You've just laid out a beauty of a cast..perfect trajectory, distance, and location....what do you do next and how do you decide?
Do you pull it straight in,wait, jig it, freespool it? Lets hear some "after the cast" applied theories for the locales and techniques you frequent....

Pick out the backlash, then try and pull free from the bottom of course.

Pick out the backlash, then try and pull free from the bottom of course.

That's pretty funny. Being the neo plugger I am, you can take or leave the following tip....last fall I was fishing at Cutty and it was extremely windy. Taking off my eel rig, I attached a brand new #^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&#^& needle. After about five casts I was having difficulty touching bottom and figured I'd put something heavier on. While removing the plug, I realized the tubular hook guards were still in place :doh: and thus, I wasn't feeling or hooking the bottom, even with a long pause.
Seeing you cast primarily for exercise, why not just leave the hook guards on from now on? It works for me...besides, those works of yours are simply too nice to risk losing...:angel:

Depends on what I'm casting....

If its a popper I tend to let it sit for a minute so the water settles (on Calm Days) and then start working it. on Rougher water I start popping as soon as it hits.

Darters and swimmers I take up the slack til i feel the plug and then start the retrieve.

Rubber, Depends on where in the water column I want to fish it. may start the retrieve as soon as it hits the water or I may give it a couple of seconds do get down and then start the retrieve.

Tins i bring in the slack fast and start the retrieve because they tend to sink really fast.

Jigging the canal I let it sink while slowly bringing in the slack until I feel it hit bottom the then bounce it a few times or let out a little slack while i feel it bounce along.

Eels I start a slow retrieve almost immediately so that they don't have a chance to ball up on the loose line......that is until they get a little dazed

and all of these are an 80% thing....sometimes i change it a little

After I cast, I usually wait a few seconds. By then BackBeach has usually cast right over me, and I curse him under my breath.

TDF pretty much nailed it.

After the cast..I free spool and let it swim...:kewl:

It all depends on where you are, what the topography in front of you is like, what kind of bait or lure your ch#^&#^&#^&#^&#^&g and what the fish have responded to in the past when you met those same conditions.

I guess I'd anticipate the massive hit I was about to get as I retrieve or bounce whatever I tossed. I live for the hit. That is why I fish, for the hit or the take whatever you want to call it.

After I cast, I usually wait a few seconds. By then BackBeach has usually cast right over me, and I curse him under my breath.


:rotflmao:

I enjoy every circumstance and locale I fish in, but if I were to mention one I really get a thrill out of is letting/feeling that jig bouce along the bottom, at that moment when all slack is gone, at the bottom of the canal and the rush at hookup when the line first tightens as much as it will or it breaks.

A topwater hookup after taking up the slack on a popper rocks my world also.

Okay...with this thread it is clear...the doldrums of winter have set in and everyone is going nuts.

Depends on what I'm casting....

If its a popper I tend to let it sit for a minute so the water settles (on Calm Days) and then start working it. on Rougher water I start popping as soon as it hits.

Darters and swimmers I take up the slack til i feel the plug and then start the retrieve.

Rubber, Depends on where in the water column I want to fish it. may start the retrieve as soon as it hits the water or I may give it a couple of seconds do get down and then start the retrieve.

Tins i bring in the slack fast and start the retrieve because they tend to sink really fast.

Jigging the canal I let it sink while slowly bringing in the slack until I feel it hit bottom the then bounce it a few times or let out a little slack while i feel it bounce along.

Eels I start a slow retrieve almost immediately so that they don't have a chance to ball up on the loose line......that is until they get a little dazed

and all of these are an 80% thing....sometimes i change it a little


What he said!:uhuh: I couln't have said it any better.

I fish...

After I cast, I usually wait a few seconds. By then BackBeach has usually cast right over me, and I curse him under my breath.

hahaha the canal nazi

freespool for 10 sec when fishing deep, rocky ledges with eels then start a slow retrieve.

freespool anywhere from 8-20sec when jigging then pump it back in at a moderate speed, crank it when it gets close to the bank.

After I cast, I usually wait a few seconds. By then BackBeach has usually cast right over me, and I curse him under my breath.

Thats a crock of BS. I ALWAYS wait until you have a fish on......then I cast over your line.:behead:

I pick up the slack and prepar myself for the hit(s) that will be coming.

I give the very Alba like mermaid decal on the blank a good luck rub and start singing "Let it be ". God I hope my needles come in soon . . . . . . . . . . . .

Under my breath I mumble "Patience Adam even though your shoulder is feeling like it's dislocated from casting for 3 hours and not a bite to show for it.This cast may be the lucky one.Don't give up yet " Then usually my phone rings and I hear "whatchya doin ?".I grit my teeth and try and be as nice as I can to her and not break the phone.Then I hang up usually still cursing under my breath wondering why I'm being checked up on while I'm fishing,if I was at home I'd be sitting alone and half drunk.It's really irritating most days but as much as I love it this is what it feels like after the cast in my shoes.It's one of the more relaxing things I do if you can imagine that.....:lossinit::laugha:

perfect trajectory, distance, and location....what do you do next

If these three things have happened, most likely I backlashed and the line is no longer attached to the plug...... so I swear, stomp up and down, blame every piece of equipment I own, even the stuff I didn't bring that day, eventually I concede that I suck and tie on another plug and keep going.

If for some reason my line is attached, I usually wait, unless I'm intentionally casting over structure, there is a blitz, or I am fishing something that sinks.