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.
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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
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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.