casting plastic worms

[skeeter944]

i know this is probably a dumb question, but it was on my mind.how far do YOU cast a plastic worm?i read somewhere that too long a cast and you have too much slack,therfore you cant detect strikes as well as you can with a short cast.just something to think and post about. thanks!

[bass kicker]

that could be true with mono but with braid there is no slack so probaly not so true but i usually flip n pitch when using plastics

[crankybait]

um i dont really think the distance matters, depending on what youre aiming for. just like a few feet past the cover i guess. reel it in right over under thru or whatever. i dont know wtho, ask one of the more experienced people

[bass kicker]

ya ask eb he will tell ya ait that right reb

[Futurepro22]

just like with any plastic bait when using mono there will ALWAYS be "stretch" in your line when you goto set the hook.. nowadays the braids are near zero stretch in them... flurocarbon has some stretch not as much as mono but more than braided lines... they say the the less line that you have out the less stretch there is.... you can prove this to yourself... get any lb test line say 12lb.. tie it off to something stirdy, a post or something then cut off about 2 ft of line... and pull it.. you should feel it stretch a bit.. then do the same thing with 12 ft of line... youll see/feel the difference.. hope thiss help you understand what is meant your question

[bassintxlady]

personally, when i cast my plastics using a super mono line it doesn't matter how far i cast it, i usually have a tungsten weight on it and i reel in until i get in touch with it. then i can work it how i want to as long as i maintain contact with that bait in order to know what it's doing on the bottom, it really doesn't matter how far i throw it...when i feel the fish pick it up rather they hit it hard or Ping ping. i have the oportunity for a good hook set on the fish....

[basstech]

A lot of that depends on the setup you're using. Weight, line, line memory, length of rod, that all comes into play. I've never been able to outcast where I can "feel" the bite. Maybe I have but wouldn't know, but I have cast farther than where I can get a solid hook set on a fish. Especially in deeper water. If your using a 6' rod and you cast 70ft. and the bait is in 15 ft. of water, say the fish hits in the first ten feet. That is a lot of distance to translate the power to the hook and the hook up to bite ratio is going to be a lot less than if you had only cast 20 or 30 ft. I guess my point is, the distanced of your cast is going to affect your hooking ability more than your ability to feel.

[Mac3]

I learned from Bassintom that skipping the bait upon entry can be used to announce the worm's arrival in the area.....especially when casting to weedlines and weed edges. If you are skipping the bait, a really long cast is out of the question. A high arc cast, purposely casting it high, and letting it fall with a splash can also be used. For stealth, a weightless worm if very light, seems to cast better for me with a long arm sweeping cast....kinda lobbing it out without the spring in the rod.....like casting a live crawler without tearing it off due to too much force.

In the wind, cast low....maybe even a sidearm cast similar to a skipping cast, but stopping it with your finger on the line just before it hits.

With a weighted worm, I use a normal cast, a quick backstroke and a quicker forward motion....loading an arc in the rod itself making it do the work.

When close in to the reeds, I use a gentle, but high cast which lets the worm drop from above and not bounce and wrap on the reeds. This puts the line resting on the reeds and that bothers some folks, but I use it in my old age to serve as a strike indicator of sorts.....watching the droops in the line between reeds closest to the lure.

Good Fishing, Mac

[JB]

I always felt the longer distance you cast plastic, the less of a chance for a good hookset, compared to a pitch maybe 10-30 ft away...it also makes it evident on here who is fishing from the bank and who's in a boat, of course if you're bankfishin, your cast is probably going to be further, whereas a boat you can kinda of sneak up on the bass...

[Rodman_Rob]

if ultra clear water, you can rest assured I'll be casting that worm as far as I can, however I usually try to find a target for my plastics and its not always easy to hit that target from a mile away.

[bass kicker]

i dont really think it matters how far you cast it the only way i could see it mattering is for the hookset but some one already wrote about that

[betursweetbass]

Everyone has or will develope in time, their own "comfort zone", when using worms or just about any soft plastics, I don't like to get my offering to far away from this comfort zone. I'd say my comfort zone is within maybe a 35 to 50 foot distance, outside of that zone reduces the odds for a good hook set as others have mentioned. If you do use braided lines, which I don't, that distance could be increased I suppose. When fishin on the fly (with no weight) my comfort zone is only about 25 to 40 feet, and less in windy conditions. Like most of the other guys here, I am usually "targeting" a spot next to cover, or stucture, and I will not usually make a random long distance toss to nowhere in particular unless I'm just bored.

[Bass Ackwards]

Depends on your set up, I normal flip or pitch it when presenting with a T or C-rig but if I was going to drop shoot or wacky rig I would let it fly.

[Christopherkeene9]

What does it matter too if your fishing from shore. You gotta get it to that cover or else there's no point in even trying then.

Chris

[JB]

Rob,
that is a excellant point about the clear water, last year was my first experience with 10 ft of visiblity almost all summer, beforehand, most murky lakes up here you could only see 1-2 feet down..

[zooker]

if rigged well i can really rear back and let it go a good ways. but jb has a valid point normally when fishing plastic baits eye balling the line is the most important asspect. 30-40 feet off a slight twitch is very tough to see with clear lines the very reason why i use a bright green -ande envy- mono. i can detect a slight nibble with a 30+ foot line loop out -do to wind- the ideal conditions for plastic's are with slight to NO wind. but seldom are times ideal.

zooker

[Rodman_Rob]

Originally Posted by JB

Rob,
that is a excellant point about the clear water, last year was my first experience with 10 ft of visiblity almost all summer, beforehand, most murky lakes up here you could only see 1-2 feet down..

we have very few lakes that get muddy/murky here. most everything is clear from all the sand and limestone in the state, there's a few lakes around here with stained water, typically lined with cypress trees.

[bass kicker]

listen to these guys they are far more exsperienced then me in this topic

[lizardsrule]

That's what I think of the people who can't get hooksets at distances with their plastics. Use a Superline, and a good rod, no reason you can't set the hookset from 1,000 yards away if you use the right equipment. Mac has a great point, however I can skip some plastics a pretty good distance too, so again, it's your equipment and also YOU If you give a half a$$ hookset, then don't complain about not hooking the fish. If you give a a WOW, rocking the boat hookset, then you'll do fine. Plastics can also ball up or get situated on the hook, that you need to get through more than you were intending to when rigging it. Any sissy hookset can and will cost you fish. Now if you just have to have mono, then use a leader of it, but not the whole line. These are the type of things you need to do to improve your fish catching. Now think about it, even when in a boat, there are times you can't get close to some great spots, at least not without spooking the fish. So you have to cast to them. Do you think I'm gonna just bypass it because it's a long hookset? If you do, well hope I fish against you in a tourney some time then

Lizards

[bassintom]

the only time i make long cast with a t-rig worm or wacky rig senko is in gin clear water.otherwise there is no reason to cast a mile.you compromise your hookset when using mono(which i mostly use).
most of the time i will only cast 20-50 ft.i prefer hand to hand combat.
using a short cast you are able to get a good hookset under almost any conditions.
i prefer spinning gear for light weigt t-rigs,but don't use lighter than 8 lb.test..also when you feel that first tic or see the line twitch,set the hook as hard as possible.
you do need a rod with good backbone.

[buzzdog]

I usually do the Wacky Worm and toss it as far as I can. I figure the farther out, the more fish between me and and the worm. A better chance of getting a fish to the bank. Maybe it's just me, I figure more fish within 60 feet than within 20.

[bass kicker]

is a mediumheavy 6 foot 6 good enought to get a good hook set with plastics

[Rodman_Rob]

mh with braid or fluro is plenty fine for good hooksets w/plastics. if using mono you'll have a hard time if you have a lot of line out.

[skeeter944]

i use a 6'6''mh graphite fast action rod with a high speed baitcaster and 15lb green trilene big game.

[trigger]

i fish soft plastics about 75 percent of the time and i see no reason for a long cast to begin with. roughly 7 out of 10 fish i pick up off of plastic is caught within 10 ft of the cover im trying to fish. but to answer your question i dont think you would lose any feel so to say as txlady said you are gonna be making contact with your bait so youll have the feel you need.

bass kicker, the 6'6" rod will sufice however i prefer a 7 ft mh. it gives the added reach