As mentioned, all the pros are really good at casting. I had the privilege of marshaling for Aaron Martens at a TTBC several years ago, and what I was blown away by was his ability to flip/pitch. You never really hear about Aaron Martens being one of the better flippers/pitchers on tour, but after watching him go to work he sure has to me in my opinion. That dude can pitch like no one else I've ever seen. He would peak under docks to see where the pylons were located and then pitch his bait deep under the docks. His bait never got more than three inches above the water the entire way back (zero skipping), and when it got to the spot he wanted, his bait landed like an otter sliding into a riverbank- ZERO splash. He could flip like this at least 20-30 feet back under the boat docks, and caught a bunch of fish doing it. It was impressive!

Think it was 1999 I got to fish a Pro-Am sponsored by BPS owner Johnny Morris on Table Rock at Big Cedar Lodge. About 40 of the top Bassmasters of the day were invited including Clunn, Brauer, Tommy Biffle, Tommy Martin, David Fritts, Shaw Grigsby, David Wharton and the rest of the then Nitro Team. It was a one day event with the winning pro getting $50,000 and Am winning a Bass Tracker rig. On the afternoon before the Tournament, they staged a "Best Caster" competition by setting up an on the water course about a hundred yards long in the cove next to the Lodge Marina. It was a timed course with cast targets of varying size and distance along the way. The competitor had to hit the target a prescribed number of times before moving to the next station so both speed and accuracy were required. Some were simple rings, some had overhanging obstacles, and a couple were well protected behind a low hanging dock. There was a metal plate on the back side so you could hear when the lure actually hit the target. Some tried it skipping and some pitching/flipping. After the "under the dock" station there was a long distance cast to the finish line which stopped the timer clock.

Winner of the casting contest got $10,000 so this was for a lot more than just bragging rights. Who won? Tommy Biffle. Late in the competition Brauer was challenging with a good time, kicked the trolling motor to full speed ahead and picked up a rod with a Zara Spook to make his long distance cast to the finish line. A big windup became a monster backlash and took him out of contention.

Got drawn to fish with Biffle for the next day's one day Tournament. He told me he had 20 lbs. that morning in practice pitching a jig in murky water. Said we would make a long run.

Next day starts with snow, sleet and 22 degrees. Fun morning for a wide open run of about 40 miles. Finally reach the river headwaters to be shocked that an upstream release of water overnight had changed Biffle's murky pattern to 5' feet of water clear enough to see bottom. Needless to say, the bite had gone away and we caught nothing where he had done so well 24 hours earlier. The highlight of the day was watching him pitch and cast left handed and retrieve right with the best of accuracy I have ever seen. We ended up hitting channel swing banks on the way back down to Big Cedar with Wiggle Wart cranks, but neither of us had enough hooked up to be a contender. Who won the $50,000? Brauer. Guess he got his revenge for that magnum backlash.

Sure there are some of the younger anglers that could match or exceed Biffle's casting/pitching skills today but would bet he would still be in the top 3.

At the end of the day I helped him load his equipment into his truck and asked him if he had special reels or if they were super-tuned. He was sponsored by Quantum at the time. He said no, they were right out of the the box. Impressive.