Trout Fishing - Casting the line

Casting

It's an art that can be learned

 
Glad you're here today, as all of the information aside, if you don't know how to cast? You are just making your job hard and the fish smarter than they already are. So sit back and read along.

Casting sounds like it should be so easy, and if you have a huge flat lake to cast into or maybe you are on a flat bank with no trees or brush around you, you might be right. But the truth is, most people have a really difficult time casting. 

Starting with the basics, I recommend an open face reel for one simple reason. It's less likely to tangle if I am fishing with jigs, spoons or lures. I don't use a heavy line either, 4-8 lb. line is sufficient.

So, I will recap from the previous blog....my bait is securely on the end of the hook, I am in position to cast. What to do, what to do? First, as I described earlier, when fishing upstream I always cast upstream and allow the bait to float towards where I think or know the fish are. To do this is easy but takes some practice. 

So here are some pointers: Remember, its also best to try this at home BEFORE you go fishing by using that small rubber weight in the end of your line, just to practice.

I imagine the the stream as the face of a clock. Dead ahead of me is the 12 'O clock position. Depending upon where I want my bait to go, I cast to the 11:00 position or the 1:00 position. (to the right or the left of me and the hole or pocket or pool I am aiming to drift into). I don't necessarily have to cast very far upstream, but I have to be able to put my hook (bait or lure) where I want it and that takes practice.

I now have the placement in my head of where I want my hook to land. I bring the tip of the rod up in the air (keeping in mind any obstructions around or behind me)  I open the bail on the reel (to allow the line to spool out during my cast)  but I hold that line (which is now free), with my thumb so that it does not spool out just yet. When I am ready, I quickly flip the rod tip over my head towards to stream. I release the line with my thumb when the pole is past the top of the arc. (the arc being the direction the rod travels from behind me to the front of me). As the pole travels over my head and forward, I allow my forward motion of my rod, to stop when it is level with the surface of the water or maybe slightly less than level. Learning which is more comfortable, (level with the stream or lower) is an art.

My lure or bait will now travel easily out to the distance my cast allows and hopefully plop in the water where I want it, barring any wind. 

Once my bait or lure are in the water, I close the bail on the reel and get ready to fish. At this point, it is easy to get anxious, but instead, I just let my bait or lure drift while keeping my rod tip level. 

As my bait or lure passes me and the slack in the line begins to disappear, I feel a slight tug as the line begins to tighten up. ( My lure is now against the current as opposed to "with" the current). Those small pulls on my rod can mean any number of things: Possibly a fish is nibbling on my bait /lure, or it could just be bouncing along the bottom. I never worry though, because if it is a trout? The rod tip will try to be pulled into the water and we all know what "fish on" means.

Next up: Setting the hook and landing that fish