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Casting Tactics 101
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Casting Basics 101:

Practicing good casting fundamentals will put more muskies in the boat each year!

The mid-summer day on Lake of the Woods was hot and sunny, typical of late July in the Northwest Angle. My fishing partner Coach Kip Cramer and I were fishing a classic neck down area in the famous Big Narrows region where I had caught numerous fish before during previous trips to the Angle. I was easing the boat towards a little micro bay of cabbage weed that had deep water access close by, plus current. It always seems to hold an aggressive musky or two each and every season. We were about fifty yards from the spot, and I was casting a copper/red Buchertail along a steep rock wall that dropped into twenty-eight feet of water while Coach Kip opted for a crankbait. While easing down the shoreline, I just happened to spot three little cabbage weed tops barely protruding the surface under a small overhanging birch tree. On a hunch, I fired a perfect cast just to the left of this little tiny clump of weeds, and as the bucktail neared the boat, I watched in awe as a chunky forty-seven inch musky shot out from that little weed pocket and literally engulfed the lure in front of my eyes! After a fierce but brief struggle, the fish was resting in the Frabill, ready for pictures and release. The key to this musky encounter was my ability to fire a perfect cast to a tiny piece of cover. I believe many musky anglers, especially newcomers to the sport, overlook the importance of proper casting fundamentals, and I believe this oversight costs them numerous muskies in the boat each year. This article will discuss a number of key situations where an angler’s casting ability makes a big difference, and will stress the importance of time on the water along with knowing your equipment and setting it up properly.

Equipment needs for optimum casting performance.

It is important to note here that your rod, reel, and line set-ups will be a very important factor in your casting abilities as an angler. An old reel that has not been lubricated or maintained, a short “pool cue” type rod, or old, stiff monofilament line can all be negative factors when looking at casting performance. To maximize my casting efficiency, I personally use quality graphite St. Croix rods that are a minimum of seven feet in length, a good quality bait casting reel loaded with a premium super braid line such as Vicious Braid. Combining these items makes for a great casting combination that enables distance or accuracy, depending on the situation at hand. It is also crucial that all three cogs in the casting chain match the three items I suggested above, or you risk poor performance, even if you might have two out of the three items necessary to make good casts. I definitely prefer today’s new spectra fiber lines for optimum casting and hook setting performance. These high tech lines seem to cast farther and smoother than the older braided or mono lines we used in the past. It is important that you place the right amount of line on your spool too. Too much line means frequent backlashes. Not enough line means short, abrupt casts. Fill your bait cast reels so that you have approximately 1/16^th to 1/8^th inches of spool showing for peak performance.

Knowing the proper way to adjust your bait cast reel is also critical for casting performance. The little knob on the right hand side of the reel beneath the star drag is every musky angler’s “best friend”. If this adjustment is set correctly prior to fishing, then you will minimize backlashes and maximize casting performance, allowing you distance when needed, etc. The proper way to set this adjustment is to attach a lure to your leader, reel it up to the tip of the rod, and depress your casting button. If the lure falls very quickly, your setting is too loose and needs to be tightened down so the lure just barely falls at a slow speed down to the ground. Conversely, if your lure doesn’t fall at all, the setting needs to be loosened to reach the proper setting needed. This setting will have to be adjusted frequently due to the varying weights of today’s musky lures. The reason I prefer a longer rod is rather obvious in nature. The longer the rod, the further the cast will travel. There are times when you need distance for casting your lures, and certainly times you do not, such as night fishing a weed line or fishing in standing timber, but at least you have that ability to do so when needed with the longer rod.

Make sure you set up and match your equipment properly to help your casting prowess. For example, if you are throwing a Double Cowgirl or a DC-10 bucktail, I recommend a St. Croix TM80MHF Series rod, and either a Garcia 6500 C4 or 7000 Series reel equipped with a power handle. This set up should have eighty pound braid and the power handle will pick up line a little more efficiently to create less fatigue for the angler. Also, as big as these bucktails are, they are musky catching machines, and when you cast these lures out, make sure you point the rod tip straight at the lure or on a slight downward angle while retrieving it, rather than off to one side or the other. This simple step will give you a much better hook setting position and will also be a lot less tiresome to you on the water while retrieving these big baits. The eight foot rod will also enable you to make longer casts and is unmatched when executing figure eight maneuvers at boat side. Another good example is when you are casting jerkbaits such as Savage Gear’s brand new Freestylers or Deviators, be sure to use a good quality straight wire leader for the optimum action. I stay away from fluorocarbon for my jerkbaits, and you will find that using a good wire leader will give these side to side action jerkbaits the best action and overall appeal to muskies.

Casting Techniques

My preferred method of casting is to depress the casting button, rear back and let fly, all the while maintaining a very slight feel of my thumb on the spool. I obviously don’t want to impede the lure’s travel, yet I want to be able to control the flight of the lure instantaneously if I have too. I then use my thumb to stop the lure’s travel a split second before the lure hits the water. This enables me to “hit the target” so to speak, and also lays out the lure flat just prior to hitting the water minimizing fouled hooks and wasted casts, especially on windy days. This technique is definitely needed when fishing on Lake of the Woods or other bodies of water with complex structural elements. I have seen less experienced casters often hang up their bucktails or other lures numerous times on prime spots, forcing us to ease the boat up to the reef to free the lure. At the same time, we were spooking away active muskies that were present on that piece of structure and wasting a fish catching opportunity.

There are certain times when fishing tight to structure that I will use a flipping technique similar to what bass anglers use, since the heavier weight of the musky lure makes this quite simple to do. Excellent casting accuracy is also a must when sight fishing for early season muskies, as the proper presentation of the lure makes or breaks the opportunity to catch the fish. When casting lures under very windy conditions, it is usually best to throw a heavier lure so you can maximize lure control and minimize backlashes. Windy days are usually frustrating for beginning musky anglers, because it makes casting that much more difficult. The key here again is lure control, so you have a better chance of reaching or hitting your intended target point on these windy days.

A good quality pair of polarized sunglasses will also do wonders for casting performance since you will be able to see underwater obstructions and weed edges much better, and therefore make a much better presentation to the fish. The thing to remember here is you always want to be in control of the lure while casting, rather than blindly lobbing the lure out there and hoping for the best. Another final important aspect that plays an integral part of making the best casts on a given spot is your knowledge of how the spot is laid out. Obviously, the more you fish a spot, the more intimate your understanding is of the particular structure, and the more apt you are to make better casts to enable you to catch more fish there. This comes with time on the water and often through trail and error. With that being said, let us now talk about fishing various structures and how casting performance and ability comes into play.

Weed Edges

When fishing a weed edge, you should always try to be in control of your lure. You want to avoid sloppy casts at all costs to minimize fouled hooks and wasted casts. I prefer shorter casts to the weed edge with lures like bucktails, crankbaits, or jerkbaits to maintain optimum control. Surface lures can be thrown as far as possible if the weeds are not matted up on the surface that could kill the action of the lure. With crankbaits or jerkbaits, I recommend casting out your lure parallel to the weed edge. During the retrieve, if you contact weeds on your lure, give your rod a hard rip to “clean” your offering and regain the proper action of the lure. You will feel the lure working properly once again if it is cleaned in the right manner. Using shorter casts with braided line gives you the control, feel, and power you need to clean your lures effectively if you snag some weeds. With bucktails, this is not as critical since the lures inherently travel shallower, but it is still important to strive for precise casts to indentations or pockets along the weed edge, using your polarized glasses as a visual aid the whole time. When night fishing, short casts are extremely critical to avoid wasted casts. The whole presentation when fishing a crankbait along the weed edge after dark is based more on feel than sight. Joe Bucher, Jim Saric, and Steve Heiting are all masters at this game, and their records of night catches certainly reflect their prowess in lure control and casting abilities.

Rock Reefs

Anyone who has made the pilgrimage to fish a Canadian Shield lake has probably at some point fished around rock reefs. These spots can be deadly, especially if the reefs have little clumps of brown cabbage thrown in for good measure. Well, to fish these spots most effectively, one needs to be a proficient and confident caster. These spots are full of huge boulders and crevices, all potential hiding spots for muskies. If you make one poor cast and snag a rock, you will have to free up your lure and there is a good chance you’ll spook any of these shallow active fish. Utilizing good technique and good equipment however can put you in position to catch the biggest musky of your life! This is why we travel to Canadian waters in the first place. When you spot these little weed clumps on top of the reef structure, this is the time to put your casting skills to work. Your goal is to hit all sides of the weed cover while working around the reef, yet strive not to snag your lures on the shallow rock cover. Let’s talk about another very important element when it comes down to casting to a particular reef structure. Since most reefs have multiple hiding spots for muskies, whenever I fish a good looking reef I always make three to four passes around the structure prior to moving on. This method of attack gives me and my boat partner ample opportunity to make the perfect cast to a hiding fish nestled in a crevice in the rocks of that given reef. Here is a prime example of what I am talking about. My friend Todd Hess and I were up at the Northwest Angle on a trip and fishing a famous structure called “Devil’s Elbow”. This is a cool little spot that usually holds a fish or two, and occasionally some real big ones. We slid in one calm evening on our way back to camp and fished around the structure two times without any action. My gut feeling said give it one more try, and as I approached the exposed rock that marked the pinnacle of the reef with my trolling motor, Todd threw his Super Topraider to one side of the rock, and I threw a bucktail to the other. The calmness of the early August evening was interrupted by a large audible swirl of a forty-four inch musky sucking in his lure. This was immediately followed by large thrashing sounds as the not so happy muskellunge tried to free itself of the hooks with vicious head shakes! If we fished that spot once and left, we would have easily missed this active musky that simply didn’t see our offerings the first pass through. I want to stress the importance of this tactic for all of you that fish Canadian Shield lakes or Lake Vermilion. Fish these reef structures thoroughly, especially if you have been moving fish on them consistently or are fishing them at prime time hours of the day.

Standing Timber

This past June, I was guiding a husband and wife team of Heather and Kelly Stevens on Caesar’s Creek Lake near my home in Dayton, Ohio. The couple had won this donated trip that I had given away as a fundraiser for the Lymphoma/Leukemia Foundation. These folks were very excited about their trip they had won, but one concern they had was that Heather had no experience using a baitcast reel. After about fifteen minutes of casting over open water and starting out with short casts, she was able to build her confidence and within a short period of time, she was flinging her lures with the confidence of a seasoned veteran. We eased into a deep water cove that was full of standing timber, of which the vast majority of it stood in thirty-five to forty feet of water. Since this was a donated trip, the couple urged me to fish as well since they really wanted to see a musky up close and personal. I typically do not fish while guiding clients, but in this case I said thanks and rigged up a rod for myself. We hadn’t been casting more than five minutes in the deep tree tops when a thirty-eight inch musky engulfed my Baby Depthraider. After an acrobatic leap at boat side, Kelly eased her into my Frabill and the couple got to watch the first ever musky they had ever seen get photographed and swim away into the depths upon release. A half hour later I caught a really chunky forty-five incher on a full sized Depthraider, and this fish was suspended right along a tree that was positioned right next to the main lake drop off that plunged into fifty-seven feet at the mouth of the cove. This fish gave me several hard head shakes after my initial hook set and stayed deep and I knew this was a much better fish. We soon netted the beautifully marked musky and took several quick pictures before letting her go, and Kelly was literally shaking with excitement. Well, even though I had boated two nice fish, I was starting to feel pretty bad that my clients hadn’t caught either of these muskies as you can imagine, and as I was fretting over this emotion, I heard a small scream from the back of my Ranger. A second later, thirty-seven inches of silver fury came rocketing out of the water with a full sized Depthraider dog boned in its mouth! Heather had thrown her crankbait perfectly between a solitary standing tree top and a submerged stump that was a foot under the surface, and the musky pounced on her offering within the first few cranks. Suddenly I noticed Heather’s line had gone limp and as I was trying to figure out if the fish came off, I noticed the line moving sideways in the water. I said “reel, reel, reel” in an excited voice, and as Heather picked up the slack, the musky felt the hooks again and jumped high out of the water, only to be matched by another excited scream from Heather! After a nice tussle, I got her first ever musky in the net and we all exchanged high fives prior to picture taking and release. The motto of this story is that fishing timber effectively requires casting accuracy in order to fish it efficiently. Had Heather not been confident in her casting abilities, it would have been very difficult for me to put this couple on this particularly hot spot on this given day. Not to be outdone, Kelly later connected on the last musky of the day, a forty-nine inch giant that to this date of writing, still remains the longest confirmed musky caught and released out of this relatively new fishery. He also caught his musky on a full sized Depthraider. He is getting a graphite replica in the near future from Lax Taxidermy. We really had a special day on the water and it was Heather’s quick study of using a baitcast reel that helped make the day successful. Another important factor when casting lures into fallen tree tops or lay downs is the blend of choosing the right lure for this situation along with casting proficiency. This factor is what separates the men from the boys, so to speak on our local fishery at Caesar’s Creek Lake, and in order to stay in the game, an angler has to have the confidence and the skill to cast this woody cover aggressively. If you or your boat partner snags a lure the very first cast to a prime lay down along the shore, then the game is over at that point. I use bucktails with fluted blades or Colorado blades for maximum lift and spinner baits such as the ones made by Grim Reaper. I also throw a lot of shallow running jerk baits tight to this cover such as Savage Gear’s new Deviator.

“Gut Feel” Casts

I want to talk about this subject even though there is no scientific data correlating ESP with muskies!! However, a lot of you know what I mean when that little voice goes off in your head saying “Cast over there!” This hunch or “gut feel” has produced a number of muskies for me over the years, including the forty-seven inch fish mentioned at the onset of this article. The best way I can explain this phenomenon is that your brain is sizing up the water in front of you, draws up the best play, so to speak, and executes it. It’s similar to an offensive coordinator sizing up the opponent’s defense and calling a play. My point here is to always follow your hunches when casting to a particular spot or structure. I truly think there are times when your thought process becomes automatic and your next cast reflects the decision your brain conjured up in a matter of seconds. Your ability to control the cast and make it count still leaves room for error, however! This is where your hours of practice, lure control, and quality equipment all pay off! Another good example of this “gut feel” occurred to me a few summers ago up on Lake of the Woods. My partner and I were fishing some weedy saddles in between islands that year with a lot of initial success. I happened to spot a little point across the narrows from the saddle we were fishing that had some bull rushes and cabbage stalks visible. Without further thought, I shot across the narrow channel with the trolling motor, sized up the spot with my polarized glasses, and tossed my trusty ol’ red/copper 700 Series Buchertail to the little inside turn on the point that held the cabbage weed. A fat forty-three inch musky came sliding out of the spot on the first cast and I caught her in a perfectly executed figure eight maneuver at boat side. This fish was caught because I had a strong hunch on the spot, and reacted to it with a perfect cast to the structure using good control of the lure. Always follow your hunches at all times while musky fishing. This is one thing I have learned over the years that definitely pays off, whether tournament fishing in the PMTT events, guiding anglers, or simply fishing with my friends.

Whether you are a newcomer to the pursuit of muskies, or a seasoned veteran, you need to always think about your next cast. If you are still learning how to use a bait cast reel properly, the best advice I can give you is to get out and fish as much as possible to keep practicing the finer points of casting and lure presentation. My former boss Joe Bucher once told me “Tom, we are all only one cast away from being a hero”. In other words, you never know when a fifty pound musky might decide to come up and eat your offering. With that thought in mind, strive to make every cast count, and avoid mistakes and poor casts at all costs. This will make you a more efficient musky angler and certainly put more fish in the boat for you each year!

Tom Dietz is the Store Manager of the Baxter Minnesota Gander Mountain store, and resides in Baxter, Brainerd, Area Minnesota. He guides for muskies professionally in Minnesota and frequently fishes muskies in the PMTT Tournament Circuit each year. He gives seminars and writes articles on a regular basis. Tom is originally from Wisconsin, a multi species angler since 1988.

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