Casting

Casting is critical to virtually every kind of fishing and surf casting is no exception. Casting is a skill of timing and coordination, timing the release of the line in coordination with aiming and handling the rod. There are many factors that play into distance and accuracy. Some are skill-related and others are equipment-related. Skill and equipment should progress together because some equipment is more forgiving than other.

Basics

Let’s review the basics and identify the sequence of events in a cast and their relationship to a successful cast. The example below is detailed with spinning equipment. However, the steps are parallel to other reel types.

Positions:

1 Set-up	2 Cock	3 Throw
4 Release	5 Follow-through

1. Set-up: The set-up begins by taking the line in your finger and releasing the bail. As I take the line with my finger, I confirm that the line is not bound – particularly bound at the tip. The line can wrap around the tip while releasing a fish. This will definitely interfere with a cast.
2. Cock: With line in finger and open bail, I swing the rod around behind me, checking that there are no people or dogs behind me that could get hooked.
3. Throw: With rod and reel at the ready I sight my target and push my top hand while pulling back on my bottom hand. The lure will arc up and over your shoulder.
4. Release: When the tangent of the arcing lure hits your desired vector, let the line go. Said another way, when the lure is going in the direction you want, let go of the line.
5. Follow-through: Continue to rotate the rod until it is pointing at the lure that is now flying rapidly away and continue to point to the lure as it descends and finally splashes down.

Casting Distance

The single most important part of casting for distance is ensuring that the lure does not tumble. Think of a football; tossed in a spiral it will travel much farther than tossed with a tumble. The force you apply and resulting velocity of the lure is irrelevant if the result is a tubling lure because resistance through the air will slow a tumbling plug in a hurry.Some lures are easier to cast without a tumble than others. However, there are a few things you can do to reduce the tumble.

1. Cast as straight as you can – even if side-arm casting, keep it straight.
2. Use a longer tail when casting (line from tip of rod to lure before the cast).
3. Use a smooth motion through the entire cast (ideally, there should be little or no pressure on your casting finger when you release the line)

Once you can cast without tumbling the lure, it’s time to look at the geometry.

There are many aspects of a good cast, but perhaps none as objective as distance. The two primary factors that determine distance are velocity (speed) and azimuth (angle).

• Velocity is a function of the force put on the rod and the radius of the cast. Force is applied by the fisherman. The radius varies with the amount of force and the type of rod (see Rod for more info).
• The azimuth is optimized for greatest distance – typically 15 to 45 degrees depending on the wind direction and speed. The illustration above shows how given the same velocity, the optimum angle impacts distance. When the azimuth is too low, the lure hits the water prematurely. When the azimuth is too high, velocity is wasted vertically.

When casting into the wind, a lower azimuth is required. When casting with the wind, a higher azimuth provides greater hang-time allowing the wind to add distance.

Other factors in the cast include:

• Line resistance coming off the reel, “line whip”.
• Line resistance through the rod’s guides
• Line resistance through the air
• Lure density (metal goes farther than wood or plastic)
• Lure flight (a tumbling lure creates significantly resistance)

Increasing distance can be achieved by:

• Using Ultra-braid line with smaller diameter and lower resistance through the air
• Keeping your spool full of line so that the line comes off more easily
• Using a longer and stiffer fishing rod
• Using high density lures (metal) with good flight characteristics

Casting Injuries

The first injury that comes to mind when casting is getting hooked or hooking someone or and animal. However, my most common injury is a finger cut from the ultra-braid that I use. Ultra-braid is so thin and the force of casting is so great that the line rips a split in the casting finger. Some fishermen use gloves; unfortunately, gloves take away sensitivity which is needed for casting accurately. Here are a couple of tips:

• Hold your line high: The left illustration above shows only one finger ahead of the reel foot. The result is that the angle of the line retained by the casting finger is about 90deg. By moving the casting hand forward so that all fingers are in front of the reel foot, the angle of the retained line increases. As the angle increases, the force required to retain the line decreases thus reducing the wear on the casting finger.

• Use casting tape: Nexcare tape is perfect for this application because it is thin which gives you the sensitivity you need and it stays in place because it is plastic and has good adhesive. Tape prevents finger cuts and it also holds the skin together after a cut so that you can keep casting. Best of all, one piece of tape typically lasts the full 2 to 3 hours that I fish. Unfortunately, it does not protect your thumbs from the abrasion of bass teeth – the teeth quickly wear it down. I keep mine in a ziplock bag in my pack at all times.

Comments

• Length of tail when casting: I often consider the length of the line from the tip of the rod to the lure (“tail”) – what is the optimum length? I like a longer tail than most and I believe the extra length improves my casting distance and my lure is less likely tumble.