having trouble finishing a pitch.

[Muad Dib]

using a shimano curado. When i pitch i have a nice smooth swing and right as the lure hits the water the line in taught and the lure starts to swing back to me in the water. so i think i may be slowing down the lure too much? but when i let go of the spoool it doesnt take anymore line out thus swinging back. not sure what i need to do. any help or thoughts would be helpful

t

[fishermantony]

Do you practice off of the water?  Maybe your spool tension is to high.

[Nibbles]

Try to keep your rod tip high as you're pitching and lower it  when the lure hits the water. It will free up some line and ease the tension so that the lure doesn't swing back at you so dramatically.

[Hamby]

When i pitch, it's usually a 3/8 oz jig and and i have the brakes set to the lowest setting and the tension as low as possible. You probably have the tension and brakes too high.

And what he ^ said.

[Texasfishingtips]

Take a plastic cup and pitch into it over and over and over and over and over....you get the idea. When I pitch I turn my brakes off and spool tension as loose as I can. I start low, with about a foot of line from my jig to the end of my rod. It helps to get a better angle and keep the bait lower to the water.

Clancy W

[SeanW]

  For good accurate pitching you need a free spinning spool and a very light thump. Your spool tension I believe is to tight. Make it loose enough that it spins a bit after the bait hits the ground without you thumbing it. The bait needs to fall straight down after it hits the water.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

Like everybody else mentioned, sounds to me like you've got your spool tension set a bit too high.

[islandbass]

You could also pail line out manually. I see a lot of people, even on tv shows do this to compensate.

[jdw174]

You could also pail line out manually. I see a lot of people, even on tv shows do this to compensate.

Yep.  Watch the pros, especially when they're pitching to deeper targets.  Almost all of them will strip line off the reel manually to get the jig to drop straight down.

[J Francho]

Anything deep than 3' or so, I'll strip line for a true free fall.  However, sometimes the swing through the hole works well too, especially with action trailers or plastics.

[MMan16]

You could also pail line out manually. I see a lot of people, even on tv shows do this to compensate.

This is what i do seems to work the best for me. It gives that bait a nice free fall presentation.

[SoFlaBassAddict]

I may have misread your first post.  When I re-read it I it sounded like you've got no problem making the pitch, it's your rod position afterwards.  You want your rod up at the end of a pitch so you can follow the lure down with the rod tip.  That will help it have a straight fall when it hits the water.  If you need to hand strip line out because of deeper water, have at it.

[BassThumb]

Sounds like you're basically pointing the rod at where the lure entered the water. As SoFla said, finish the pitch with the tip held high(10-11 o'clock), so that you can keep a semi-slack line and follow the lure down to the bottom. The deeper the water, the higher the rod tip.

As Francho said, sometimes letting it swing or reeling it works too, depending on where the fish are holding in relation to the cover. Either way, the action trailers are going to paddle, whether it's in free-fall or being retrieved. I figured this little trick out by accident by making bad pitches and reeling them in right away, only to be chased and nailed by an aggressive bass that was holding in places where I expected a passive bass to be.

[Muad Dib]

as usual you guys are the best. thanks for the helpful thoughts. ill def give them a shot!

t

[basslove-em]

Yes, this post helped me alot to guys, thanks

[Big Fish Rice]

as usual you guys are the best. thanks for the helpful thoughts. ill def give them a shot!

t

You've received a lot of great answers already, but here's an option.

If you prefer to have your tension set a little tight, the lure won't fall as easily. You can keep the tension where it is at, but you will have to either manually pull some line if you need to help the lure fall straight, and always make sure to feed your line by dropping your rod tip.

If you have your reel in "free spool" without tension, you shouldn't have to feed your line or strip it manually.

Just do what's comfortable for you, and that will make a world of difference. Personally, I like free spool where the tension isn't affecting me whatsoever. The lure does all the work, if it's heavy enough.

[Nick]

The lure "swing back" could only be caused by braking the spool too abruptly with your thumb and/or raising the rod tip while you are braking the spool with your thumb as the lure impacts the surface. Relax the thumb a bit on the spool to let a few inches of line pay out, and check your rod position to see if you are shortening the line with an upsweep of the rod tip. As the others said, relax the spool tension and your thumb. I'd also bet that you get more swingback as you impart more energy into the pitch. (Like braking a car going real fast.That abrupt stop with get you some line  kickback.) For a remedy, start with closer targets using less pitching force for practice until you learn to relax the spool tension and thumb. A nice, easy pendulum swing of the jig coupled with a smooth release of the thumb, slower,smoother braking and success will come immediately.