Article by Capt. Mark Sampson
In only two feet of water the school of bonefish could be easily seen as they steadily zigzagged their way across the flat and toward our skiff. Up on the bow the angler was cocked and ready to launch his bait the moment the fish were within range. At 30-yards he punched out a cast that sent his live shrimp flying perfectly to the target. With a light splash it landed ten feet in front of the incoming fish. The school of bones moved forward and I'm "pretty sure" one of them ate the shrimp. But we'll never know for certain because when the angler made his cast he whipped the rod so hard that the shrimp went flying off to the fish and the hook splashed down in the water a few feet from the boat! A bad cast and a lost opportunity to make a great catch - we've all been there.
In the winter I work as a backcountry fishing guide in the Florida Keys. The type of fishing we do often involves us poling my 17-foot boat across shallow and very clear water looking for fish. When a fish is spotted the angler up on the bow attempts to hook it by making a cast that will put the bait or lure in the strike zone of the target. Depending upon what type of fish is involved (tarpon, shark, barracuda, bonefish etc.) and what it's doing (moving, or stationary, or feeding) the offering might need to land within a foot or two of the fish, or up to 10-20 yards away, and every cast solicits one of three reactions from the fish; either no response at all - in that the fish ignores the bait or lure altogether, a negative response - in that the fish is spooked by the cast, or a positive response - in that the fish does what we want and actually bites!
There are times when we'll encounter a particular fish or possibly a school of fish that are in such a frantic feeding mode that even a poorly executed or way off target cast will get a bite, but that's a pretty rare occurrence. Each season I watch hundreds of anglers make thousands of casts and there's no doubt that those with the best casting skills catch more fish, and not just a "few" more fish - I’m talking a "lot" more fish! It has also become obvious that just because someone does a lot of fishing doesn't mean that they are going to be great casters. Proficiency at casting takes practice, and while the guy who spends a lot of time chucking baits and lures is going to get that practice, anglers who spent most of their fishing hours trolling or bottom fishing are going to have problems when they need to put a lure within a couple feet of a target 20-yards away.
Accurate casting skills pay off for anglers in more places than the Florida Keys. Both inshore and offshore, Delmarva anglers will constantly have opportunities come along when they can hook fish if they can fire off a cast that lands in the right place at the right time. In our home waters we rarely see the fish before we cast, but usually know where we want and need to splash our bait in order to get a bite. When fishing around rock jetties, marsh banks, bridge pilings or offshore debris, an accurate cast can put the offering right where the fish are holding while a wayward cast might fall too far from the strike zone or end up snagging the structure making for a big mess and a lot of wasted down-time.
Casting to structure requires that anglers know how much to flex the rod to get the distance needed to reach the target, as well as how to feather the reel's spool with their finger in order to slow up a cast that's going too far. Accurate casting also requires anglers to be able to work with the wind, knowing that a cross-wind will push a cast to the left or right of the target while a head or tail wind will play for or against the distance.
Just what exactly the angler has on the end of their line must also be taken into account every time they make a cast. A single jig or a hard-bodied lure is usually the easiest to cast with minimal wind resistance and not as likely to tangle on itself. A rig that has more than one component, such as a baited hook a couple feet away from a float or a sinker can sometimes be challenging to cast because it may want to twist up or somersault through the air and end up in a tangled mess when it hits the water. Gentle, lob-casting or light feathering of the spool might be required to keep such offerings out of trouble on the way to the target. Gentle casts are also required to keep soft baits such as soft crabs, shiners or clams from flying off in one direction as the hook goes in another.
Finally, while being able to cast "far" is not always a prerequisite to catching fish, the ability to do it when necessary allows anglers to cover more water in every cast and therefore, potentially present their bait or lure to more fish more of the time. Casting distance and accuracy doesn’t come naturally to fishermen, they're achieved over time by practice, and with so much of Delmarva's fishing season still ahead of us, there's plenty of time to get out in the backyard and sharpen those casting skills. You might just enjoy the practice, and I can almost guarantee it will help you catch more fish!
Capt. Mark Sampson is an outdoor writer and captain of the charter boat, “Fish Finder”, docked at the Ocean City Fishing Center.