Long-Distance Surf Casting Techniques
by
Randy Kadish
We've all been there.
Standing in the beautiful vast surf, casting our long fishing rods for hours
without a single hit.
And we wonder, maybe this just isn't our day.
We again cast, but our concentration has ebbed, so instead of watching the
line and maintaining contact with the lure, we lose ourselves in the music of
crashing waves - until the music is pierced by the shriek-like howls of
seagulls.
Down the beach a flock circles and dives: a sign bait fish and probably
stripers are moving towards us. Something goes off in us.
An adrenaline rush?
A predatory instinct?
We don't exactly what, or how to describe it, but its changed us. Electricity
seems to be surging through us. We're wired. Like soldiers before battle, we
watch and wait.
The seagulls move closer, then again circle and dive. But they're out of our
casting reach! And stay that way.
A disappointment. We wonder, what will we tell our wives - that the stripers
just weren't running. Will that explanation fly again?
Maybe. But the sad thing is, it doesn't have to be that way. The seagulls, you
see, aren't beyond out reach. They're beyond casting skills.
Exactly what do I mean?
For years tournament fly casters have been refining their techniques, and as
a result, are now casting farther than before. Can their techniques can help
us surfcasters reach that faraway fish?
Yes, I believe. But will we have to swing the lure in a wide circle and risk
hooking someone on a crowded beach?
Absolutely not. To help me explain, let's begin by looking at some universal
casting principals.
FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CAST: 1. The lure will move in the direction the rod
rip moved just before it was stopped. 2. To effectively load (bend) the rod we
must begin the cast slowly, then accelerate and reach maximum speed just
before we stop the rod. (If we begin the cast too fast the lure will also move
too fast and therefore not fully pull on the rod.) 3. To use all the power stored
in a loaded rod, we must abruptly stop the rod without lowering the tip from
the target line. 4. All things being equal, the more we lengthen our casting
stroke, the more we will load the rod.
With these principals in mind let's now turn to the techniques of
long-distance surf casting.
THE GRIP: Any slack in the line will make it impossible to fully load the rod.
When casting a spinning rod we often add slack by not holding the line with
enough tension. Even worse, just before we abruptly stop the rod, our index
finger often prematurely releases the line, and the lure sails high and off to
the right. To avoid this, I place two fingers in front of the reel stem and two
behind. I pickup the line with my right index finger, then I move my hand back
so that only my index finger is in front of the stem. Next, I pull the line up and
back and gently press my fingertip against the stem, but not the line. (I like to
feel the weight of the lure to cast it accurately.)
When casting heavy lures, I recommend wearing a golf glove so the line
doesn't cut your finger.
THE SLINGSHOT STANCE: My left foot is forward - I'll assume you're
right-handed - and points straight at the target. My right foot points about
thirty degrees to the right of the target. My feet are shoulder-width apart. The
front of my right foot is in-line with the front of my left heel. (If my right foot is
too far back or too far outward I will not be able to fully rotate my hips during
the cast.) My knees are slightly bent. My left hand is holding the end of the
rod butt. The lure hangs down about two feet from the rod tip. I begin my
cast by keeping my elbow in place, and by slightly rotating my shoulders and
hips backwards, and by moving the rod tip straight down and back. I break
both my wrists back and stop the rod at three-thirty to four o'clock to the
horizon. (The lure must not touch the ground.) My rod hand is about eye-level
and not past my rear shoulder. My elbow points forward. My forearm points to
about two o'clock.
(Holding the rod in this position will make it easier for us to cast
without lowering the rod tip from the target line, and also to move
our right arm in-sync with our body rotation. More about that later.)
Finally, I shift my weight to my back foot.
THE CAST: Leading with my elbow, I begin slowly, making sure I move my right
arm in-sync with my weight shift and my body rotation. I do this for two
reasons: 1. If my arm moves faster than my body I will, in effect, become an
arm-caster and lose power. (Ever wonder why a major-league pitcher looks as
if he's throwing so effortlessly?) 2. If my arm gets in front of my body I will
lower the rod tip from the target line and prematurely unload the rod.
Back to my cast: Pushing up with my right hand, and pulling down with my left,
I accelerate the rod and move the butt perpendicular to the target line. (Fully
rotating our hips and shoulders allows us to increase the length we can move
- and therefore load - the rod at this angle.) When my right arm is about
three-quarters extended, I reach maximum speed by pretending I'm
hammering nails and breaking both wrists halfway. Abruptly, I stop the rod at
about eleven o'clock and release the line. My right arm is fully extended. My
weight is on the ball and toes of my front foot. My front leg is straight.
THAT EXTRA DISTANCE: So, we practiced these techniques and we're casting
farther than ever, but wouldn't you know it: We're back on the beach and the
fish are ten feet beyond our reach.
Now what's a surfcaster to do?
We'll again borrow techniques from fly casters, and lengthen our casting
stroke similar to the way spey (rhymes
with say) casters lengthen theirs.
To do this I start out with a different stance.
I hold the rod across my body, almost as if
I'm holding a guitar and pointing it outward:
My right arm is about three-quarters ex-
tended, my right hand about shoulder level.
The rod tip points forward, at about forty-five
degrees to the right of the target line, and
about thirty degrees above the horizon. My
weight is on my front foot. I begin the cast
keeping my right elbow pointing down, shift-
ing my weight back, and moving the rod tip up
and back in an half-oval until I'm in my slingshot
stance. Without stopping, I make my slingshot cast.
SETTING THE HOOK: Since your lure is now really out there, you'll need a
longer, more powerful hook set. Therefore, as I retrieve the lure I hold the
rod across my body. To fight fatigue, I balance the rod in my right hand. The
rod butt is under my left armpit. My weight is on my left foot. When I feel a
strike I point the rod towards the lure, quickly take up slack, then rip the rod
tip up and back as far as I can.
IN CLOSING: So now if you don't catch a fish what will you tell your wife?
Luckily, we anglers are blessed with a treasure of excuses.
Copyright 2007 by Randall Kadish. All rights reserved.
This article originally appeared in Nor'east Saltwater Magazine
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