Hi Folks,

 

I'm just wondering if you ever gave any thought to number of casts per fish.  I used to count sometimes, and found that I'd average about 25 casts per fish when the bite was good (and on rare occasions, less if the stars aligned that particular day.)

 

However, after a cold front with terrible conditions, I'd go 40 or 50 casts before hooking up, if I did hook up.

 

I noticed at the end of Mercer's fishing show that they tally things up, and fish caught to casts is about 1:30 average, so I'm not as terrible as I thought.

 

Anyone else do this?

 

Regards,

 

Josh

I don't. I bet they hire someone to do that on their show. I am usually too focused on actually fishing my lure than counting.

No I don't count . On my lake most days 1 in 30 would be typical. My buddy fishes slow and I fish fast and throughout the year I would say we are equally as successful. He probably catches a fish 1 in every 15 or 20 cast.

This is a topic my dad loves to make fun of. He has always been a live bait fishermen so he always says "why would you want to go throw a lure 5000 times and only catch a 2 pounder?". He has always been a striper fishermen so he is use to bigger fish. 

 

But back to the topic, I usually make 30-100 before hooking up. I have always wanted to count how many cast I make in a day. 

Being OCD helps.  I tend to count things almost subconsciously. 

 

I don't mean to say it costs concentration.

 

Regards,

 

Josh

The other night I caught around 30 in a couple hours, but for the first four fish, I was four for four.

We can sometimes catch 6 or 8 in a row during low water levels.  When things get tough I automatically slow down, so the casting rate drops way down.  Most important thing is too keep your lure wet.  Keep it where a fish can bite it.

The other night I caught around 30 in a couple hours, but for the first four fish, I was four for four.

 

Lucky.

 

I have only had like five of those days in my entire life.

 

Josh

I have no clue because the number of casts is semi-meaningless to me as certain techniques take longer than others.  I do remember catching 8 bass in 8 casts on my fly rod when fishing a culvert one evening and then the next time out i caught 8 out of 10 in the same spot.  

I only count when I'm getting one like ten times or less. Just to tell others how good the fishing was.

Them times I making over a hundred seems like. I don't count or even want to think about.

I've had days where I wished I had a vedeo camera but there far and few between. Lol

I've got a friend who will just get bored and paddle...or drink beer. But he tells me I'm a good fisherman. I tell him you won't catch anything without a hook in the water. So I don't count, but just keep casting until I find the fish, the technique or a better feeding time.

It all depends on what i'm fishing for. if i'm going for big bass, i average about 1/30 casts, but if i'm going for numbers instead, ill average about 1/5 casts.

I've got a friend who will just get bored and paddle...or drink beer. But he tells me I'm a good fisherman. I tell him you won't catch anything without a hook in the water. So I don't count, but just keep casting until I find the fish, the technique or a better feeding time.

He can catch a buzz .

Never count casts but I do ponder the number of fish per hour (which this spring has been way too low unfortunately).

 uuuuummmmmmm...... just fish     that sounds like a lot of stuff that goes thru your head while fishing.  

everybody does some kind of thinking. 

For me it depends on the time of year.  I don't count casts, but can do the math and get a ballpark figure.  In the summer my best day ever was 30 fish in about 8 hours of actual casting.  I estimate 2 casts per minute, so that was 1 fish every 32 casts.

 

Now in the winter I've gone 4 months without catching a fish.  Averaging 10 hours actual casting per week.  That means it took me about 19,200 casts to catch 1 fish.

He can catch a buzz .

He's the master at it. He caught a nice one while fishing from my big boat. He was more concerned with me not knocking his beer over than lipping that bass. I can't hold a beer and cast/reel. I find it difficult to catch a buzz while fishing.

Geez, idk, I can say I've had 100 fish days ( bass)

on patoka lake in the early 90's. same lake, 200 bluegill, sunfish, crappie fish days.. Fly fishing on a bluegill spawning flat, I caught 40 gills in 90 minutes on a 3wt rod throwing a black ant.. But I never really counted number of casts, per se at anytime..

Funny ... when I first started fishing I wondered if my expectations were too high and then I found Dave Mercers show.  In seeing that ratio between casts and catches I realized that my expectations were way off.  Purely ignorance on my part.

 

Do I count my own ... no ... but it certainly shed a light on my expectations when I am out there.  If anything it helped me to be more focused on the process of catching fish and let the rest work itself out.

i read this thread before fishing this morning and thought about it while i fished today. i fished for 3 1/2 hours and caught 12 bass and because I'm a bank fisherman i walk ALOT so i was thinking maybe 2 casts per minute so 420 casts which is about a fish every 30-35 casts 

   I have no idea. I spend my time "reading" the water, looking around for better structure nearby, but most of the time I spend staring at the line across the water for those subtle mouthing of the lure. Remember Josh, its not the cast/caught ratio that's important, its the fun you had throughout the day doing what you love to do - seeking that sometimes very elusive lunker fish

I don't even count bass, so there's no way I'd ever count casts...LOL

Without counting though, I'll bet it's less than 1000 casts per bass    

 

Roger

Roger I like the way you don't think! I'm with you brother. I am fairly sure it is less than 1000:1, at least on most days. It has never occurred to me to count...

Funny ... when I first started fishing I wondered if my expectations were too high and then I found Dave Mercers show. In seeing that ratio between casts and catches I realized that my expectations were way off. Purely ignorance on my part.

Do I count my own ... no ... but it certainly shed a light on my expectations when I am out there. If anything it helped me to be more focused on the process of catching fish and let the rest work itself out.

I was the same way! I saw pics and vids of guys catching bass all the time, not realizing that they were spending hours upon hours on the water. Its easy look like a great angler if you only show the parts when you shine. How about an 8 hour fishing show where the guy spends the day throwing everything in his tackle box, messing with mosquitos, snags, reties, sunburn, anger, frustration, but ultimate exuberance when he lands 1 fish! Now thats more like it!!

Roger I like the way you don't think! I'm with you brother. I am fairly sure it is less than 1000:1, at least on most days. It has never occurred to me to count...

 

You've always had a way with words   

Hey I wonder if Muddy would mind that I borrowed his bouncing balls