How To Pitch For Bass

PITCHING IS AN underhand baitcasting skill that’s perfect for delivering bass jigs or weighted creature baits in heavy cover. It’s effective from 10 to about 50 feet. You can make a pitch while standing on a boat deck, and you can practice indoors with a hookless casting weight because extremes of force and distance aren’t required.

** The Setup**_
_ Heavy-cover fishing requires strong line–20- to 25-pound-test mono. Start with a 3/4- to 1-ounce lure in your left hand (for right-handed casters) about even with the reel. While keeping slight tension on the line with your left hand, put the reel in free-spool and press your right thumb against the spool to prevent any movement.

The Swing
Hold the rod at waist level, extended straight out in front of you. Your casting-arm elbow should be bent and relaxed. Let go of the lure to start a pendulum-like swing. As the lure swings, raise the rod upward and outward by about a foot. Release thumb pressure on the spool so the lure flies with a low trajectory. If it lands right in front of you, you released the spool too soon. A high-flying lure means you let go too late.

The Landing
As the lure reaches the target, thumb the spool to slow its flight and lower the rod slightly so the bait hits the water with a gentle blip. Above all, remember that you’re swinging the lure to make this cast, not throwing it.