Bait Finesse Casting: Tips from the Trenches to Help you Get Good

How is Bait Finesse Casting Different?

Bait Finesse Casting has lots of crossover with regular baitcasting – but there are some important things to focus on to minimise frustration. Because bait finesse system (BFS) fishing uses baitcasting reels, anyone who already fishes with that style of reel will (obviously) probably find it a bit easier to adapt. It's not a problem if never picked up a baitcaster though...

As a kind of TLDR example of what its like – check out a few casts from this video. Notice how STILL the casting arm can be (and how the hand stays in the same place as the rod unloads and the thumb is released)

Do you need to be some kind of genius to learn bait finesse casting?

Don’t worry, it is perfectly possible for the average Joe to pick up and learn serviceable bait finesse casting from scratch (though to get as good as Angler Saito, it will take you your standard 10K hours of practice of course). I can re-assure you on that point because I’m writing this article while documenting my own learning curve in BFS.

That means it’s not as if I’m already a complete “guru” in this style – so the things I struggle with are likely to be the exact same things you do. In the same way, I hope the things I’ve picked up that work for me will also be super helpful to you. 

It also helps to choose a line that is fine diameter and, therefore, lighter for a given length. By only putting on the exact amount of line that you need – you can further minimise the weight/inertia of your spool.

A Question of Balance in bait finesse casting

With a balanced rig of lure, spool, line and rod, you can get a sense of the distinctive “feel” of bait finesse casting. This style of casting majors on loading (bending) the rod at the beginning of the cast. You do this by first moving the rod and lure AWAY from the direction you want to cast (almost like a fly fishing “back-cast”). 

As you begin to make your forward casting movement, the bend in the rod gets deeper because of the force needed to reverse the momentum of your lure. That generates a much wider arc for you to apply power. It also means the ROD is doing most of the casting!

Although that idea is present in other branches of baitcasting, creating and controlling that flex with such light lures gives BFS casting a particular character. In fact, if you DON’T do this “loading up” action of the rod you dramatically reduce distance and accuracy.
If, instead of loading up, you try to draw the rod back – pause – and then flex the rod only on the forward cast; there is only a tiny arc of the cast where power is applied. 

Loading up gives you a big advantage and makes sure the rod does the work. It also seems to create a bigger margin for error on your release point by reducing the amount of force you need to use in the forward cast.

Combining the ideas of loading up, letting the rod do the work, accuracy and the need to cope with obstacles behind/above you means that casts have a lot of “wrist”. It also means there probably shouldn’t be too much “arm” in the cast. I’ve found it helpful to focus on keeping the hand and arm quite “locked in place” to fire the cast out. All this means that BFS casting does feel pretty distinct from a lot of other lure fishing styles.

Basic BFS Side Cast

Below is a basic side-cast in slow motion with the affordable KastKing Zephyr (NOTE: this example is using two hands - which helps in keeping your arms from swinging around too far; but you should also practice this one-handed as well):

Side casts fly quite flat to the water while overhead casts tend to have a higher, looping flight-path (below). The flatter the flight-path – the more constant the speed of the lure. Matching the speed of the spool to the speed of the lure is how to avoid over-runs/backlashes. OK, modern magnetic brakes help a lot – but you still need to understand the difference between making the spool rotate and firing the lure forwards.

We’ll get into spool and lure movements (and rod flex) as we go on. First, a step by step checklist for a basic side-cast would be:

Practicing the side cast is a great way to work on NOT using lots of long, sweeping arm movements for bait finesse casting. Putting a lot of focus on keeping elbows in and just using wrist to load the rod to fire the lure is really helpful. You can compare the release points, rod tip paths and loading/unloading of the rod between spin-casting and bait finesse casting in this short trip video of JP and myself:

Loading Up and Release Point

It is nearly all wrist movement that generates the rod-bend in bait finesse casting. You can see that really well In the video at the top of this post, as well as getting a clue from Angler Saito as to why glass rods have their fans in the BFS community! The video clearly shows how the rod is “loaded up” using a motion AWAY from the target – before reversing that movement with a forward wrist-snap.

I think the mechanics of this are a bit like a bow and arrow. In a way, you are pulling back the rod tip in the same way you draw back a bow. There is just one major complication though…the spool.

The kicker comes from the fact that, in order to allow the lure to fly out freely, the spool obviously NEEDS to be spinning to pay out line.

That last situation will give you the MOTHER of all bird’s nests…I did it recently when my lure just brushed against something as I loaded up for a flip cast. The lure stayed absolutely where it was and my rod wanged straight. Within half a second, my reel looked like a candy-floss machine operated by a maniac...

Ratio of Spool Weight to Lure Weight in Bait Finesse Casting

There’s a rough (but practical) benchmark for weights of BFS spools of around 9g or less. A 9-point-something gram spool with decent bearings should let you cast a 2g (total weight) lure fairly easily. Of course, you should be using a rod rated for something in the 1g – 6g or 1g – 8g territory.

For getting down to lures of 1g total weight, you’ll have a lot easier time with spools under 7g and certainly closer to 6g…Though, of course, the lighter you go – the more care you’ll have to use to make sure you don’t deform or damage the spool.

Timing of Release vs. Lure and Spool Weight

Based on what we know about rods unloading and spools spinning...

At a certain point, the force (amount of bend and how strongly you need to snap it forwards) needed to get a light lure to make the spool spin gets too much to control. The best result of that mis-match is that the spool won’t spin and the lure jerks tight against the line (which isn’t being paid out fast enough). 

Alternatively, if you manage to actually throw the rod hard enough (and release your thumb EARLY enough) to get the spool spinning - the chances are that spool is going to be turning SO much faster than the lure is being thrown forwards.

Again we’ve arrived in “Destination Unholy Bird’s Nest”.

Take home messages on lure weights in bait finesse casting:

Flip Casting Special Considerations

When it comes to flip-casting, you need to raise your elbow high enough to keep the rod and lure from snagging on the water (or the ground) during the casting stroke. Either will be disastrous! You also need to get a good feel for the release point - which will vary depending on how heavy your lure is relative to your spool (and also the inertia of your bearings - with micro-bearings allowing you to release a little later). The greater the inertia you need to overcome - and the lighter your lure - the earlier you'll need to release. 

Also, be aware of the plane/angle at which your rod is loading and unloading. If you have too much of an "up and down" motion, the lure is likely to fly up in the air - and cause a backlash as gravity makes it stall...Instead think almost of the feeling that you are throwing your lure away behind you on the backswing - and release just as the tension starts to build on the rod.

Here is a short (2-minute) video of some fun flip casts using an affordable combo of the Dark Wolf Ultra reel and Tsurinoya Ares C472 UL rod:

Try not to release too late - since that creates a terrible mess when your lure is already moving fast and then you suddenly release the spool. The lure jerking tight to that stationary spool when the rod is already pretty straight isn't good as you'll already know from your other casting experiences.

Tips for Practicing Bait Finesse Casting

That last point is important. Even when it seems you aren’t making progress, your body is working this stuff out while you sleep – so the next time you try it’ll be a tiny bit better. Eventually, those little improvements all add together and create a breakthrough.

Just like a stonemason hammering away at a lump of rock – the 100 blows with the hammer where the rock didn’t break are NOT wasted. In the same way, the 101st impact when the rock actually breaks is the least important one – it only happens because of the other ones that came before.

Looking into the future, I’ll try to share as much video of my own bait finesse casting to share my own progress – and I’m very open to comments/tips/assessment from folks at all points along the progress curve.

Please share your thoughts below and I’ll always try to answer you if I can offer something useful in return.

Paul