I am not new to bas fishing nor am I new to a bait caster, however I still have a lot of difficulties with my casting. I fish with different reels however they are mainly abu garcia reels. I have tried and tried to skip my lures under trees/docks and over hangs but EVERYTIME I will end up backlashing my spool. If anyone can help me figure out how to skip the lure to help get to those hard to reach stops it would help me out alot. I have worked alot on my brake on the reel and using my thumb to slow down the spool upon impact but if I don't backlash then it stops as soon as it touches the water.

I need help > > >

I use a spinning reel if I want to skip, although I'm no pro at it even then.  LBH has a video on skipping posted somewhere on this site though.  If I can find it, I'll post a link to it or you can ask him.

I was going through the same thing a few months ago. I couldn't skip under docks to save my life. I went fishing with senko77 one day and he started skipping and I asked him to show me how. He gave some great advice. "It's all about low trajectory and high velocity." Get it going as fast and as low as you can and with allot of practice you will get it. I went out the next day and practiced for about six hours. Now I can do it pretty good.

Yea the only reason I really want to learn is because I went out with Chai from the forums and he was skipping like nobodies buisness and I was just a little frustrated cuz I couldn't do it. I wanted to try it but I was to scared I would take all my time pulling out a d**n backlash!!

But thanks I will try my best the next time I go..

Next question.... Can I skip with any lure??

Not all lures are good for skipping but alot of them will. The one I learned with was a 3/8oz arkie head jig.

I had a very similar situation including using the same reels.  This problem has 100% been cured.  I even bought a video camera to record this actions with the though of offereing the video for sale.  I can skip completely under my pier 10' wide and out the other side.  My Solution (You may not like it, but it worked for me): I started using a spinning reel casting a horney toad.  I can now skim the toad touching the water lightly several time under 6" and less space.  You can use a swiming pool for practice.  A 10' x 50' watered down piece of plastic on a level surface will work well for practice.  Bait casting reels are no longer an option for skipping for me.

Dr T

I'm no pro, but I do well throwing Baitcasters, but I use this for skipping under docks ( don't knock till you try it, this is one smooooth reel ) http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0013026116646a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=zebco&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=zebco&noImage=0

Good Luck

  Joe

Some lure types are also harder to skip under docks with a BC then others. Practice though, and you'll get it down.