Casting Envy
 

I was at the Canal two weeks ago casting off the rocks and thinking I was doing pretty well. Actually caught a schoolie, ending my belief that there are no fish in there.

Then to my left I can hear a 'whoosh' and there is a guy casting literally 2X the distance with real sweet quick motion. I see he's using spinning gear just like me, but I'm a hack.

So I end up trying to cast farther and then now I'm bumping the rod tip against rocks and I keep hearing 'snap' as the sluggo sails into the distance.

I went to a local field last night to practice.......anybody got any tips? I cut the finger off of a glove to put over my index finger but even that slips off..:wall:

Don't be so hard on yourself unless you know he was using the same equipment. If his line was thinner and the plug he was fishing was heavier than your sluggo he will outcast you no matter how hard you try. Also I have caught plenty of fish real close and use very heavy line (usually 50lb big game mono). This season I have decided to try braid again and I think I may have screwed myself because I chose 80lb. hollow core Jerry Brown which on my conventional goes the same distance as my 50lb. mono; but I never again want to be spooled by a fish, twice in 30yrs. is enough.
Also keep in mind a live eel works awesome in the ditch and nobody can or has to cast them very far.

distance isn't always important at the ditch, sometimes the fish are in closer
sometimes getting a pencil out there farther means fish but most times a decent cast will reach the fish.

I use a cannon release on my canal rods

you weren't standing near me were you?;)

thinner braid will surely go thru the guides easier and a longer better casting rod and reel setup will get most guys more distance.


if the finger tip things slip off, try tape that sometimes flys off too, for me anyway, that is why I use the cannon.

Big Dave taught me to use your left arm to pull down as the right casts, hard for me to describe. anyway, he is someone you could learn a thing or 2 from.

People are envious of Slip's casting.

I've learned that my casting skills suck but i did pick up a few tricks from Big Dave that have helped me a lot.

Important to know, what rod / reel were you using with what line / lure?

Thanks

(moving to main forum for more love)

I have a friend that can't cast worth a crap and has caught more large fish in the ditch than a lot of guys. Always going to be someone and in my case lots of someones that are better than you. Practice makes better. Being the size of Dave and Slip and Ron Arra and Rudy, etc....does exactly hurt their distance either.

I have major casting envy. The thing that get's me is that my best casting rods are my faster rods and I hate working a pencil with them. 1205 included.

I feel your pain. Been humbled many times. Zeno HUMILIATED me last year at the canal.
Its good, cause while they are working way out, you can catch all the fish in close.........

i can hep ya with the finger issues~~~

the cloth hvydty medical tape has NEVER failed me.

be sure your finger is dry. and i always make the first piece the one that covers the finger from the fingertip to the second section on both sides, vertically. then i wrap snugly, not too tightly, around bottom to top, once. then top to bottom, once. hope this helps.

as for the casting part~~~~

while the size and weight of the caster matters; if your rod, line, lure, and reel are in sync that will add yds. also technique is huge. but it's kinda like golf. if you are "feeling" the cast, then you ain't making the optimum motion. just as a golf swing is hips first, hands second, and the arms are merely an extension of the torso; likewise, you have to let the equipment do the transferance of the weight, and send your offering seaward. release point is key, starting point is key, and if you can load the rod properly, without stopping, then the fluidity of motion will be maintained and yds can be added that way, as well. interestingly, there is the "bucket of water" parallel with the golf swing here, too. practice, practice, practice,,,,,,,,

but what redlite, et al, have said is also true. you're likely standing on top of them and most casts only need to hit the second curl(surf), the beginning of the current(ditch), the ambush boulder(rocks) which is really much closer than your maximum cast could ever be. good luck and farther castings to you!!

I fish alone.I'm the best caster around when I'm out.

John - I'm using a Penn Spinfisher metall 6500 and a Lami SK10MHS 3-8 oz....probably beginner equip, but I am just that.

It's just frustrating, cause I'm doing great from my kayak in the southern worc county ponds ....then I go to the Canal and..well....just not so good.

Anyways, thanks guys and I'm going to continue to hit this field near me and simply practice, practice...

Casting is fun and often distracts you from fishing effectively. It is hard not to cast as far as you can on every cast which often results in fishing the structure close to you poorly. Start tight and work out.

I cast like a chick. Distance is usually overrated.

I cast a country mile. When I want to I can launch a plug...even an eel a country mile....

That being said, I often get trimmed out there by people who cast 1/2 as far... Drive for show, putt for dough.:uhuh::uhuh:

I love my braid helps me cast that country mile. How come the guys that cant cast far can launch a lure way out when there line snaps? LOL

....Look like a chick.....dress like a chick....:eyes:

even rides a chicks bike :).

What are you throwing? Lures? Bucktails (or jigs as you northerners call them) ? What weights?

If your rod is rated for 3-8 oz and you are throwing 1 or 2 oz lures then they are not going to load up the rod properly resulting in poor distance.

Suggest buying or borrowing Ron Arra's book and practice casting off the ground as he describes. It really helped me to understand what loading the rod really means and recognizing when you find the sweet spot. Not just for distance casting, but for casting in general. Also, I got some great suggestions form the guys on this sight about matching rods and reels for the canal. Use the search feature and you'll find some good stuff on this topic. Then find a low bank on the canal and go to the top. Get a pencil at about the middle of the rod rating or slightly higher than the middle. Use the "off the ground" technique and I think you'll be surprised.

Rather be the guy catching fish than the guy who casts the farthest!! I have rarely seen the two go hand in hand??:uhuh:

It happens. Casting distance isn't the end all to catching fish. But it sure helps to be able to launch a plug out there when you NEED to.

I agree I think its so funny when guys are like I can cast farther than you. Casting distance to me is way over rated.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Nothing wrong with trying to hit breaking fish when you got the skunk on. I had casting envy awhile back. This site helped me gear up properly and focus on my swing. After reading Arra's book, watching videos and practicing, it helped me on my all around casting game. I would have never focus on casting technique withou the envy, which has helped me a great deal even outside the canal. Let the guy go for it, you never know where it will take him ;)

No need to cast more than 20' the last few days. In tight
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm practicing and I get the point that you don't need to cast far to catch fish.

It's just this guy was launching....I was walking by a guy who was chunking and we both saw the birds on the other side and kinda laughed....then I keep walking and start to fish....this other guy jumps off his bike and is launching it to the birds!

Ask anyone who has fished a strong onshore wind with MAKAI. Throwing sandeels or tin while trying to punch through winds 15-20 in your face has consistently proven to me that distance can often make all the difference. Numerous times last year, that extra 20-30 yards has been the difference between getting 30-40" fish as opposed to 20-30" fish.

I'd rather have the tools and not need them, then not have the tools at all.

I agree. I've fished a spot where I was the only guy out of 5 or 6 people fishing that was catching anything bigger than schoolies. The bigger fish were way out from shore and I was the only guy who had the gear and heavy enough plugs to reach them.

Sometimes the fish are in so close that my wife could reach them, but sometimes they are out of range for a lot of people. Why do guys get in wetsuits and swim out to rocks to stand on if it doesn't matter how far out you get your bait?

I have. ;)

Couldn't disagree more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :jump1: Seems to me it actually matters often!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :uhuh: Can be the difference between going small and large also :fishin:!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think I got a pretty damn nice pencil popper that seems to cast a mile recently. Was that a waste of money???????

:uhuh:

Another thing to ponder is that maybe those bass that hit at your feet, some of them have followed the bait all the way in from far out only to hit it at the last second before it escapes into the shoreline or the instinct of the fish tells itself to strike before he misses his chance sort of. they are fish, they swim.

Well......I have no trouble doing both......however my point was that distance means zippo if the rest of your game is not good! You have to know how to present what you are using! More often than not, IMO......the fish are generally in closer than one needs to cast. I stress...MORE OFTEN THAN NOT!:)

WHEN YOU PUT IT THAT WAY I AGREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:jump1: :uhuh:

I can cast ok but nothing great, it gets the job done thats about it. Sometimes it does make the difference between big and nothing, especially in certain places. I was laughing a couple years ago. This guy next to me could really cast and he was working his plugs fast on the surface and was bailing bruiser bluefish. He didnt get a single striper that morning. I was next to him and gettin it out about 80 yards or so and was having a good morning on the bass. I flipped a plug out about 15 yards and got my pb, didnt get a weight but it was 49". I guess that goes into the presentation category as well.

First off let me say that I fish (primarily with bait) some flat beaches with skinny water down in South Jersey; and by skinny I mean the lateral movement of the water's edge in a five foot tide cycle is in the 100 yard range . . .

Those who can place a baited hook out over 500 feet from the beach in what is the 3rd or 4th gut undoubtedly catch more and bigger fish in these conditions.

I have fished in one day tournaments down here (ASAC) for over 25 years and on the team I was on every member has invested the $$$ for the equipment and time honing the casting skills and it shows in the results . . . In the 16 or so tournaments every year being fished by 20 - 30 six man teams every week in the spring and fall, this team has earned the overall championship 28 out of the last 30 years. There were many days when we were the only team with points.

The concept that distance equals fish isn't just a hypothetical theory for me; I have lived it for a couple decades.

Distance casting for fishing demands a system approach, rod & guides (and layout), reel and line. This isn't the realm of noodley Lami GSB's, 704's and 20lb mono. In the last 30 years spinning tackle has undergone a rapid evolution in distance engineering driven mostly by the increasingly difficult chore it is casting fish from shore in Japan and Europe (UK mostly).

My tackle for distance consists of rods by CTS rung with Fuji SiC Lowrider guides, Shimano and Daiwa reels intended for the Japanese Domestic Market not available here in the states and of course braided line (30lb Whiplash running line & 80lb Whiplash casting leader).

I realize that the fishing that you gents do "up Nawth" demands different tackle and either the reels aren't appropriate because you are fishing wet or the long rods won't work at the ditch or the zoned action rods don't work a pencil that good and then there are the short butt lengths for the punch cast. . .

But there are times when you need to stick a pencil out over 150 yards and having that ability in your skills and equipment is a good thing.

Here is a couple of other threads with some more RR insight and other folks with good info that I have in hard copy and dust off from time to time:

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...ided-line.html

http://www.striped-bass.com/Stripert...reel-line.html

You don't always have to cast as far as you can but you can never cast further than as far as you can. Nice to have the ability and not use it. bad to need it and not be able to do it.

The Canal is an example where long casting capability is definitely a plus. Another time is in August and Sept when when Albies and Bonito cruise the coast and always seem to be just a little further out than an average cast can reach. Og course in the fall when stripers are on the surface busting bait , the longer you can cast , the more of those schools you can hit.

Now normal shore fishing for stripers usually only requires normal casting ability. Sometimes even just 10 feet is enough! :)

Some guys got the nack or have developed the nack for long casting. Some have extra big muscles etc , some are athletic. Regardless of how well 99.9% of the people get at distance casting , there will still be times when the guy next to you leaves you in the dust.

All good stuff Saltheart. Especially the last line...

I cast mediocre at best and casting envy can creep in at times, but as mentioned what you're using at the time also matters, other day fish were breaking and not hitting what I was throwing, guy beside me was throwing some kind of metal and hitting fish almost every cast, now I'm having lure envy, after awhile i learned to accept its about the ones you do catch rather than the ones you don't