Are you a precision caster?

[Darth-Baiter]

That “time on the water” discussion got me thinking.  I’m an alright fisherman.  If I had to shine a light on one of my more lacking abilities- it would be my casting. 
 

I cast okay.  Skipping?  Eerrrr where did I put my spinning reel?   In my excitement I can’t count how many times I’ve sent a frog wide or into the weeds. 
 

watching fishing YouTubers I know I need to up my casting game. Yup. Yes I do. 

[HookInMouth]

I'm "okay" with bait cast accuracy. Precision, no. Enough to keep myself out of the trees usually. Really want to improve here. Been setting up a bucket in the yard and casting into it when I can. 

 

I'm horrible with spinning. Just feels uncomfortable. I have trouble controlling the distance more than anything.   

[gunsinger]

I am such a precision caster.  I know this because I can quickly decide that, wherever my bait landed, is exactly where I meant it to go ?

 

Seriously, I get it exactly where I want it about 30% of the time, on a good day.

[gim]

I fish a small river in midsummer every season (not this year, its too low because we're in a major drought).  We float it in a small jon boat and just go along with the current from one canoe access to another that takes about 4-5 hours.  Precision casting accuracy is required.  Smallmouth bass hang out near fallen logs, behind large rocks, and near undercut banks in the shade with over hanging trees in many areas.  The target is often about the size of a dinner plate.  If you miss too far, you get hung up.  If you short it, you won't get a strike.  Mind you this is when we're moving along with the current too, so we're not stationary either.

 

I'm fully convinced that any lure will work in this situation; you just have to hit the target.  I almost always use a bait caster but I have a spinning setup as a follow up with a plastic on it for fish that miss the first one.  My accuracy is much better with the bait caster.  I can hit the target probably 9 out of 10 times with it using a BC.  Spinning accuracy is about half that.

 

This style of fishing has taught me how to cast left handed pretty well too over the years even though I am right hand dominant.

[ironbjorn]

I can traditionally cast and pitch crazy accurately, but the only thing I'm skipping is a rock.

[MIbassyaker]

Fishing from a kayak with rods standing behind me, I cast mostly side-arm. I'm pretty accurate most of the time, but I sometimes go through a couple casts of "recalibration" after switching from one rod to another, especially if they are of different power or action, or with baits of different weights.  But I don't generally experience different accuracy between spinning and casting.

 

@gimruis is right -- floating a small river will absolutely test how accurate your casting is!

[scaleface]

I'm not a great caster either but not terrible . I think most new anglers pay to much attention to lure colors and other things . They need to forget all that stuff and step up their casting game . Bass are not rare , they are prolific and like to hang around stuff , so if enough stuff is fished then one is  fishing where bass are . Learn how to present the bait  with low trajectory cast . Take spinnerbaits . The most important aspect of a spinnerbait are not the blades or color  but weight . Match the weight to the rod to make those precision low trajectory cast .

[A-Jay]

Am I a precision caster ?

Not sure if I'd win any accuracy competition but I do take pride in launching a bait and having land where I want and need it to.  Most of my deals are open water scenarios.  However a near miss is as bad as a mile in many of them.  Having a fish bust on bait on the surface, dropping my bait on her head and getting an immediate strike, is very satisfying.  

And to take the accuracy thing a bit further,  being able to interpt relative bearing and distance using my electronics successfully enough to get bites, is a skill all in itself.

Especially, at night.  Ask @Catt Becomes particularly paramount when big brown bass are in super clear, skinny water.

A-Jay

[the reel ess]

No! I'm way better with baitcasting than spinning. That's probably because I use the BC combos so much more. With spinning I either come up several feet short or throw it in the trees. I'm pretty good at pitching jigs. But then I kayak fish and I get pretty close to the target. I still screw up at that too. But it's better to have a noisy entry into the gnarly stuff than none at all. I once saw Ike bang the end of a pontoon with a jig, then proceed to catch a monster bass on the next cast under it. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

[InfantryMP]

Precision? absolutely not. I can skip under docks with a casting rod and flip well. However, I can throw at the same spot 5 times, and maybe land exactly where I wanted it to 2 of the 5 times. The other three are close within a few feet. 

 

I see a lot of people talking about skipping. The best thing that helped me develop that technique better is a DC reel and a lot of practice. The DC reels are a bit more forgiving in my opinion when set properly. 

 

 

[Bubba 460]

 

Casting is so important when fishing for bass around structure. Sometimes getting a bass to commit comes down to lure placement in inches. I'd say I'm better than average but I doubt I'd win a professional casting competition inside a building. There are always variables in accurate casting to consider; wind or deviation left, right, up or down do to wind resistance on lure angles to name a couple. Picking up a different rod takes a few cast to get zeroed back in for those "finesse" cast into a small tight spot. Skipping also requires "stopping" just as important as the skip, compounded along with accuracy. The only thing that improves casting is years and years of it. "I don't often visit a bush... but when I do it's to get a lure off it." 

[Mobasser]

I have practiced and worked on my casting accuracy for years. I'm no expert by any means, but as the season moves along I can hit 7 out 10 targets most times.  Sometimes, it's better to stay back from a spot and move in quietly. I also think it's one of the most important skills to develop in bass fishing.

[BrianMDTX]

49 minutes ago, MIbassyaker said:

Fishing from a kayak with rods standing behind me, I cast mostly side-arm. I'm pretty accurate most of the time, but I sometimes go through a couple casts of "recalibration" after switching from one rod to another, especially if they are of different power or action, or with baits of different weights.

I fish from an inflatable, not a yak. But it’s essentially the same. 95% of my casts are side-arm. And I can skip a Senko pretty good with a spinning rig. With a baitcaster? I might as well put up a “Lay your eggs here!” sign for the birds! 

[Crankin4Bass]

Saw this a while back:

 

[Catt]

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Especially, at night.  Ask @Catt 

.

Nighttime jacks with your depth perception, especially around the shoreline with all the shadows.

 

The way the bite has been lately I'm getting a lot of practice casting!

[Bubba 460]

1 hour ago, Crankin4Bass said:

Saw this a while back:

 

 

 

That's dang good!

[PressuredFishing]

3 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

That “time on the water” discussion got me thinking.  I’m an alright fisherman.  If I had to shine a light on one of my more lacking abilities- it would be my casting. 
 

I cast okay.  Skipping?  Eerrrr where did I put my spinning reel?   In my excitement I can’t count how many times I’ve sent a frog wide or into the weeds. 
 

watching fishing YouTubers I know I need to up my casting game. Yup. Yes I do. 

yeah id say im about the same way, I think its what you do most and where you grew up, so for instance, here in Socal I flip thick grass matts and cover ALOT and do that for majority of the time every trip Spring-early/mid fall. So I am very proficient in landing a lure without even a splash from a far distance when flipping. As for distance casting im not that good, and my roll casting/sidearm casting can be worked on to say the least. Id say the other thing I would need to work on is fishing the early spring. I know alot of people do good but I caught more fish in winter than early spring+pre spawn. I just feel the fish are really wierd on my bodies of water and at least in winter they are predictable, you just have to grind them out.

[Mike L]

Depends how you define it. 
 

I can pitch and flip to a target with the best of em.

Skipping is pretty good if the conditions are right. 
Long distance bomb casts to a specific spot are a different story. 
Like throwing a hand grenade. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

[king fisher]

My precision casting is excellent. I can hit the only rock in one hundred yards to test the durability of a new crankbait.  I can catch a single limb 10 feet up a tree that even a bird would have a hard time landing on.  I can hit the water next to a lily pad so hard fish half way across the lake can be attracted to the sound.  I can work the land side of a shoreline, better than most anglers can work the water side.  I have even wrapped a lure in a power line.  Now that is precision casting.

[Bubba 460]

7 minutes ago, king fisher said:

My precision casting is excellent. I can hit the only rock in one hundred yards to test the durability of a new crankbait.  I can catch a single limb 10 feet up a tree that even a bird would have a hard time landing on.  I can hit the water next to a lily pad so hard fish half way across the lake can be attracted to the sound.  I can work the land side of a shoreline, better than most anglers can work the water side.  I have even wrapped a lure in a power line.  Now that is precision casting.

 

 

 I hit a rabbit with a frog, luckily he didn't croak.

[Columbia Craw]

I think I’m proficient.

[Bankbeater]

I can accurately pitch and cast most of the time.  My biggest problem is that I tend to pitch and cast before I really take a good look at my target.  I'm always sending the bait over a tree limb that I didn't see.  Maybe I need new glasses.

[WRB]

I take pride in casting skills. Use to win casting contest a the SoCal Fred Hall shows under ideal conditions. The key for me to being accurate is keeping the boat the distance from targets the distance you are best at hitting. Wind is the great equalizer, accuracy takes lots of practice in the wind.

At night without depth perception boat control becomes critical. Casting crank bait 20’ up the bank and 10’ up into a tree and missing where you want the lures is common until you get muscle memory dialed in.

Tom

 

[Smells like fish]

I’m only a master caster when no one is looking. If somebody is with me I’m toad dangling (I lernt that here last week) every cast ?

[Hammer 4]

3 hours ago, Mike L said:

Depends how you define it. 
 

I can pitch and flip to a target with the best of em.

Skipping is pretty good if the conditions are right. 
Long distance bomb casts to a specific spot are a different story. 
Like throwing a hand grenade. 
 

 

 

 

 

Mike

This sums it up for me.