Casting multiple times

[bcklash]

I was watching Edwin Evers today and said that he'll sometimes cast at a log or laydown 15 or 20 times. How many of you guys do this and will you cast that many times around a dock? I don't, but maybe I should.

[nofearengineer]

Originally Posted by bcklash

I was watching Edwin Evers today and said that he'll sometimes cast at a log or laydown 15 or 20 times. How many of you guys do this and will you cast that many times around a dock? I don't, but maybe I should.

I'm a stubborn jerk. I'll throw at cover until I get tired of fighting the wind. My buddy mark gets annoyed because I will slow fish it with a jig or drop shot for an hour.

I wonder if this is why I don't catch a lot.

[lowrider]

This is an area i need to work on. Sometimes it seems I never stop more than a few minutes at any given piece of structure.

[zooker]

if it is a good laydown you need to cast to the high percentage areas. maybe in 5-6 cast you can cover the biggest amount of these percentage areas..

zooker

[carolina-rig-01]

If you are convinced that a laydown, dock, or whatever is holding a fish then you need to fish it until you change your mind and are convinced that it's not holding any fish. 15 to 20 cast isn't too many.

[bassinbob]

I've caught some nice bass from laydowns. After a multitude of casts from different angles I'll move in and flip it also. A lot of times casts might miss a spot where a big bass is lurking. Flipping it just might convince that bass to bite.

[bamabassman]

Personally i go with 5-6 casts. But 15-20 doesn't sound bad either. Maybe i too need to fish em more throughly.

[TN_Bassin]

If i absolutley know there is a fish there. I can spend up to 15 minutes casting to cover sometimes longer if i know theres a fish on bed there. This past week I spent over 2 hours fishing a specific area because I knew there was a 5lb+ fish there.

[Vegasspider]

I would say I go more for time than number of cast. If I am certain they are there I would say 25-30 is no way out of the norm. Thats really not that many if you think about it. I kind of agree with NFE, I stubborn if I know your in there. My limit is usually 3-4 different baits and if they dont work then out of there. I am finally getting better at getting a reaction going and thin max. the area with what they want. Or at least what I think they want. Anyhow it works for me.

[screwballl]

I spent almost 45 minutes taunting a few bass in the creek area not to far from my house today... finally paid off when the 13" bass took the worm... although was hoping I could take one of the much bigger ones roaming the area but a catch makes me happy.

[Bender]

If I don't know there's fish there but it looks good I'll try to cast to every likely area, maybe 5-15 casts. Last fall this paid off in spades when I caught 9 bass of one tree in the water! Only caught one the whole rest of the day though. I don't think you have to beat something to death but don't leave too quickly. I think the most I would do it casting to the same exact spot or hole 3 or 4 times which can still mean taking 10+ minutes on one laydown.

[Jrob78]

I think in some situations if you are just repeat casting to a piece of cover that many times you are wasting time. The key is to try to hit it from as many different angles as possible and from as many sides as possible, really try to dissect it.

[rodnreel]

Originally Posted by Jrob78

I think in some situations if you are just repeat casting to a piece of cover that many times you are wasting time. The key is to try to hit it from as many different angles as possible and from as many sides as possible, really try to dissect it.

That's the key. If you're just casting to the same piece of cover the same way over and over again, it's a waste. Hit it with a couple of different presentations from all angles, and if you can't get bit then move on. I'm struggling with this right now, too. It's hard to leave those areas you know have fish.

[jmartin]

Well I like to hit a good spot several times sometimes that 6th or 7th cast is the one that makes big mamma mad enought to hit.

Jerry

[BassinNC]

If I feel that there is a fish in there ill throw 20 times easy.

[RichZ]

I think there's so much more to it than just repeat casting to a specific object a specific number of times. Depending on the situation and conditions, one cast might be too many, or 20 might not be enough. Is it a cove full of logs and stumps? If so, I might prefer to get 2 or 3 well placed presentations to the key spots on 20 logs, over casting 20 times at one log before moving on to the next one.

Have you caught any fish off cover in the cove yet? If you've got three fish in the well, all from logs or stumps in this cove or another like it, heck yes! Work every similar piece of cover you find to death. But if all 3 of those fish came on the 1st or 2nd cast to a piece of wood, don't ever make a 4th cast to another piece of wood if you haven't gotten bit on cast 1, 2 or 3.

Learn to recognize the key spots on a log or laydown. Where it contacts the surface and where it contacts the bottom. Where a branch or the stub of one projects off the trunk or a larger branch, or a separate piece of wood crosses the target piece. Where there's a hollow under a log, and so forth. Make sure you hit all the IMPORTANT spots on the laydown, if you've got a lot of confidence that there's reason for a fish to be in this area, using this type of cover.

Don't consider a spot 'checked' until you've hit it with what you've been catching them on today, and with your primary confidence bait for the conditions being fished. I might have a good topwater or spinnerbait bite going, and that's the first thing I'm going to throw at a likely spot. But overall, I have more confidence in a green pumpkin creature bait, (or a grub or a heavy jig & trailer, depending on the season) and it's not very often I'll leave a spot that I believe may hold a fish, until the creature (or other seasonal go-to bait) has paid it a visit -- even if I haven't gotten bit on that lure yet today.

And don't leave a spot after catching a fish on it, without trying to catch more. The more fish you catch of a log, boulder, stump or whatever, the longer you need to devote to trying to elicit another bite off it. Last year, I spent a total of 9 hours over 3 consecutive fishing days, casting a grub, creature bait and jerkbait at the same 4 rocks, no more than 20 feet apart, in 5 to 6 feet of gin clear water. Caught over 90 fish, doing it, too.

A couple decades ago, (maybe a couple and a half, now that I think of it), I won a Ranger casting a jig all day at one log no more than 7 or 8 feet long, and 6 or 7 inches in diameter. Gin clear water, and I could see the entire log as clear as day. I never saw a fish until I set the hook, but I was swinging on fish pretty much all day.

Also consider, do you have other places to be? If you've got more potential fish producing places, consider checking them before investing an inordinate amount of time in this one.

It all comes down to the situation at hand, and interpreting the mood of the fish. In short, it takes experience to decide when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em. When to sit, and when to run.

[Cavs1123]

I will if i have a really good fealing about the area.

[BassinNC]

I was fishing with my old man yesterday he had one major backlash and while he was digging it out I threw prob 25 times to a 5 ft wide spot and on about 25th cast I caught a 4 pounder.

[CMorg]

I just read something about KVD doing this. He says if he thinks fish are there he will cast the first time and reel slowly to catch an aggressive fish , if no takers he will cast up to 25 times to the same cover to trigger them or as he said " make them bite ".

[TN_Bassin]

This weekend my cousin and I were fishing a rockslide. Off of this one rockslide we caught a 4.71, 3.56, 3.45 and another fish close to three along with several just keepers. This slide was probably only around 10 foot of fishable area but inbetween every boulder was a solid fish. Anyways the reason for that was because we fished this little 10 foot rockslide for every bit of 5 hours, picking away at every angle. We took breaks from it when we figured we were pressuring it too much but kept on coming back. Each time we came back one of us caught a decent fish.

[Bassboss]

Yes!

Same thing with top water fishing. Had to cast to the same spot 5 times after changing angel to get bit. So yeah, definitly change angles, and make multiple casts to the same spot when ever you can!

[Bob Smith]

Originally Posted by CMorg

I just read something about KVD doing this. He says if he thinks fish are there he will cast the first time and reel slowly to catch an aggressive fish , if no takers he will cast up to 25 times to the same cover to trigger them or as he said " make them bite ".

I read that same article. That may be one the biggest difference between the pros and every day fishermen. At thier level you have to go with confidence and experience. If you have confidence that a fish is there and experience tells you that there should be one there, then you should fish it. The odds are that thier experiences have also shown them to be persistent and make many cast to aggravate the fish into biting. Another thing that sometimes happens is that once you get one fish to bite it will often excite other fish holding on that structure to bite also!