baitcasting for idiots a.k.a me

ok well although ive been bank bass fishing for a few years now ive never used a bait caster ive already been told how to set my reel but here is my ? when im in the act of casting when do I push the button and let the string go every time I try to side are cast straight out in front of me with my right hand it goes to the left like left left same when I try an over head cast it goes straight down any help would be great thanks again

Here's a summary of what I'd do if I was showing someone for the first time.

1. I'd suggest 12-14 lb monofilament line. Fluoro takes a little more care and can be finicky, and heavier than 14 lb is a little tougher to learn with due to it's memory.

2. Use a 3/8 oz weight to practice with, and you want a rod with some tip action, not a buggy whip and not a broom stick, somewhere in between.

3. Set your spool tensioner (that's the little knurled knob that is on the handle side on most baitcasters). Reel your weight up to about 12" from the tip, tighten the tensioner all the way down, push the button on the reel. The weight should not fall. Slowly loosen the tensioner until the weight starts to fall slowly. What you're wanting is the weight to fall freely, hit the ground and your spool to stop spinning on it's own.

4. Ready for your cast. Push the button and immediately put your thumb on the spool to stop your bait from falling.

5. Overhand cast is your first to learn. You'll see that your rod speed is one of the most important parts of your cast. Starting out, make a slow steady cast, and let your thumb off the spool at about the 12:00 position and aim high. This will get you in the habit of letting the bait loose early in your casts. Don't worry if it goes straight up or only 5'. What you're trying to learn is that relationship between rod speed, the point of release of the bait, and how fast your spool spins.

6. Once you get comfortable with this, start throwing a little bit harder and release the bait a little bit later. This will start to increase your distance.

7. Once you get comfortable with this, loosen your spool tensioner a LITTLE, and keep throwing. You're now going to be in the thumb control of the spool part of casting. The looser the spool, the further the bait will go, but the well known backlash now comes into play. You'll have to start slowing the spool speed with your thumb as the bait slows down and gets to it's destination. Easy way to think about it? The spool has to spin as fast as the lure in the early part of the cast, but as the lure slows down before hitting it's spot, the spool keeps on spinning. YOU have to slow the spool down gradually with your thumb. It's a touch thing and will come with experience.

8. Now you can set up a can or bucket and start with your aiming.

Throwing a bait caster looks easy, and it is after you get the hang of it. It takes practice and lots of patience, but once you get it, then you just opened up a whole new part of fishing by being able to throw heavy line and big baits that you cannot throw on a spincast or spinning reel.

As you get more comfortable, you'll see that line type and size, rod length and action, bait type and weight, and the quality of the reel all have an effect on how you cast.

Good luck and don't give up!

Great write up by bigfish, I should add that when do get a backlash, call it a "professional over-run"...

Bigfish casting 101 Right on !!

Be smooth, not herky jerky.

I push the button before I cast. Just keep your thumb on the spool until need to release it. When I was first learning I also set the reel to a really tight setting so that it would backlash a lot less until I got use to optimal settings for my lures.

Good advise here. I learned early on that technique is way more important than speed when it comes to casting distance. I also learned that when you are using different rods the release will be different because the rod will load differently. I think it took me about 30 minutes to get it down and after 5 years I will still get a backlash every now and then but not often at all. You will love baitcasters. I feel i have much better accuracy with them. Just dont get frustrated and give up.

I taught my nephew a few years ago. I just got him an mettle reel from academy. Put 12# mono and a small weight on it. And had him throw it in the yard working on short accurate throws first then getting more distance. He figured it out pretty quick and now he has less issues than I do. It's not that hard. Just takes practice and I would practice at home instead of when trying to fish. Won't be nearly as frustrating figuring it out.

Find someone to show u how to manipulat the rod correctly or watch some videos it's all about the mechanics of casting

Shoot, that ain't a backlash. Let me rare back and catch my crankbait on the HDS unit during my backcast - then I'll show you a REAL backlash.

"Don't give up" is the key. Everyone backlashes so you may want to buy some extra line:).

I sucked at it at first but like others said..practice...alot. I still have trouble with the flip and skipping under structure. If all thats not hard enough try doing it from a kayak

Bigfish nailed it...nuff said

Also just to throw in that if you have an older reel or really cheap reel it's tougher to learn on. I use cheap loosely also some guys cheap is $10 while other guys cheap is $200. I'm meaning low quality reels that have low bearing count plastic or graphite frames etc. a good learner reel I've taught several people with is the h2o express mettle. Very easy to use and can be bought from $25-$60.

Great advice Big Fish! Good video on backlash Hoppy!
All good....
Just takes some practice....it will come
God Bless

the only thing I would add to what bigfish said.. is even though you have the tensioner set to stop the line when it hits the ground just hanging from the rod tip.. when you cast the weight, you have to clamp your thumb down on the spool the instant the weight or lure hits the ground or water. The centrifacle force on the spool is much greater when you have made a cast vs just letting the weight drop from the end of the rod. A back lash is guaranteed if you don't clamp that thumb on the spool.

Good luck, we all started somewhere
BD

Too much line on the spool can make your reel more likely to backlash. Try stripping some line off if you have tried all the above and your reel is still too sensitive.

Also a great tip that I use when teaching some1 to throw a baitcaster. Is make 1 long cast then before you reel it in take about a 3in strip of electrical tape and put it on the spool under the casted out line. Doing this prevents any back lashing beyond the point of the tape

When I was learning I had to take the wrist action out of the cast. With a spincast reel you can really try to "crack the whip" with your wrist.....Just use a nice smooth casting motion with no wrist action for a while. Let your forearm and shoulder do the work.

bigfishtx has some good advice above.

Another tip I use to help beginner baitcasters is this..

Once you have adjusted the brakes on the reel and you are ready to make the cast, hold the rod out in front of you. Rotate your wrist so the reel handles face upward. Now aim at the sky, like you are trying to try your bait up into the clouds and throw it. Handles up, throw up! LOl

It helps a lot of folks.