i fish out of a kayak.  i keep it short, since it can clip the water, the kayak, my other rods, if i leave a lot of dangle.  i see some people with LOTS of line prehanging before the cast.  

 

i never really thought much about it except this past weekend i hooked my net on a cast and it was fairly ugly.  hahah..

Pre-cast?

5"-6" unless I'm flipping/pitching/punching

I normally keep my dangle to about 8-12". Either bait casting or spinning. Now throwing Carolina rigs is add another dingle to the dangle.

FM

 

About a foot.

About a foot most of the time.  Thats enough to get some load up but short enough to roll cast standing from a kayak.

 

Pitching is obviously different and its enough for the lure to come down to my reel (which will thusly vary depending on the length of rod I'm using)

For me it usually depends on 3 things. How much room I have for my back cast, and what it the weight of the lure, and what is the length of the rod. No room behind or next to me means very little line dangle. A light lure means more line dangling.  A longer rod would mean more line out than a short rod. This is true for both spinning and baitcasting. So a 1/4 oz lure would have more line out before the cast (say around 16" to 2 feet depending on length of the rod) than a 1/2 oz lure.  If I am using a 7'6" rod, I would have more line out than if I was using a 6 foot rod, as I just find it more manageable. Of course, these are just general rules. Things differ if I am pitching or flipping, or under certain other conditions. I don't fish from Kayaks so I don't have an opinion about that.

It depends on the motion of the ocean. 

Just enough to snag or hit something behind me, boat, motor. hat, friend, bush, tree, shore, water, or any other object that may get in the way.

26 minutes ago, king fisher said:

Just enough to snag or hit something behind me, boat, motor. hat, friend, bush, tree, shore, water, or any other object that may get in the way.

Bingo, just enough to hit the front aluminum gunnel on the Jon boat with my side arm casts, thereby destroying baits.

 

I've broke a Jackhammer, multiple big swimbaits, a few CB lips, and sadly most recently jacked the hook up on a basically brand-new Burrito.   I tried to re sharpen but my confidence is destroyed on it, and it was already about shot since I can't even get a bite on it.  

Don’t even think about it. When it feels right grip it and rip it 

It depends on which technique specific rod I’m using.  
 

For example on my black bear hair jig rod, I leave 4.2468 inches of line dangling before the cast.  
 

On my Colorado blade spinnerbait rod,  I leave 4.6341 inches.

About a foot as well, except for Drop-shot and Mojo.

Normally 5”-6”. Except when skipping Senkos under overhanging brush. I find it easier and more accurate with 3” max. 
 

@Darth-Baiter Some might find a question like this to be a little foolish, but it’s questions like this that most do not often ask that can make a big difference in our fishing success. 

8 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

Normally 5”-6”. Except when skipping Senkos under overhanging brush. I find it easier and more accurate with 3” max. 
 

@Darth-Baiter Some might find a question like this to be a little foolish, but it’s questions like this that most do not often ask that can make a big difference in our fishing success. 

thanks.  I wanted to post it for weeks, but I kept deleting it.  hahahh

Generally about 20+ feet or so depending on conditions.

 

10" or so for a roll cast.  For any other type cast around 2".   I'm more accurate with less slack.   For me, slack is "part of" a roll cast.  It's not part of any other cast.   It's my experience that lures are more likely to foul with a bunch of slack during casting.   

6 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

except this past weekend i hooked my net on a cast and it was fairly ugly

That's the sort of action that often results in a back lash when using a BC.  Been there, done that.  #birdsnest

Don’t overthink It. 

Never really thought about it. Thinking about it now, 8-10" more or less.

Somewhere around 6" to 8".