You guys have been a big help getting me started again on bait casting after many years of spinning and fly fishing but I'm still have one problem. My casting is great! Long distance more than most, not to many birds nest anymore and it all feels comfortable and natural. Why is it that my accuracy is so lousy!? It doesn't matter if I cast one handed or two, over head or sidearm I'm always either left, right , to far or to short buy a couple feet at 20 yards. I use a lid from a 5 gal. bucket for a target in the yard. Any suggestions would be appreciated, Thanks, Mike  

All you need is to practice when to release the thumb from the spool, it 's a simple matter of coordination, when you see the tip of the rod coming forward on the corner of your eye it 's when you lift the thumb.

You weren 't born knowing how to drive were you ?

It 's the same principle.

Generally a longer rod equals more distance but sacrifices accuracy. Just for me I cast most accurately with a 6' or shorter pistol grip. I don't like other aspects of the pistol grip but just for dropping a lure into a small space it works for me.

I think accuracy is best developed in the driveway or yard. Every spring when the snow melts but the lakes are still ice bound I stand in the yard and throw at a variety of targets. I've used bait casters for about 70 years and a part of my practice is just being glad I'm still on the best side of the grass and I'll soon be able to get the boat in the water. However, as I practice I get better.

Generally a longer rod equals more distance but sacrifices accuracy. Just for me I cast most accurately with a 6' or shorter pistol grip. I don't like other aspects of the pistol grip but just for dropping a lure into a small space it works for me.

I think accuracy is best developed in the driveway or yard. Every spring when the snow melts but the lakes are still ice bound I stand in the yard and throw at a variety of targets. I've used bait casters for about 70 years and a part of my practice is just being glad I'm still on the best side of the grass and I'll soon be able to get the boat in the water. However, as I practice I get better.

Well put NBR! Thank's for the input you guys, Mike

The only thing I see you doing wrong is worrying too much about being accurate.

You know, I never worried about accuracy, it just came naturally.  It's like shooting a recurve, longbow or throwing a ball or shooting baskets...  Focus and repetition.  Think about free throws- you don't actually aim, but you focus on the target (basket).  I really suck at b-ball but we're talking fishing now.  ...lol  

I never gave any credit to a short rod or where a handle pointed or any of that stuff.  It may be because I started baitcasting as a kid and grew up on a lake.  I use long rods and 2 hands most often, never think or worry about what direction the reel points or any technical "form" issues...  but I think it's just that I've probably made a million + intentional casts.  

Fishing timber most of those years there were always targets to throw at (or avoid) probably accounted for most of the progress...  You know the expression, "aim at nothing and you'll hit it every time"  it's true... but aim at something every time and you'll develop accuracy. (I like to say focus on, not aim but it's the same principal)  Even when cranking or spinner baiting a barren flat, aim at a floating piece of debris or a particular wave or something.  Do it all the time and quit over thinking things, it will come with time. By focusing on the target, you are honing your "instinctive memory" and it's just like shooting arrows.  I look at and focus on the spot I want to hit and the arrow "just goes there," same with my lures.  

The problem in both is that if I consciously worry about where either of them goes, I'm usually off the mark.

Sorry or such a choppy reply.

Some great advice from flechero.

Never just throw it out there. Always have a target. Fix your gaze upon your target, and don't look away until your bait hits the water. Then just keep doing it. In no time at all you'll be hitting your spot now and then. And it will get better from there. You're training your muscle memory. Soon you'll be hitting your target most of the time. And, for most of us, that's as good as it gets. If you're lucky enough to be on the water a couple of hundred days a year, you'll be hitting your target almost every time.

A tourist stops an old gent in New York, and asks him how to get to Carnegie Hall.

The old gent says " practice, man, practice".

Right, focus on the target, don't aim.  We used to tell kids in baseball, don't aim the ball, focus on the catchers glove.

Wow guy's! Great ideas and you may be right about me trying to hard . Time to get back to basics and enjoy it instead of being so intense. Shot longbow instinctively most of my life, took many Deer and Bear but never associated it as the same idea but I guess it really is. Now if the wind will just die down some around here it would be a perfect day, Mike

Shot longbow instinctively most of my life, took many Deer and Bear but never associated it as the same idea but I guess it really is.

It's exactly the same, just faster.   ...lol  Have you ever read G. Fred Asbell's book, Instinctive Shooting II?  It will improve your shooting dramatically and your casting skills will also follow suit.  I read it again about every summer as a reminder to do things right while practicing for bow season.

Good stuff.

Something that helped me when I first started at baitcasting ....

The casting part came pretty easy to me ( as far as birds nests go).  My problem was I had no clue where it was going .... well that's not entirely true, I knew it wasn't going at my target ;D

I became frustrated and basically decided to use my baitcasters for pitching only and use my spinning rigs when an actual "cast" was needed.

At the time I wasn't real great at pitching either, but in my mind that was the one thing I couldn't do with a spinning rig.  Make short stealth casts IN heavy cover with pin point accuracy.  So I practiced and practiced pitching ... the front yard, back yard, in the house, and occasionally at the lake :.  

I found that the time that I spent learning to pitch actually helped me understand baitcasting as a whole better.  IMO while pitching it's easier for a newbie to learn tip/rod control, release points, and accuracy.  As soon as I got pitching down, all other casts  became easier.

That's my $.02

Thanks again guys for the help. I'm not new to bait casting reels. I'm 62 in July and can't remember my first fishing day but I do know that all we had for reels back then were Fly reels or Bait Casters,Lol.The next best thing and sometimes the best thing all together was a cane pole. It's been a long time and the reels have changed a little to say the least but for me it is still kind of starting over.Did allot of Fly fishing over the years and many long days with my Mitchell 300 spinning reels.

I'm still picking up little hints from you guys and suggestions that are really turning things for me and now I'm loving it. Can't hunt much anymore due to my health but fishing is a little easier and I guess it's still hunting when your after that record Bass or Muskie! Mike

One thing that helped me with accuracy is a good follow through.  After learning to follow through after my thumb left the spool seemed to help tremendously, at least for me. Just continue your forwardcast untill the tip is pointing to your target.

Just something that I remembered helping me a lot.  It might be something you already do though.

Vic