When do you give up on a cast?

[the reel ess]

It all depends. If I'm casting a topwater to shallow water that drops off quickly to 20-30' deep I don't waste time fishing over the deep water. But if I'm fishing a shallow grass flat, I stay with it all the way back. I caught a bass on a Whopper Plopper right at the boat the other day. If I'm pitching a T rig to a laydown, obviously, the cast is over once you aren't contacting wood. Just playing the odds.

[Deephaven]

I give up on my cast and rip it back the instant before a fish swipes at it and misses because I gave up.  Seems to happen way too often.

[ironbjorn]

I fish fast. Once I'm out of my target area I bring it in.

[scaleface]

Most of the time I  drop my rod a bit before lifting the lure out of the water . A following bass may just clobber it , especially a spinnerbait .

[txchaser]

Even if I'm burning something back, I stop reeling for just a bit right before the boat, hoping to trigger any followers. Being focused on that also seems to have helped with the boatside strikes when I'm 'not ready', because, well.. I'm ready!

[A-Jay]

Admittedly, depending on how the day is going catch wise,

it can be quite the mental challenge and exercise in self discipline

to focus 100% for the entire length of every single cast - all day.

Seems I'm much better at it when my nets already been wet a few times

and or I'm in a prime area at what I consider prime time.

Either way, we all know that when our baits are wet,

anything can happen.

A-Jay

 

[Catt]

Pair of 7s caught directly under the boat after working a long cast on deepwater structure.

 

Did they follow back to the boat? 

Were they already under the boat?

 

IDK!

 

[Miabucman]

I guess it depends on where I am on the lake. Most of the time, I will fish it all the way back to the boat.  If I am in a dead area, I will give up on the cast after my lure is out of cover.  And then, I will have a bass strike at my lure when I pull it out of the water.

 

 

[ATA]

This happened so many times with me, when I start to reel fast to cast again, I had bass attack my lure, It usually happened with swimbaits, Once I saw that I would cast and retrieve in same speed of I got that reaction and I was lucky most of the times.

But if I am sight fishing or have specific cover, Ill cast behind that and do my twitches on that place and then when I passed that point, I would give up and cast again.

[BrianMDTX]

On 3/25/2022 at 3:56 PM, the reel ess said:

It all depends. If I'm casting a topwater to shallow water that drops off quickly to 20-30' deep I don't waste time fishing over the deep water. But if I'm fishing a shallow grass flat, I stay with it all the way back. I caught a bass on a Whopper Plopper right at the boat the other day. If I'm pitching a T rig to a laydown, obviously, the cast is over once you aren't contacting wood. Just playing the odds.

I didn’t catch it, but Saturday I had a bass strike (and miss) a Whopper Plopper right at the boat. Just as I was lifting it out of the water. 

[CrashVector]

All the way to the boat.  Always.

 

I've caught a lot of fish 1 foot from my boat.

[the reel ess]

18 hours ago, ATA said:

This happened so many times with me, when I start to reel fast to cast again, I had bass attack my lure, It usually happened with swimbaits, Once I saw that I would cast and retrieve in same speed of I got that reaction and I was lucky most of the times.

But if I am sight fishing or have specific cover, Ill cast behind that and do my twitches on that place and then when I passed that point, I would give up and cast again.

I've had it happen a couple times when I was yanking a jig back for another pitch. It's the speed-up that triggers the fish to commit. But it's not common enough to count on.

[Mobasser]

There was a guy named John Powell who fished many early B.A.S.S. events years ago. Strictly casting to the bank with a t rig worm. He hopped it once or twice, then reeled in to make another cast. His theory was that shallow fish were feeding fish. He was successful with his method, winning and placing near the top in many big events.

[Zcoker]

 A lot of times with bass fishing, it's about being in the right place at the right time to get that very special hit....and I don't think the bait or the cast matters much at all and that's just my off the wall opinion. My main take on things is moving around and covering as much area as possible. Only in this way have I sustainably increased my catches while on the water out in the Everglades. The cast is, well, cast after cast until my arms fall off lol 

[Cgolf]

I usually work it a bit off of the cover/structure and then reel back fast. I have learned however to watch the lure instead of looking for the next casting target after missing a shot at a 50+ musky that had followed the lure back to the boat and sat there and I swear stared me down after I pulled the lure out of the water. I have also had smaller musky and pike jump out of the water to try and grab a RES as I was lifting it out of the water. But I do routinely catch some fish when reeling back fast to recast.

[KP Duty]

On 3/24/2022 at 3:14 PM, scaleface said:

 I see them pitch into cover  hop it once then pick it up and repeat . 

The last MLF event I actually watched, I watched Ike do this.  His bait couldn't have even settled to the bottom before he stroked it....and then just reeled it back in.  I figured he was just looking for eager bass....

[Columbia Craw]

When I cut the backlash out.

[papajoe222]

It depends on the bait and the conditions.  A crank is a no brainer, but a jig or soft plastic presentation is a different story.  If conditions are tough, I target cover and I want to be right on top of it with my jig presentations. Bass are rarely in a chasing or following mood, so I get it back quickly for another cast.  Otherwise, I'm fishing it all the way back to me and likely using a different style jig, or a worm or creature.

[Fishing_Rod]

First off I am a recreational angler. So my goal is focused on the recreation aspects. Casting and catch'n are what I'm there to do. So as other have mentioned, fish have been taunted at all portions of the retrieve from bait entry to exit. I tend to work the bait throughout the process. Unless compelled to shorten the process I'll work it through the whole length. The up close strikes tend to be startling and intense. It appears the fish know the bait is about no longer be available and it invokes the hit it hard and hit it NOW response. It supports that phrase, "better lucky than good".  

[Mr. Aquarium]

Till it almost hits the rod tip

[RDB]

On 3/30/2022 at 4:30 PM, papajoe222 said:

It depends on the bait and the conditions.  A crank is a no brainer, but a jig or soft plastic presentation is a different story.  If conditions are tough, I target cover and I want to be right on top of it with my jig presentations. Bass are rarely in a chasing or following mood, so I get it back quickly for another cast.  Otherwise, I'm fishing it all the way back to me and likely using a different style jig, or a worm or creature.

I agree with @papajoe222, for me it depends on conditions and mood.  If the bass are tight to cover or less likely to chase, I will work just beyond the target area and bring it back in.  There may be a few occasions where I miss an opportunity for a follower but in those situations, if I can get 10-20% more casts by focusing on the highest percentage areas, I believe my catch rate improves.

[Sphynx]

Too many variables for me to have a default answer, it pretty much depends on my knowledge of the area, and of what pattern the fish are on, if the area I'm in only has one piece of cover, and I have been catching them right on top of it all day, nah, not going to bother, but if there is multiple pieces of cover, or if a moving bait has worked, I'll probably swim it back swim jig style