Although I have only been fishing for a total of three seasons I have figured out, through countless hours of throwing jigs, a few simple techniques on how to throw as far as possible every cast.
The first step is to understand the pendulum effect that is necessary to achieve a perfect cast. If you have ever seen a trebuchet in an old movie or like Lord of the Rings or something you would notice how the ball starts out under the rig itself then flings back and out in an arch to use as much energy as possible. Using that principle it is best to start a jig throw with your jig almost even with reel. This holds true to every rod no matter how long it is. Once you are holding it at reel level the idea is to swing it out and away from the rod by lowering the rod tip an once it hits that sweet spot on the back swing you start to bring the rod directly up and over yourself. Hopefully not slinging it side arm or something like that.
Now that you have a general idea of the technique I will use some pictures of some regulars on the half day boat Dolphin out of Mission Bay Sportfishing.
One of the most important things to do in this technique comes in the very beginning of the toss. You want to make sure that you not only come directly up and over your hands and yourself but that to achieve the farthest possible throw you must throw your left elbow horizontally out towards your intended direction. My friend mark demonstrates the motion.
Another early part of the throw, which is incorporated in the elbow part of it, is your entire body. You can see from the above picture that mark lifts his leg up, which to some seasoned veterans looks actually really stupid however it is a big part of him getting another 10-20 yards. By putting not only all of his upper body but his hips and lower body (where most of your muscles are anyways) he creates much more energy and power behind his throw than just using his chest and arm muscles. In this picture he demonstrates the use of his body behind the throw (although very exaggerated haha).
Now once his pole starts to get almost vertical it will turn over using the butt of the rod as the fulcrum point. The butt of the rod will stay in almost exactly the same position through the entire throw until the follow through. I have overlaid 3 shots. One of the rod just before vertical, rod at vertical, and the rod just past vertical.
So you can see that even as he goes through his toss the butt of the rod stays in the almost the same place.
Now we are 2/3 of the way through the toss. The follow through is not really that important to the overall throw… however there are a few points to be made. If you make it through the entire throw and leave your stick up and you are close with the other jig throwers on the boat, the guy next to you will throw and smack your rod with his rod… possibly snapping a guide off or breaking it, although that is highly improbable. So obviously the way to avoid rods hitting each other in a crowded jig throwing situation make sure on your follow through to keep your stick pointing down towards the water.
Ok so that is a basic overview of the jig throw. However there is one more thing to point out for the intermediate jig thrower to make himself a master. Anyone that can throw a jig can throw with a wide open space behind him and not have to worry about hooking something or worse someone. And my technique above is definitely meant for more open space situations. However with small tweaks to that basic technique you can easily throw jigs almost as far in confined spaces.
This first example is Al throwing using the basic technique. Elbow elevated and out with the jig starting at reel level. Making the jig swing back and out like a trebuchet as he comes up and directly over her hands.
So the above is a perfect cast in an open area but what about a closed space on the boat with a lot of people very close to you. All you do is shorten everything up and don’t swing the tip back before throwing out. You still use your body and that little elbow technique but just don’t elevate so it leaves your rod tip up.
If you compare both pictures you will notice that the second throw has the jig leaving the boat almost vertically so he can throw using this technique in more confined spaces. You will also notice he leans over the boat more using his body more than he would an open cast because he cant get as much power from his chest and arms as he can when he can perform a full swing in an open area.
I hope that this all makes at least a little bit of sense and although seems horribly in depth and complicated, is truly the only way to throw jigs more effectively, if you seem to not be able to throw as far as some of the other jig throwers on the boat. And remember what I stated at the beginning of this that these tips help you cast no matter how new or old your gear is. These techniques will help you whether you have a 10’ Ulua or a 6’ Pacific Coast rod.
To recap the steps are:
1. Start with jig at reel level
2. Elevate and stick out elbow so the rod tip dips down
3. Once the jig reaches the edge of the swing put your hands directly up and over your body making sure to keep the butt of the rod as the fulcrum so it stays in almost the exact same spot all the way through the cast
4. In your follow through make sure to keep your rod down so someone else throwing out doesn’t hit it
Hope this helps, good luck and tight lines
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