Long cast obsession
 

What is it with this obsession?

It seems to me that people can't seem to get over the distance casting thing. Most of my memorable fish have been caught in tight. On a big profile plug that casts like crap. Big metal lips for the most part don't cast very far, rigged eels cast father than live on ones but won't win a casting competition.
Most people justify their distance obsession with " covering more water" but I think that's balony. If the fish are 50 yards out 100 yd. cast won't produce more fish.


What are your thoughts ??

Depends on where you are. If you are fishing a river, and know that the fish hold on the opposite shore (but there is no access to that spot), a long cast is needed. Some places on the outter Cape hape drop offs/ledges that hold fish that can only be reached with a long cast. Some structure that holds fish can only be reached with a long cast if you don't wetsuit.

Do what makes you happy,plenty of times the fish are out further than I can cast.
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It basically adds one more thing to your arsenal. You may not always need it, but knowing you have it when and if you need it, can make the difference in catching or watching sometimes.

Ask the guys who can't reach them when they're breaking mid-Canal. :wave:

For some, it may just be a "stronger-than-you" mindset...switching the "stronger" attribute to a "casting farther" than you thing.

When fishing from shore, who in their right mind would want to be handi-capped with not being able to long-cast? I sure wouldn't. Whether or not I need it, I take comfort in knowing it's there. Just my opinion.


Boating guys are the ones who should really be worried about this though.

That's exactly what I tell myself when I go home skunked, "they were here, I just couldn't reach em"....:rotf2:

Just because you have the ability to cast past the middle of the canal, doesn't mean you always will.

I'd rather have the ability to cast out as far as I need to and not necessarily need to always do so, than need to get out an extra 10-20 yards and not be able to.

The canal is the only place I fish where distance sometimes matters.

Exactly!!! Here in Jersey the fall of 2011 we had a sand eel bite that lasted something like 24 straight days!! If you could not cast at least 75 yards you might as well have gone home. I fished about 20 of those days and I can tell you the bigger fish were the farthest out!! You need to be prepared for any situation with not only what is in your bag but a way to deliver them.

And some of those fish that bite in tight may have been following from quite far out. They just decided to commit when it looked like the prey had a chance of escaping.

IMO a long cast allows more time for your offering to be in the water, therefore allowing for more exposure to fish. Now, if there's a giant blitz 50 yards offshore and you're casting 100... That's foolish. But in normal fishing situations if I'm not targeting a specific piece of structure a long cast is what's used.

It does suck when a blitz erupts to the far right of where you just dumped out your spool....:D....and now your cranking like a S.O.B. just to cast again because you think they're heading in the other direction.
Fishing is so much fun, isn't it?

especially in heavy onshore wind situations. Like west dennis last year during the insane bluefish action. 30+mph winds I was one of the only ppl hooking up every cast while everyone else was watching in horror. Course its a clown show down there and I had lefthook pilgrim LOL but just another example of distance matters

Because I can ! :rotf2:

It really depends on what your fishing with vs. where the fish are. There are times when a long cast is absolutely necessary, and being the only one hooking up cast after cast when no one else is close to reaching them is actually fun. Then again there are times when you only cast far enough to let your lure reach the end of the rip you want to bring your lure into. I would rather have the ability to reach beyond other's capabilities incase the fish are there.

Casting really far is great if you're in a casting competition. If you're looking to catch fish, it's not as important as you think.

I have seen a number of situations where a long cast aided someone. There are occasions where big bass are out past Blues. Mid way at the canal is the classic example however.
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And the operative word here is sometimes. I have caught just as many big fish in the canal at the end of my drift right along the bank as in the middle. Granted it's always a night bite on eels.

This happens frequently on the Race. 10 yards could be the difference between hooking up every cast and hooking up every 3-4 casts.

Makai has a perfect setup and technique to easily get out 15-25yrds further than all the rest of us. During those strong 25-30kt blows, he's usually hooks up twice as much. We've noticed that hookup rates sometimes trickle off based on casting distance. The guy who can cast next furthest hooks up 2nd most and so on.

I've even found it in my own casts at times. During times when distance matters, I've noticed a stark contrast between casts that whistle out there and casts where the plug tumbles and falls short.

Confirmation bias maybe, but 90% of what we talk about here could be called that as well.

I cast much farther at night......

dude it's fishing, don't you know that bigger, further and better than the next guy is all that matters in the end? :D

I doesn't matter where you are fishing, when you start, what species you are after or what tackle you are using.....the fish will ALWAYS be breaking just beyond you farthest reach! :biglaugh:

Funny observation:

Surf guys swim out and cast as far as possible..

Boat guys will motor in dangerously close to where we stand and cast an eel
"in tight" basically landing where we are standing.

Someday, I want to be able to cast a jointed danny all the way across the canal, against a headwind. Then I'll be able to tell you if it matters or not. Most of the guys I fish with use big fancy spinning rigs and can outcast my dinosaur conventional stuff by a lot. They catch more too. But that might just be because I am a lousy fisherman. :wall:

Here's what some of us do... we wade out to a boulder and climb up on it. The flat surface on the top of said boulder is about a size 13. I wear a size 11 so I'm good. Waves break and hit my knees and send me slightly off balance... and that's when I'm just standing there. Now I lean into a cast... well I really don't lean into it because that would through me off the rock... I lean way back and really wind up and... well not really because I feel like I'm going over backwards when I lean too far back, and that makes me back off... so I really snap a good cast... but I make sure I keep my feet close together so I don't slip and of course I don't move them or change mt stance (because I can't)... But, I get out there pretty good. You add that distance to the 10 -15 yards the boulder is out into the surf and that's pretty far.

Of course when I was standing solid on the sand, in smaller surf, feet spread going through the full range casting motion leaning way back and really loading the rod up, I was getting out just as for or maybe, just maybe.... well standing on that boulder makes me feel more like I am "at one with the fish". So I do it and it makes me happy.

I forgot a lot of you guys fish the canal. One of the few places where distance does matter. I usually swim out to a rock to cut out the requirement of casting long distances.
I was able to hit the canal for the fist time last year and could deffinately see the advantage of making the most of your cast.
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Just cause you are able to doesn't mean you need to but needing to and not being able to is a handicap. So....best to be able to. :)

Down here on Long Island there are many spots where if you're not reaching the rip, you're not catching fish. It doesnt seem as necessary in places like Cutty or Block where swimming skills are more important.
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I know what could be in that water, you will not see me swim. :err:

I would like to add that it is winter for 6 months of the year and the more there is to obsess about, the easier it is to make it til the shadblow blooms.

I've fished in a lot of places where distance matters quite often---even at night. The Vineyard, Montauk, LI's inlets. As well as the Canal. I can cast better than 90% of the guys who fish the Canal. The other 10% tend to catch a few more fish than I do. The guys who can hit a 3' circle at 90 yards, consistently, catch the most fish there. Casting long is only half of the equation. Accuracy means as much if not more, even at short range, when it comes to casting at breaking fish.

Distance counts even at night, throwing jigs, in quite a few places along the canal

I find that casting a lightweight lure an extra 5 or 10 yards is much more important than being able to cast a 3 1/2 oz pencil 110 yards instead of 90.
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I'm just happy when I don't cast the eel or plug off..they all seem to really fly when the damn line snaps
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