBasstard]

My thumb is lightly feathering the spool the whole time the bait is skipping.

 

You shouldn't have to make any reel adjustments or use any specific setups. Just practice. Lots of useful tips in other skipping related threads you can read if you haven't already.

[Bird]

I did practice skipping and got REAL good at pulling out back lashes. 

 

Can skip a fluke a very long ways with spinning, like skipping a rock.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

If you haven't ever skipped anything and want to learn how, start with a 5 inch senko on spinning gear just to build muscle memory and get the trajectories down.  The notion that using spinning gear will make it harder to learn on casting gear makes no sense to me.  Its kind of like saying driving an automatic transmission will make you forget how to drive stick, it just doesn't work that way.  You have to walk before you can run, so once you get the hang of the angles and distances with a senko on spinning gear go to casting gear but keep using the senko.  Start off with near max brakes and mono.  It may be a good idea to make a 40 or 50ft cast and put electrical tape over the spool so even if you blow the reel up you wont lose more then 50ft.  It can be frustrating, but the payoff is worth the effort. 

[MGF]

The other thing I would add is that matching the weight of the bait to the rod makes it a lot easier.

[5/0]

16 hours ago, Rusty_Shackleford said:

If you haven't ever skipped anything and want to learn how, start with a 5 inch senko on spinning gear

Would this work on a wacky rig with a 3/32-1/8 Neko weight in the nose? Or would the weight create too much drag?

[MGF]

I've tried skipping a "tiny child" rig and that didn't work well. A ned skips ok but not the former. I don't think I've really tried a neko.

[GetFishorDieTryin]

On ‎8‎/‎24‎/‎2020 at 2:05 PM, 5/0 said:

Would this work on a wacky rig with a 3/32-1/8 Neko weight in the nose? Or would the weight create too much drag?

It would work, you can skip just about anything.  A weightless senko is easy to skip that's why I suggested that to start out with.  Once you start adding weights it can be a little more difficult to skip at first but with a few hours of practice you should be proficient enough with it to actually apply it in a real world situation.  Jigs, chatterbaits, buzzbaits, and shakey heads are little more difficult because nearly all of the weight is at one end.  So start with senkos and work your way up to jigs. I forgot to say this in my first comment but practice on open water and as you build confidence then try the docks and laydowns with the easiest access.  Traditional neko weights like the Damikis and VMCs that have a mushroom or ball shape can be jarred out of a worm relatively easy.  I like to use Swaggers pagoda nails.  The only way your going to lose them is if you lose the whole worm.  I haven't used them but Mustad makes an exposed neko weight called the titanX (I think) that looks like it would stay in, there just not cheap.  Hope this helps