Getting your casting mojo back

[XD351]

G’day Raiders,

I went for a wander down under the silverwater bridge today , mainly just to get out for a few hours in this all too scarce nice weather. Had flick with some plastics but nothing doing - I spotted one tiny school of baitfish in the shallows and that was it - no prawns , toads or tailor and even the bird life was pretty quiet. 
I decided to use the time instead to get some casting practice in a boy didn’t I need it ! All those years of drifting for flathead, or just wandering along fanning casts out to “near enough to  “ targets has really blunted my casting skills ! 
Back when I was much younger I did a fair bit of bush bashing , trudging up creeks and streams for bass and trout in places where a wayward cast usually cost you a lure . I spent a lot of time casting at buckets and the lids and honed my skills to a level where I didn’t even think about casting- it was just second nature ,sure I would get the odd wayward cast but not many . Anyhow with all the flotsam and jetsam in the river I decided to do some target practice, this led to maybe an hour of frustration, infuriation, depression and a near constant flow of expletives flowing from my gob ! I had one person stop , look at me as if a was some sort of nut job then hurry away - probably fearing for their life 🤣🤣🤣

The targets I was trying to hit ranged in size from maybe a bottle top to a plastic bag - all of which were drifting past on the runout tide and a spot where the shadow of the bridge was intersecting a dirty water line - this was of course stationary. 
 

I don’t know how many casts I did ( spent maybe 3 hrs all up ) but eventually I managed to sort out what I was doing wrong - mostly grip and stance and this got me on target horizontally but not distance wise , this really came down to lure drop from the tip and timing. Once I found my happy spot I was dropping the lure within a foot of what I wanted to hit at a rang of maybe 30m ? It’s hard to judge , maybe less , maybe more .  

Eventually I got to the stage where I could pick a target , point , shoot and hit an area the size of a bucket lid around the target pretty much at will - sometimes I fluked a direct hit and considering most of the targets are less than the size of a clenched fist I was pretty happy with that !

So what’s the moral to the story? 
Maybe it is that Fishing has so many facets to it that can amuse , educate, and benefit your physical and mental health that you don’t even have to catch a fish to enjoy yourself ! 
 

I walked into here in a pretty ordinary mood and walked out smiling - that’s what fishing can do for you ! 

[frankS]

It's been so long since I have had a cast I dread the time when I will next need to do it. So many sessions just sitting in a rocking boat with a line over the side, it sure does take the level of accuracy away from you. Perhaps I should , like you spend some time getting back into the swing of things again.

Frank

[XD351]

One thing for certain Frank - it won’t hurt you ! Always good for an excuse to get out of the house for an hour or two and you might even catch a fish !

[james Cutler]

Top report.

[Little_Flatty]

Yes working on your casting skills is probably one of the best time investments you can make with your fishing, whether on or off the water.

I’ve been doing lots of casting practice only since I’ve started fly fishing. Spin fishing is somewhat forgiving if you’re an average caster, as you have eluded to with flathead spinning etc. You can get away with being an ordinary caster, but of course you’ll catch more fish if you’re an excellent caster.

Fly fishing is a terrible experience if you’re anything less than a very good caster. That’s why there’s such thing as fly casting instructors (not the same as guides). I’m still finding it quite hard which means I need to work on my cast.

If you want to up the ante, find an empty patch of grass or a sports field. Buy yourself a suitable casting plug for your chosen outfit, some sport marker cones, a small hula hoop or three and a 30m or longer measuring tape (the lie detector). Practice target casting at various distances. You’ll find you’re better at certain distances than others. I find I have a sweet spot at 10-15m, with other distances more challenging!

It gets fun when you start to notice room for improvement and find feasible ways of improving your cast. There are times when I’m so much on a roll that I forego actual fishing to practice! That said, my fishing sessions are short, and as a result it can be a better use of my time, like at this time of the year.

[XD351]

I used to do a lot of that when I was a kid but I never really liked using casting plugs , always found them to be so aerodynamically different to a lure that I found myself back at square one when I changed to a lure - especially when using a baitcaster. I forgot to mention that there was the odd puff of cross wind - maybe up to 15kph and this was enough to blow the lure ( 3inch paddle tail and small bullet weight ) off target especially if I was pushing it to the limit of casting distance as I was lobbing the lure upwards to get it out there . I had to use a bit of “ Kentucky windage”  to fix  the problem . ( Kentucky windage is just aiming a bit towards the direction the wind is coming from to compensate for wind drift - it’s a bit of a guess in reality as to how far to aim off but it does work and it does help ) I think fly casters use a similar tactic- having all that line in the air would interesting on a windy day ! 

[Little_Flatty]

2 hours ago, XD351 said:

I used to do a lot of that when I was a kid but I never really liked using casting plugs , always found them to be so aerodynamically different to a lure that I found myself back at square one when I changed to a lure - especially when using a baitcaster. I forgot to mention that there was the odd puff of cross wind - maybe up to 15kph and this was enough to blow the lure ( 3inch paddle tail and small bullet weight ) off target especially if I was pushing it to the limit of casting distance as I was lobbing the lure upwards to get it out there . I had to use a bit of “ Kentucky windage”  to fix  the problem . ( Kentucky windage is just aiming a bit towards the direction the wind is coming from to compensate for wind drift - it’s a bit of a guess in reality as to how far to aim off but it does work and it does help ) I think fly casters use a similar tactic- having all that line in the air would interesting on a windy day ! 

Yep there’s a lot of techniques you can adopt! I did a course with two very well know instructors recently and I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface!

One thing a lot of fly casters do is cut the bend off the hook of a fly, I’m guessing you could do similar with an SP or remove the hooks off a hardbody. One thing with this…still be very careful! I’ve hit myself with a piece of fluff and it still hurts!

[XD351]

It appears that while I was getting my casting mojo sorted  my fishing mojo has gone missing- if anyone happens to find my fishing mojo please contact me immediately- I need it back desperately 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣