Casting Some Questions

[Rayman]

I'm interested in hearing people's learning curves on accurate casting, because thus far, I haven't made too much progress. Casting accuracy is of course crucial in bream fishing, especially if you're targetting marinas when you could be banging jigheads into $$$ hulls, boats, yachts. Main questions I wish to ask, in no particular order, are the following:

Do you cast with one hand or with the aid of your other?
With my butt-shortened Berkley Dropshot that I'm practising with, I can ony cast one-handedly. When I practise my baitcasting (for who knows why since I never use it), I make full use of both my hands and found it extremely helpful. The way I cast with my RH baitcaster is to hold the reel in my left, and the rod butt with my right. I hold the entire setup directly in front of me, and use my left hand (on the reel) as a pivot point, and supply the casting power with my right hand. That way, I found, I could focus the left/right (L/R) accuracy with my right hand (on the rod butt), and distance accuracy with my left hand (feathering the spool). However, two-handed casts are a bit hard to do with my Dropshot (for obvious reasons) but not with my Saegake or Jerking Special (but I don't usually cast double-handed anyway). Currently, I get better L/R accuracy by holding my Dropshot rod directly in front of me, and aligning my rod straight on with the target, akin to staring down the barrel of a rifle. But it's almost uncomfortable, so I'm after alternatives.

How often do you have to feather the spool?
Is spool feathering a common thing you have to do? Can you look at a target and subconsciously know exactly (by second nature) how hard you need to swing your wrist to hit it without having to feather the spool? Or must you feather the spool on almost every cast. I ask this mostly because I'm having trouble with distance accuracy as well, and would like a few pointers. Additional to that, do you feather the spool with your index finger of your casting hand, or with your free hand?

What's your casting grip (on the rod) like?
The reel is directly beneath the rod when I cast. The reel foot is between my middle and ring finger, thumb on top (on the foregrip, index finger underneath.

When you have to cast accurately, apart from factors such as (lack of) room behind, above or beside you, and wind, do you usually employ an overhead cast, a sidearm cast, or do you pitch?
I practised pitching quite a bit and was getting decent at it, but being landbased, there aren't too many gaps between boats and pontoons that you can pitch to.

How do you generally combat crosswind?
Aim upwind a bit?

Which you consider to be more important in casting: L/R accuracy or distance accuracy?
L/R accurary: are your casts to the left or right of the target?
Distance accuracy: are your casts too short or too long?

General attitude towards casting
- Do you have to think before your casts?
- Do you play the cast in your head like golf, how hard to swing your wrist, at which position to release the line, etc., before casts?
- It's second nature.

I'll definitely be keeping a closer eye on this week's AFC Outdoors to see a few of these questions answered hopefully. Tim casts are just so leisurely, like the only thing he needs to concentrate on is working the lure, not so much getting the lure there.

I don't expect anyone to write an essay and answer every question, but a few tips here and a few tips there should really fill the gaps for me.

Cheers all,
Raymond

[eddystone]

Raymond,

Personally a relaxed frame of mind helps i think

Often the harder you try the worse your casting will become

I do feather the line and ALWAYS follow the flight of my lure through the air. If i have made a dodgy cast its because i have lost the lure in the background or missed the line on the spool.

I think all people are different but try casting at different distances. Some people are very accurate at a certain distance but will struggle if closer or further away.

Try to find your "niche" to start with and then work at your weaknesses.

Pat

[Fisherman#1]

Casting is second nature to me. Best advice is to just let it flow and cast as "naturally" as you can. I only think about where to cast if fish aren't biting and I really have to try and see through the water with my sunnies for any structure or activity.

I always cast one handed with the shortened butt of my BD rod.

Distance and accuracy mainly depends on the weight of the lure and your action. Practice with heavy jigs to get your action fine tuned. Once you can cast 1/16oz easily, your well on the way to casting perfection, and unweighted plastics are one of the lightest lures you can come across, so casting those well is a good confidence booster.

What rod do you use? It's pretty hard to cast 1/16oz lures with a tree trunk.

[Shortlite]

There's a lot to take in there Rayman!

Casting any distance with some power is always going to be difficult (and sometimes painful) with a short butt rod. I build my rods with longer handles, that allow me to cast either single handed or double handed.

Single handed is hands down the best way to cast accurately, with controlled power, at short to medium range. For longer distances, double handed, with a punch-pull delivery, will get you out there. The downside is that as you add power and speed, you lose some accuracy and control.

Judging your input effort for the desired range is a direct result of how in tune you are with your equipment, its weight, balance, etc. with the desired lure on the end.

There are times when more effort has to be put into "shorter" range casts. Shooting back into dock structure, between boats, skipping the lure under pontoons, etc. Sidearm, pitching (underhand), backhanded casts all have a time and place, in cramped quarters, odd angles, etc. A backhanded cast is not easy doublehanded, but quite easy single handed. It is impossible to pitch double handed with accuracy and control.

Feathering the spool as the lure is about to touch has more benefits than just getting the distance right. It ensures a softer splashdown, and orients the lure in the air , stopping it tumbling and tangling hooks. Feathering should be second nature, and used all the time.

Like any sport, getting good requires practice, practice, practice. Force yourself to fish awkward spots. Cast different ways to get the hang of the required motions and effort. Soon you'll be dialled in, and the rest is easy. Get that balanced feel for your gear, develop the muscle memory, practice at it. A good exercise (and one that makes you look a total pillock too) is casting at cups on the lawn. Set them at different distances, angles, next to bushes or rocks. Then go at it every chance you get, aiming to either plink the cup or land the weight in it. Select a weight that's easy to work with at first, say 3g, then progressively decrease the weight till you get a feel for the exercise. Keep switching the weights as you practice.

Hope this helps,
Ted..

[breamN2wheels]

I cant speak for all those questions though heres some things i find:

When casting never say to your friend watch this cast - because you will try so hard you stuff it up. But with other casts still consentrate when you cast if you want it to be the best you can.

The best way to learn casting i recon is bomb it at the bank or structure and be ready as soon as you let go to hug the spool that way the lure will fall when you want it (providing you dont get a recoil from way over powering) that way you will see just how much power you need to use when getting a lure to land at that distance.

and when you want an accurtate cast in strong wind/semi close range areas i find using a low sweep cast works as it gives wind less of a line "bow" to move around.

im not sure if all that makes sense but basicly it all comes down to personal preference and practise. After you work the casting out you can find that the wind can even make it easier to fish.

HTH

[Superduperman]

Do you cast with one hand or with the aid of your other?

Depends, for longer casts with heavier weights then two hands, for shorter casts i prefer 1 hand. Long casts with light lures, 1 hand, same for short casts. If I want accuracy I go with 1 hand.

How often do you have to feather the spool?

When i'm casting with a limit, like a river bank, or pylons or if there's a chance the lure will land in a bad spot or too far away from a fast moving fish. Basically most of the time.

What's your casting grip (on the rod) like?

thumb up the back of the rod, front 2 fingers above the reel stem, little finger and ring finder behind.

When you have to cast accurately, apart from factors such as (lack of) room behind, above or beside you, and wind, do you usually employ an overhead cast, a sidearm cast, or do you pitch?

Usually overhead, just a quick backwards flick then a longer follow through. Sometimes if i only need a small distance I 'flip' the lure (slow swinging while controlling how much line the lure swings on until it reaches the right spot). If I need to go around a corner i'll side arm.

How do you generally combat crosswind?

cast lower to the water or maybe slightly into the wind.

Which you consider to be more important in casting: L/R accuracy or distance accuracy?

if L/R means low range...then yes, low range, but thats probably because i'm a boater and if i need to cast longer i just drive closer. accurate long casts are only really important to me when I'm land based and want to run a lure along a length of pylons.

General attitude towards casting

Pretty much second nature, i can look at a spot and land my lure v v v close to where i wanted it, especially with an overhead cast, not so much a side cast. the only time i think is when i'm not sure if i can make the angle or distance and I dont want to spook the fish (working out the path of a cruising bream in respect to retrieve speed and spooking distance). Generally just relax and don't put too much force into the cast, where casting effort is concerned less is more.

Well thats my best attempt at answering all your Qu's.
Catchya
Tom

[Dodgy back]

I put a bucket in the backyard for casting at and practiced for ages, I reckon that helps work out your own technique

Mick

[Rayman]

I do the bucket/cup thing (except I use frisbees) in the backyard as well, and sometimes in the house when it's noon and there aren't any shade around (but jigheads do their damage to white fibreglass walls, haha).

Went for a practice this morning. Found a stance that I found better and more comfortable, which involves casting my rod with my right hand, body angled to the left of the target. That way, I can have the target, rod swing, and eye all in the one straight line.

I tried to draw it out to explain it better, the left being the new stance, the right being my old stance.

[Rayman]

From what I can see, the general consensus seems to be the following:

- One-handed casts for accuracy.

- Relax the body, but try to remember the distance associated with the wrist action and release timing --> practise.

- Feather the spool.

====================

This is particularly directed at you, Pat:
When you follow your lure through the air, is that from the moment you release the lure to the moment it lands. The reason I ask this is because I can hardly concentrate on the target (below me) and the lure (above me) at the same time. I assume you do this mainly for longer casts as well, since with short casts, the time from the lure being released to it landing is merely a second or two.

And this is for you Ted:
Would you agree that my butt-shortened 1-3kg Dropshot is inadequate for Townsville fishing? I ask because I'll be paying the town a visit for a few days in February before I'm back at university again, and the only two-piece rod I have is the Dropshot - so I might stock myself with a beefier rod depending on your answer.

====================

And 2 questions I forgot to ask when I started the thread are:

The distance between your lure and rod tip.
How much do you leave for your casting? I tend to like mine very close to the rod tip. At the Boating and Fishing show some years back in Brisbane, they had a casting competition, and Gary Fitzgerald was just nailing the targets - he talked of having his lure as close to the rod tip as possible.

Wrist action for long casts, accuracy not important.
When you have to pan out long casts, do you do an almost-violent wrist snap that causes the rod tip to jump about, or do you use a slower but more forceful follow-through to try to keep the rod tip steady to minimise friction?

====================

All the inputs so far have been very helpful and detailed. I just like to thank you all for your time and effort.

[Superduperman]

The distance between your lure and rod tip

I usually have it between 10 and 30cm from the tip. heavier lures with more, lighter lures with less.

Wrist action for long casts, accuracy not important.

usually leave a longer (30cm) distance between rod tip and lure, then slowly ease the rod tip back so that the lure travels in a smoothe motion and usually flies through the air straight instead of spinning or stuff like that. the wrist action is slow and fluid, no jerky movements.

[Dowelly]

The more relaxed you are and with the moment the better you will fish. with structure casting its basically a 'dont think just do' action because the more you think about it the more likly it will unfold.
i meen your fishing right, challenges occur.. but the more you face them the better you will become..

[Shortlite]

Well, Owen did okay for a while with his Nitro before I got to it, but I tell you, a lot of fish up there will put the hurt on you if you use only your wrists. It can be done, so you won't necessarily have to invest in a new rod. However, one issue up there is casting a good distance, particularly off some of the rockwalls.

You also never know what's gonna smash your lure next. One minute it's stupid little codlets, then a kilo plus GT is screaming off. And that's not all: big barra, queenfish, golden trevally, cod,fingermark and mangrove jacks show up regularly, and they like scoffing lures!!

I'd say that something with 7 to 10 inches from reel stem to butt cap would be ideal. Just to enable you to get that butt under your forearm and put the wood to a fish with your body and arms.

When are you going to TSV? If we're all up there, we'd be happy to hit a couple spots with you, and hopefully get you into a wristkiller or two.

[Acanthopagrus]

For accuracy in lighter lures keeping the lure 4 to 6 inches from the tip results in a more accurate cast for me.

One handed casting the in the vertical position with the rod pointing at the target at the end of the cast keeps things heading in the right direction.

With baitcasters providing that extra over cast then pulling the lure up short helps take into consideration wind gusts and more chance of deeper entry into snag/structure areas.

Having the bail roller at the top of the spool when casting really helps if you have to slam on the brake on a spinning reel also.

When making a distance cast keeping the lure 300 to 400 mm from the tip results in longer casts.

[breamN2wheels]

interesting topic, everyone seems to do things different but still achieves the same rusult.

i find that i give myself at least 50cm to cast with. reason for this is it feels comfortable and i think having the extra flurocrabon between the rod tip and lure gives it a sling shot effect when casting.

however in different situations i use shorter and longer tip lenghts so just find whats your comfort lenght and give it your best!

James