Baitcasting Techniques

Part VII - Pitching

Many a times when we fish, we need to present the bait or lure to the fish in the quietest possible manner in which distance becomes the lesser priority. Knowing how to do so is extremely important especially in waters of which fishes are easily spooked. One of these casting methods is to pitch your bait or lure into the fish zone. This casting technique is called “pitching.” The idea of pitching is to get your bait or lure to glide about a feet above the surface of the water and end with a quiet entry into the water.

I am assuming as usual that you are already well versed with the use of a baitcasting setup. This technique requires a looser spool control thus your ability to feather and control the spool is important. It is an easy casting technique and that is easy to learn.

Step 1- Preparing for the cast. The line from tip to lure and tip to reel are at the same length.

The Mechanics Of Pitching

Imagine a pendulum with a weight tied to a line, hanging from a stick. Pulling the weight to the left or right and letting go will allow the weight to swing toward the direct opposite side and back again to where you first pulled it to.

What happens when you lift the stick as the weight is about to swing away from you? Lifting up the stick will generate a higher force due to gravity and thus helping the weight to achieve higher speeds as it swings out. This is somewhat how the pitching technique works.

Building Muscle Memory

First of all, remove the hooks from your lure for this exercise or just use a casting plug. I will be using the word lure in this article. First press down the thumb-bar and allow the lure to drop. Bring your rod up until it is pointing to the skies (pointing straight up) or at 90 degrees from the land and bring the lure towards you catching it with your free hand. Bring the lure to the same height or level of your reel.

Next lower your rod tip till it reaches about 45 degrees. Now, let your lure go and it will swing like a pendulum. As the lure swings back towards you, grab it with your free hand. Repeat the same thing. Try to feel the weight of the lure as it moves away from you.

Now, The Real Thing

Step 1

Press down the thumb-bar and allow the lure to drop. Bring your rod up until it is pointing to the skies (pointing straight up) or at 90 degrees from the land and bring the lure towards you catching it with your free hand. Bring the lure to the same height or level of your reel.

Step 2

With the lure in your free hand, bring both your hand that is holding the lure and the rod tip down so that its tip is pointing at the horizon. Press down the thumb-bar and prepare for the cast.

Step 2 – Press the thumbar to release the spool and thumb the spool. Bring rod tip down while holding lure in the other hand.

Step 3

Now we come to the actual cast. Let go of the lure and while you do so bring the rod tip up until you feel the weight of the lure pulling outward is felt, then let go of the spool. This will allow your lure to fly out. Remember to feather the spool.

Step 3- Lure taking off.

Step 3 – Side view.

Step 4

As the lure is flying out just maintain the position of your rod, keeping your eyes on the lure. Lower your rod tip as the lure is about to land in the water.