Bomb casting. When is far “too far”?

[BrianMDTX]

Maybe a strange question. I know many love to cast baits far, either to reach an inaccessible area or to cover more water on a given cast. But when is far “too far”? I would believe it likely depends on the bait, such as, a crankbait is likely less of an issue on a far cast then a Texas rig. But is there a limit to where your chances of a successful hook-up suffers on almost any bait depending on distance? 

[Columbia Craw]

When you connect with branches 12 feet up.

[MN Fisher]

When you can't see where your lure lands without using binoculars.

[gim]

Honestly when I try to bomb a cast, a back lash often occurs.  Let the rod do the work.  Make it fluid and smooth.  Like swinging a golf club.  Swing too hard, and a misfire usually occurs.  Works much better when you let the golf club do the work.

[Tennessee Boy]

Let’s say you’re 100 yards from a fish and you’ve got what it takes to make a 100 yard cast.   Your chances of hooking the fish will be slim but your chances of hooking it with a 90 yard cast will be zero.  😆

 

I don’t have what it takes so I just move a closer before I cast.  

[casts_by_fly]

When you can’t consistently set the hook at that distance with the lure and rig you just threw. A really high quality sharp lighter wire single hook and an 8/0 owner beast that has to drive through a toad body are going to be different. Of course you pick the rod and line for the lure and distance. My frog rod with 50 braid- I can’t outcast the hood set distance.  Lighter rods and mono?  YMMV. 

[10,000 lakes Bassin]

I normally don’t worry about it, granted I can’t cast as far as some. I use braid as a mainline so that helps.

[Deephaven]

I bomb frogs a long ways.  As far as I can by adding weight and using 8'+ rods.  50lb braid and a long rod really help set the hook at a distance.

[GreenPig]

I can't give you a specific distance. I fish pressured clear open water and make longer cast. I've at times not been able to get a good hook set fishing straight 8 & 10 lb FC on ML & M rods with small T - Rigs. 

Probably just a lack of skill, technique, and strength.😀

[rgasr63]

If I am cranking deep water I try to cast far. Most of the that I am throwing to a target. I have had limited success bombing anything but a whopper plopper. This is a lure I cast a good ways past where I think the fish is at. 

[islandbass]

Too far imho is when the lure is a distance that your ability to control the line and set the hook are compromised to the point it’s costing you fish. This why you see surf and salmon (river) anglers with longer rods. Better line control and set the hook from a distance. 
 

That said, a bomb cast in bass fishing is not that long really (eg, compared to a surf angler’s cast. As a shore angler myself, sometimes I need to make those bomb casts because I can’t sneak up to it from a floating device. 

[Susky River Rat]

@gimruis is correct. Anytime I try to bomb it it goes not as far or a backlash. Lobbing it out letting the rod load up is the must better option. That’s how I casted mag dawgs all day musky fishing. 
 

fishing rods, golf clubs, hockey sticks, they all have that flex that sling shots. 
 

as far as what is to far from a hook up stand point? I do not think I can cast far enough for it to be a problem so I do not know. The only problem is a tree. 

[T-Billy]

Nope. #STRAIGHTBRAIDBRIGADE.

[J Francho]

Run all your line out and hand the rod to a friend. Go to the other end and hold hook so the point is in your finger. Have your friend try and set the hook. Take video of the whole thing. 

[Spankey]

When water conditions get alot clearer than the norm (presently) I’ll make longer casts. It seems to be the right thing to do. Keeping that distance. 
What’s too far? I would think getting to a spot you want to probe out and you make a cast and hang up on a low overhang, have to go in and get it, and forces you to move on to another spot. 
Just go back to that spot later. 

[F14A-B]

Anytime I step into a new design (reel)I bomb cast on my several acre yard. I use different lines via different rods etc. My new Bantams and Metaniums are little works of art but they don’t cast any better than the D series Shimano, they’re just different. 
 

Now as far as fishing. Yes to bomb casting on Kentucky lake with a 6 XD 

that’s pretty much the only time I’m really launching a bait. 

[Fishingmickey]

I'm kinda like F14, I bomb cast is when I am throwing deep diving crank baits. I used 30# braid and when it bird's nests on a bomb cast I have launched some of deep diving crankbaits into low earth orbit.  I also frequently bomb cast chatter baits and lipless cranks. It's more about covering water then anything else.

FM

[Swamp Girl]

I was bomb casting on Wednesday morning, using the walking dog lure below:

 

 

And it's a big, heavy lure and on a spinning rod, it goes half of forever. About a dozen bass from 3.5 pounds to 5.5 pounds hit it way, way out there. I landed all of them, thanks to @T-Billy, who drafted me into the Straight Braid Brigade. Here's one of them:

 

 

Some of them hit the lure on the first or second twitch and they were so far away that I felt the hit more than I saw it.

 

I'll be casting a 7" Depps fluke when I fish next week. It's such a chunk of plastic that I'll be able to bomb cast it too.

 

[Tennessee Boy]

For all you bomb caster out there,  how do you follow the fishing regulations?   Do you follow the laws where the lure lands or the laws where you launch the cast from?  😆

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, Tennessee Boy said:

For all you bomb caster out there,  how do you follow the fishing regulations?   Do you follow the laws where the lure lands or the laws where you launch the cast from?  😆

 

I struggle to determine what time zone the lure lands in, much less what the laws are yonder!

[TnRiver46]

15 hours ago, Columbia Craw said:

When you connect with branches 12 feet up.

You beat me to it 

[T-Billy]

5 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

About a dozen bass from 3.5 pounds to 5.5 pounds hit it way, way out there. I landed all of them, thanks to @T-Billy, who drafted me into the Straight Braid Brigade.

Atta girl!!! You've officially been promoted from Corporal Crickety to Sergeant Swap Girl.   🎖️ Congratulations!!! 😂

[Swamp Girl]

16 hours ago, T-Billy said:

Atta girl!!! You've officially been promoted from Corporal Crickety to Sergeant Swap Girl.   🎖️ Congratulations!!! 😂

 

Sir, thank you, sir!

 

Seriously, Tim, it's amazing the slop that braid can pull bass outta and the distance I can still set the hook with braid. I think I lost a lure with braid only twice in 2024, once to a pickerel and once to what felt like a sharp rock. I could feel the braid grinding over something solid and then snap. 

 

Fluoro, on the other hand, is a line I can't get behind. It's so stiff and remembers every coil. I'm still trying to appreciate its merits, as I know many of you prefer it, but I mostly shake my head and sigh when I rarely use it.

[rgasr63]

8 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I was bomb casting on Wednesday morning, using the walking dog lure below:

 

 

And it's a big, heavy lure and on a spinning rod, it goes half of forever. About a dozen bass from 3.5 pounds to 5.5 pounds hit it way, way out there. I landed all of them, thanks to @T-Billy, who drafted me into the Straight Braid Brigade. Here's one of them:

 

 

Some of them hit the lure on the first or second twitch and they were so far away that I felt the hit more than I saw it.

 

I'll be casting a 7" Depps fluke when I fish next week. It's such a chunk of plastic that I'll be able to bomb cast it too.

 

 

Nice catch

[geo g]

The only time I purposely bomb baits is when I’m in a search mode and the bite is none existent.  I do get a a feeling of joy and happiness when the bait caster is dialed in to the max, the bait is flying into the next county, and I’m still hitting the targets.  On tough days, it does provide a little joy!