Hey folks, Glenn May here with BassResource.com, and a common question that we get on the forums is, how do I cast light baits (lures) on baitcasting gear? So, today I'm gonna show you just how to do that.
First, I wanna talk about the rod. What you want is a medium power rod with a moderate to fast action tip. It's gonna look something like this, okay? It's got this nice flexible bend in it, actually quite a bit, quite a bit of bend in it with this real limber tip. That's gonna help fling that bait out for you. You're gonna use the rod to cast the bait, not your power. So we'll get to that in just a second.
But before you do that, with your baitcaster, what you wanna do is first of all take the magnetic brakes all way off. Magnetic brakes are here on the palm side of your reel. Then what you wanna do is to press the button and let your bait drop till it hits the ground. Just let it drop all the way. And then when it hits, your spool is gonna stop, all right? If it stops just a little bit of line that's loose on it, you got it perfect, that's what you wanna do.
So keep adjusting your spool tension knob until that...until you get that right. You don't want it to hit and your spool to keep rolling. Consequently, if you're...conversely if you have it too tight, then your bait isn't gonna drop. So you find that sweet spot.
Once you have it set up properly, now you're ready to do the cast. Here's the key, lotta times when you cast the Texas rigs or heavier baits, you have about that much hanging off the tip, right? Okay, not with light lures. The light lures you wanna about double that. You wanna have... Well not quite double that, but look how much I got hanging off of it now. It's...that's about two feet or so roughly, that's what you wanna have hanging off the tip. A lot of extra line hanging off it because you're gonna use the weight of the bait to cast.
Now when you cast, it's mostly in your wrist. Really there's not a whole lotta forearm and you definitely don't wanna put your shoulder or arm into it. And if you're not sure how to do that, a great way to do that is just take a piece of paper, put it against your body and hold it with your elbow. Okay, that's gonna limit your arm movement because here's the thing, it seems counterintuitive but you don't wanna throw it really hard. I know that's what you wanna do, instinct... You just wanna throw it really hard to get it out there, but that's actually counterproductive. That's what causes all the backlashes and the problems.
Instead, it's a really light, easy lob cast, okay? And again, it's mostly with your wrist. All you're gonna do is this, just hit the button and watch my wrist, I'm gonna hold it here with my hand for stability, but it's with the wrist. That's all it is, it's just nice and easy. Real nice and easy.
And when you're casting, you wanna put your thumb on the reel lightly, just to feel the reel, and if you feel the line getting loose, apply a little bit more pressure to slow down that reel, because that's what causes the backlash.
Gonna show you one more time. Look how far out I can get. Watch this. Look at that, fired it way out there and it was a real light cast, okay? What you wanna do is just throw it nice and easy, don't use a lotta power behind it. Again, I'm gonna show you this real...show you this one more time. Look at that, okay? Really far, nice and easy cast. Play that again and over and over. You'll see my arm didn't move much, my shoulder, my upper body didn't roll at all, it was my wrist, all in the wrist.
That's all you gotta do, it takes practice though, okay? You're not gonna get it the first time you try it, I understand that. It's gonna be a little frustrating for you at first, keep trying it, keep practicing, use the techniques I just showed you. Make sure you have the right kinda rod first, and I'm telling you what, you will get it down, I promise you, and you'll have a lot more fun, you'll be able to throw nice light lures like Flukes and Senkos, and those type of things. For more tips and tricks like this, visit BassResource.com.
