Casting Angles, Are They Important?

[fishfordollars]

I am guilty of overlooking this at times. I firmly believe though that the angle a lure approaches a target can be the most important issue that will cause a fish to strike.

Can't tell you the times I have pulled up on a spot and catch fish after fish while the guy in the back of the boat is not enjoying the same success. Have also been on the other end of that senario to. If the cast is off even a little bit it can cause a fish to turn away instead of committing to the lure.

Have any of you seen this happen? You pull up and get bit first cast, but while you play the fish the boat moves from the sweet spot. When you get the boat sitting back where the cast comes through the area on the same angle as before you get bit again. This is why I keep a marker bouy sitting on the bow. As soon as a fish hits I kick it over the side to keep my reference.

Have you seen this, or do you think it's not that important.

Just wondering...

Jack

[salmicropterus]

I think it's hugely important. Up at the Lake, you fish a lot of bullrush clumps and stick-ups of pencil reeds. It is amazing how often you will get hit just be approaching the same cover from different angles. It is actually a paradise for the non-boater because they can see some great angles even casting back at the clump or stick-up while the boater is focused forward

[b.Lee]

Never really thought about this before, but good thing to keep in mind

[Hot Rod]

Add a little current to the scenario and the angles gets even more criticle.   

[NitroBass23]

Absolutely Important...it's all about keeping the bait in the strike zone for as long as possible

[WRB]

Bass are active feeding about 10% during any given day or night, the balance of the time they are moving, suspended resting or positioned to take advantage of prey or escape into a sanctuary zone.

The angle of the lure path makes almost no difference when bass are actively feeding. 90% of the time it can be critical.

Bass positioned to ambush prey get spooked easily when something lands behind them and approaches from behind. They become alerted by conditioning when a boat approaches and learn to leave of hide until the boat passes. For both of those reasons it can be far better to approach the bass from an angle they can't detect you and the lure approaches the bass from a natural angle or towards them.

WRB

[Team9nine]

I think it's hugely important.

X2 - without going into a ton of detail (way too many examples to type), I know it makes a BIG difference at times on many of my waters, and not just for bass.

-T9

[Bass_Akwards]

Hugely important and it all starts where you're anchoring your boat.  Sometimes, for example,  you'll want to anchor the boat on top of a point if you happen to be fishing one, and sometimes you'll want to anchor off to the side so you can come up and/or down the slopes of the point.

Tons of bass won't hit a lure unless it's presented in a specific spot or angle like you were saying.

If a big old bass was hanging out under a fat boulder, often times the only way it's going to strike is if you yank that bait over the rock  and drop it near the fish at the right angle.  If you throw the bait to the side of the rock for example it just might not have the same appeal as if you drop that bait right in its face.

I've also read that most big bass are caught when fishing UP a hill or ledge as opposed to down. Which obviously means angle is huge.

[Fishing Rhino]

Absolutely Important...it's all about keeping the bait in the strike zone for as long as possible

It's one reason I like fishing from my canoe.  My favorite pond has a rocky shoreline, and the few guys that fish from bass boats or any other power boats have to stay further away from the beach.

They have to cast toward the shore, and retrieve to deeper water. 

I can get into the area where the fish are holding, and cast parallel to the shore, keeping my baits in the critical depth.  If they make a thirty foot cast, their bait is in the zone for less than ten feet.  I make a thirty foot cast, and it's in the strike zone 'til it gets to the boat.

[RoLo]

Super question, by the way

KVD, who catches a bass now-and-then, once stated that bass feed about 10% of the time.

If we're dealing with passive bass 90% of the time, it's a given that delivery angle is hugely critical.

When working a favorite holding site, I usually like to hit it on the approach,

then hit it again on the exit, by casting to used water in the opposite direction.

This alters the delivery angle by design,

but also alters the lateral line-of-retrieve by accident (distance the bass must travel).

Roger

[fourbizz]

Well, at least with the really big baits, casting angle can be more important than bait selection, speed, or depth.

for what its worth, that is from experience, not from reading it somewhere, lol

[Catt]

When approaching my intended structure I'll start fan casting at a distance of twice the length of the farthest I can cast. Once on the structure I anchor and continue fan cast 360 degrees around the boat, next I move the boat about 3/4 the length of the farthest I can cast anchoring again. After I'm confident I saturated the area I'll move to a different structure depending if I've caught and length of time between catches.

[simplejoe]

I think it's important, In my home lake I was boating with a co-angler on the team we were just practicing. I pulled along this tree in 15 ft. of water, like I always do and started casting. He looked at me and said "how many fish you catch off of this tree." I said one or two and then move along. He said "move the boat over there and angle your outboard toward the shallows".  I did and within 30 mins. we boated 4 nice LMB. I couldn't believe it.

[Paul Roberts]

Agree with the 90% energetics idea above -although I might argue, maybe hopefully, that it's more like 80/20.

To put this to the ground, think about bass not being willing to move very far to make a kill. They have to know they can succeed before they commit. If you think of this as if the bass are in crevices, small areas they won't commit beyond, then you can start to understand the real need for retrieve angles on complex structure. These metaphorical "crevices" are the "strike windows" every bass carries around with it in front of it's face. Add strike zones to the picture (the physical space around a given bass) and you can see how complex it could be. Since we "see" most structure via sonar we cannot always know what angles work best at a given potential strike zone. After a while we get to know spots and can line up quicker. But it often pays to experiment with each spot and each day, even each hour, because things change -visibility, fish activity level, and fish position on structure or cover.

[senile1]

Bass are active feeding about 10% during any given day or night, the balance of the time they are moving, suspended resting or positioned to take advantage of prey or escape into a sanctuary zone.

The angle of the lure path makes almost no difference when bass are actively feeding. 90% of the time it can be critical.

Bass positioned to ambush prey get spooked easily when something lands behind them and approaches from behind. They become alerted by conditioning when a boat approaches and learn to leave of hide until the boat passes. For both of those reasons it can be far better to approach the bass from an angle they can't detect you and the lure approaches the bass from a natural angle or towards them.

WRB

Exactly.  It's been my experience that active bass are much more likely to accept a lure from any angle.  Passive fish, on the other hand, require a more precise approach. 

Catt stated:

When approaching my intended structure I'll start fan casting at a distance of twice the length of the farthest I can cast. Once on the structure I anchor and continue fan cast 360 degrees around the boat, next I move the boat about 3/4 the length of the farthest I can cast anchoring again. After I'm confident I saturated the area I'll move to a different structure depending if I've caught and length of time between catches.

This is definitely a method to saturate the area from all angles.  Deja Vu.  Where have I seen this before?   

[A-Jay]

It's one reason I like fishing from my canoe. My favorite pond has a rocky shoreline, and the few guys that fish from bass boats or any other power boats have to stay further away from the beach.

They have to cast toward the shore, and retrieve to deeper water.

I can get into the area where the fish are holding, and cast parallel to the shore, keeping my baits in the critical depth. If they make a thirty foot cast, their bait is in the zone for less than ten feet. I make a thirty foot cast, and it's in the strike zone 'til it gets to the boat.

x2 ~ It starts with boat position, hard to get the right angle with the wrong boat position. After covering a point or drop off, I love getting right up in the skinny water and throwing out over the edge and dragging a bait up the ridge. Sometimes this is the difference in getting a few more bites out of a spot. Other times it's the only way to get bit.

A-Jay

[fishfordollars]

It's one reason I like fishing from my canoe. My favorite pond has a rocky shoreline, and the few guys that fish from bass boats or any other power boats have to stay further away from the beach.

They have to cast toward the shore, and retrieve to deeper water.

I can get into the area where the fish are holding, and cast parallel to the shore, keeping my baits in the critical depth. If they make a thirty foot cast, their bait is in the zone for less than ten feet. I make a thirty foot cast, and it's in the strike zone 'til it gets to the boat.

x2 ~ It starts with boat position, hard to get the right angle with the wrong boat position. After covering a point or drop off, I love getting right up in the skinny water and throwing out over the edge and dragging a bait up the ridge. Sometimes this is the difference in getting a few more bites out of a spot. Other times it's the only way to get bit.

A-Jay

You sir, get it.

Bass can/do become accustom to all the lures running from the skinny water out to the deeper water. By changing the retrieve 180* from shallow to deep  to deep to shallow it many times causes them to hit so hard they will knock slack in your line.

Same with fishing a creek. Get out on the flat and throw back across the creek. You might be surprised what it does.

Fished a large tournament (400 + boats) many years ago on Sam Rayburn. The creek I was fishing was loaded with bait and I knew the fish were there. Could not get bite though. The bait was just cruising up and down the creek and nothing was bothering them. I fished down a 50-60 yard strech without a bite. Turned the boat around to make another pass and the trolling motor hit the shallow bottom where it came up out of the creek stirring up a mud spot that scattered the bait fish. I immediately caught a good fish. Worked my way on down without another bite. When I made the turn on the other end same thing happened. I raised the TM and trimed up and worked my way down that streck sitting out off the creek stirring up the bottom along the edge. The fish turned on. I finished third and the only way to make the fish bite was to stir up the bait and throwing out across the creek to the shallow flat on the other side. They would absolutely hammer the blade when you brought it across the drop and killed it.

[A-Rob]

I don't have a true bass boat, so it is tough to keep perfect boat position, but I try to just stay off the spot and throw diagonally across my spot, at a 45 or something, just to keep the bait in the strike zone the longest and not spook any bass by dropping a spinnerbait on their head (although sometimes I'll drop a plastic straight on their head if I can!)

[Paul Roberts]

It's one reason I like fishing from my canoe. My favorite pond has a rocky shoreline, and the few guys that fish from bass boats or any other power boats have to stay further away from the beach.

They have to cast toward the shore, and retrieve to deeper water.

I can get into the area where the fish are holding, and cast parallel to the shore, keeping my baits in the critical depth. If they make a thirty foot cast, their bait is in the zone for less than ten feet. I make a thirty foot cast, and it's in the strike zone 'til it gets to the boat.

x2 ~ It starts with boat position, hard to get the right angle with the wrong boat position. After covering a point or drop off, I love getting right up in the skinny water and throwing out over the edge and dragging a bait up the ridge. Sometimes this is the difference in getting a few more bites out of a spot. Other times it's the only way to get bit.

A-Jay

I think there's a little more to that.

It's a "strike zone" thing -one a lot of anglers don't recognize I think. Bringing a lure up a drop forces a fish into the position of having to react, or allow that "food" to escape into the shallows.

Changing depth is something bass do only when necessary, bc they are exposed nearer the surface, and bc of the water pressure change. In this way, depth change can represent an "edge". A lure rising up above them can be a strong trigger. It's why strikes so often occur right at the boat, when your lure is heading up toward the surface. It's potential food that's about to get away, inciting a reaction.

Similarly, the lip of a drop is a classic "strike zone" for shore anglers.

[WRB]

Being an old timer we have some sayings about bass fishing; spring up & fall down, 2 angles the are migrating during those time periods.

When you look at a bass, the eyes are located to see best in front, upwards, sideways, slightly behind and not directly down. A bass must roll to one side to see what is under them. Bass also use the surface to trap prey, little chance for prey to escape once it on or near the surface.

You move a lure from deep to shallow and shallow to deep by casting over a long point, sideways. Just a few random thoughts.

WRB

[Paul Roberts]

Being an old timer we have some sayings about bass fishing; spring up & fall down, 2 angles the are migrating during those time periods.

When you look at a bass, the eyes are located to see best in front, upwards, sideways, slightly behind and not directly down. A bass must roll to one side to see what is under them. Bass also use the surface to trap prey, little chance for prey to escape once it on or near the surface.

You move a lure from deep to shallow and shallow to deep by casting over a long point, sideways. Just a few random thoughts.

WRB

Interesting. S'more random thoughts: Fish have retinal receptors that are triggered by certain patterns of movement through the visual field. These vary amongst fish species. Not a lot of species have been looked at but some common fw species have and two common patterns are rising and falling objects.

[Catt]

If your boat is positioned shallow & you cast deep your lure will be in contact with the structure the entire length of the cast.

Where as if your boat is positioned deep & you cast shallow your lure will be in contact with the structure for a short distance.

Most bass move from deep water to shallow water to feed & are active...most bass move from shallow to deep to rest & are inactive.

[Paul Roberts]

If your boat is positioned shallow & you cast deep your lure will be in contact with the structure the entire length of the cast.

Where as if your boat is positioned deep & you cast shallow your lure will be in contact with the structure for a short distance.

Most bass move from deep water to shallow water to feed & are active...most bass move from shallow to deep to rest & are inactive.

Absolutely. Proximity is first -you gotta be at least close to the fish to get a reaction. That usually means putting a lure right down there next to their faces. If their faces are near the bottom, which is where active fish holding out and moving in would be, then you gotta be there too.

How close can be surprising to many newbs. You're probing for sweet spots, and they can be small, and you gotta be close. Certain approach angles will get you there, others simply won't. Most of the time, you are not straining water, but the land/cover under that water. The right baits and the right approach angles get it done.

I've often chuckled to myself that fishing for bass away from shore is like hunting rabbits, except you can't see the "bushes" they're hiding in or near -you gotta feel for 'em. Sonar will get you close, but the rest is by contact.

[CAdeltaLipRipper]

Casting angles are probably 40 % of success in bass fishing.