What do You Consider a Long Cast?

[1984isNOW]

For each bait respectively (add your preferred weight, feel free to add any lures I missed) what would you consider a long cast?

 

Jig:

Crankbait:

Ned rig (1/16oz+plastic):

Buzzbait:

Spinnerbait:

Jerkbait:

T-rig:

[Pat Brown]

Anything that's over maybe 50 feet is a long cast to me.  I make a lot of short casts and very few long casts.

 

I make longer casts with:

 

Jerkbait

Crankbait

Spinnerbait

Buzzbait

Swimbait

Swimjig

Chatterbait

 

Etc etc

 

Horizontal lures benefit from longer casts sometimes!

[thediscochef]

Jig: 1/2oz 50yd

Crankbait: 3/4oz Red Eye: 80yd

                    Lipped (kvd 1.5 squarebill): 45yd

Ned rig (1/16oz+plastic): 35yd

Buzzbait 3/8oz buzztoad: 40-50yd

Spinnerbait 1/2oz+blade minnow: 50yd

Jerkbait vision 110: 45yd

T-rig: depends on the weight and plastic and peg.

1/4oz w mag II I'd say 45yd.

3/8oz w z craw 60yd

 

I learned to bomb before I learned to pitch, I go for distance with everything definitely to a fault. The one bite I had today was 15 feet in front of me lol

I throw the red eye shad better than I throw anything else. 

[gim]

I find that when I try to bomb something, a back lash often occurs.  So I stopped trying to do that.

 

I try to make it more of a fluid motion, balanced and smooth.  Let the rod do the work.  Sort of like swinging a golf club.  The harder you swing, the more likely you mishit the golf ball.

 

Choppiness and brute force rarely work out here.

[Team9nine]

The bait is kind of irrelevant to me. Generally, I’d say anything under 45’ish feet is a short cast; from there up to 90/100’ish feet is a typical average length cast used with a good majority of baits; and anything over 100 ft is long.

[WRB]

The longer casting distance is the more difficult getting a good hook set is.

Deep diving crank requires a longer cast to achieve diving depth to run in the strike zone.

I often am forced to make casts 120’ to 150’ to reach bass without spooking them, not ideal but a necessity.

Tom

[Woody B]

What I consider a long cast depends on conditions.  I rarely fishing clear water, so long casts like Tom mentioned aren't usually necessary to prevent spooking fish.   It's my belief that precise casting is way more important than distance.   I keep my live sonar forward distance set on 90 feet.   Bait and conditions will determine where I position the boat.   If I'm using a deep crank, a A-rig, or something like that I'll make bomb cast past the 90 feet on my screen, and past whatever target I'm casting to on my screen.   I'm not a NED rig guy, but I occasionally use a fairly small shaky head.   In most cases, if I'm targeting specific cover, or fish I'll position the boat 60 feet away and try to drop it on their heads.    I'll skip docks and pitch around lay downs quite a bit closer.   

 

I don't watch many fishing videos, but one thing I notice every time I do it the pros aren't usually making long distance bomb casts.   Another thing I notice about the pros is they're usually extremely accurate.   

[rgasr63]

I bank fish small ponds mostly. A average cast is 15 to 20 yards out at the most.I try not to bomb cast. I like to try to hit my spots. However this time of year the water clears up a good bit so casting over and pulling up through your spot is very helpful. But there still is a targeted spot to work with.

[greentrout]

A 3/8 oz. inline spinner can be a bank fisherman's best friend in open water situations with a quiet entry into the water. You can throw it a mile.

 

Good Fishing

[casts_by_fly]

For me, the specific bait is irrelevant to whether its a long cast or not.  20-25 yards is a normal, average length cast for me.  That's a good 'fishing' distance when fishing cover.  Its far enough that you're probably not spooking fish but its close enough that you can lay mots lures tight to the cover accurately.  Its also close enough that you're not worried about line stretch if one hits it at the very start of the cast.

 

A long cast is anything further and a short cast is anything shorter than the above.

 

Some lures will be fish with long casts more often- covering water with a lipless, throwing a walking bait over the top of a flat, or dragging a 'thing' across an openwater point.  In those cases, pinpoint accuracy isn't as important but covering water is.

 

Some lures or situations get shorter casts and it almost always involves cover getting thicker or having more targets.  Throwing along docks with wires hanging everywhere that are covered in carpet bunks gets a lot shorter throws from me because I hate picking trebles out of carpet.  Creeping down a bank in the dark will get shorter throws for me because you can't see quite as well.  Spinnerbaits or swim jigs in thicker pads and grass get shorter throws so I can work them through the little cuts a bit easier.

[FishTax]

Looks like I'm similar to many here, I don't bomb cast much. Average is probably about 20 yards, many are much shorter than that, very few are longer. Only exception is if I'm on a large flat the bass are moving around on, I'll throw a far as I can to try to cover it in fewer casts..

[Pat Brown]

In general, and some people are probably going to disagree with me here, I go for quiet entry waaaaay before I go for a long cast.  😉

[flyfisher]

for me a long cast is the same for every technique really....it is just out of reach of what I can cast.  

I've never measured a cast so I have no idea.  Closest I have is I know my casting circles are set up for 60' on my helix and have no issues reaching the target.

[Mobasser]

I rarely if ever make a long cast. I do best with shorter more accurate casting.

[FishTank]

The longest I can cast anything is around 150-160 feet. The only thing I bomb like this are bigger crankbaits.  It's not really necessary on anything else.  At the most, I might cast every other lure a 100 feet or less. 

[Mobasser]

Sometimes a long cast is good. If you want to cover a large area with lipless, cranks etc. But I never do it with soft Plastics or jigs. I've missed fish doing this, and I think I lose some feel of whats happening with my bait.           Mostly shorter accurate casting  for me.

[DaubsNU1]

Favorite way to fish is close in, pitching or flipping a jig, or a spinner-bait.

 

My spinner-bait casting rod is dialed in pretty good...I can bomb it ~40 yards when needed...or finesse it under branches in close.

 

All of my spinning rods are spooled with 10lb braid, with 8 or 10lb fluoro...and can bomb lures : )

[Mobasser]

Another factor is water clarity. I fish a very clear lake, so I have to stay back some distance so I don't spook the fish.                If the fish can see you, there's a good chance you've already blown it. It's about finding a safe balance of distance and accuracy. It makes for tough fishing at times.

[Catt]

Not many of y'all fish deep water structure?

 

I'm referring to structures in the 25'+ range with the bass holding on the bottom. 

 

Distance & accuracy is extremely important. Hitting a target at 20-25 yds is one thing, 25' down is another. 

[Reel]

I fish extremely clear water and long casts are often important (around 100 feet).  I fish flats for smallmouth with spinnerbaits and jerkbaits (1/2 oz) and bomb them out there with a DC reels (Calcutta and Curado).  Precision is not important here. Distance casting is done with two hands.

[Jig Man]

To me a long cast is one that went too far and got hung in the rocky bank otherwise they are too short or acceptable.

[papajoe222]

For me, today, anything over 30yrds is a long cast. Having shoulder problems limits overhead casting to cranks and I have to give that a rest a couple of times an hour.  Everything else is a roll cast and 45ft. is long for everything but lipless.  Gave up pitching, but 25ft. was about the furthest I'd attempt.

[Bankbeater]

The lakes I fish have a lot of snags in them.  When I'm fishing from the bank I'll cast out a spinnerbait or a topwater bait out maybe 20 or 25 yards.  Most of the time I'm pitching at a target so I rarely cast farther than about 30 to 35 feet.

[king fisher]

If I cast short of my target, it is a short cast.  If I cast past my target it is a long cast, if I hit my target it is a lucky cast, if I back lash, it is the reels fault, if I tangle the line in any other way it is the rods fault.  I can cast a deep crankbait 100 yards if I throw hard enough, back lash soon enough, and have line light enough to break at the exact right time.  On casts that I still have the lure tied on when I finish the cast, 50 yards is my max. with a light tail wind, and the right lure, rod combination.

[Columbia Craw]

A country mile.