Winter 2018
®
C a A be S t T te I r N n G et
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Story
It seems ridiculous to say,
by Sean Ostruszka
but most pros would say it: Casting has become a lost art.
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W
ith offshore fishing becoming such a popular
trend – where bombing casts long enough to
see your backing is the goal – many anglers have forgone learning or forgotten the importance of
target casting, skipping, pitching and others. Even many
pros, themselves, admit they could work on their casting;
something I can certainly attest to. (I almost caught a jig
in the head, once, from a less-than-accurate cast by a pro
while taking photos in another boat).
Again, this seems ridiculous, since casting is a fundamental part of the sport, much like a swing is a fundamental of golf. Hence why golfers spend countless hours practicing and refining not just bombing balls with their drivers, but all the fundamentals of all swings. Yet, fishermen often do not.
That’s a problem, because with gear and technology getting so good, it’s the things that require practice – like casting – that often separate the good anglers from the best. That’s why FLW Tour pro Luke Dunkin used to spend hours in
his driveway as a kid practicing how to cast (more on that in a bit). The logic was simple: If he can get his lure where you can’t or present it better than you, he stands a better chance at catching more fish.
So, what makes a good cast? Depends on the situation. Landing your vibrating jig snug to a weed line on the first shot versus on the third. Pitching your soft-plastic into the heart of a piece of cover instead of missing and hitting the edges. Landing your jig next to a stump with nary a splash as opposed to as if a meteor had struck the water. Skipping your bait 10-feet up under a dock instead of clanging it off the side. These skills give you an advantage toward catching a fish a lesser caster won’t have.
Now that you understand how improving your casting – like improving your golf swing – can give you a leg up on your competition, how do you improve it? We assembled some simple tricks, tips and practice methods to help.