Sounds like you have loosened the tension too far, not riding the spool with your thumb or try to cast too far. Be sure that you stop the spool as it touches the water, with your thumb. If you get too much momentum going and everything is loose the spool will continue when the lure is stopped by the water and will backlash. It is all muscle memory and timing.

Outstanding feedback... thank you all for taking time to contribute! Man, this forum pays off time and time again...

- Steve R.

There's a lot of "individual" stuff that goes on when pitching. I've got a buddy that is good with lighter lures than I can easily handle and sets his reel tension high enough that I couldn't begin to use it. He's bigger and stronger and has more hand strength than I do. He can also run a fuller spool of line than I. To begin to compete with him with the smaller lures I had to go to a lot softer rod than him, set my reel tension lower, and reduce the amount of line on my spool. In general, for me, it helps a lot to run less line on my spool if I'm getting over runs when I'm fishing tight cover and trying to get distance while maintaining a low trajectory. If I'm over hand casting in open water I can get away with more line and increasing the spool tension if necessary. In general, though, too much line is a source of problems for me. Experiment with different reels. I find that some are a lot better to pitch with than others, just way easier to set up for some reason. Normally I'm pitching with 17 or 20 lb line in wood cover and around docks. Another thing that I find that helps some if you are straining for distance on a low flat pitch is to get your shoulder and body into it by lowering your shoulder and twisting your body back on the back cast and recoiling forward on the cast. To get the bait to drop vertically next to the target I either strip line with my thumb lightly on the reel with the rod pointing about level with the water or lift the rod with my thumb lightly feathering the reel several times as needed. I find that the latter helps you detect if something inhales the bait on the drop. I haven't tried the medium heavy 7'4" rods but will this year. Sometimes shorter rods are good in heavier cover. I'm usually using 7 footers.

I'm aware of the difference. When he said this the flight of the bait is interrupted when the slack is gone is what made me think Flipping. If the water is deeper you still have to let line out (free spool your reel) or peel it out when you Flip.