# ur casting net tech



## jimim77 (May 6, 2016)

hey guys. this year i want to catch my own bait. an old friend of mine used to use a casting net for bait on topsail each summer and always kept us in bait for the trip. i never taught myself and now i want to. i have been watching you tube videos and i found a tech which i kinda like but i'm afraid i'm going to forget it when in the surf. 

i'm short. 5'3. my casting net is an old salt 5' round.

no teeth tech.

the one that i found that seems to be working is the most complicated. you coil up the rope. you then grab a foot of the net and coil that. then you grab ur hip and coil that. then you grab half the weights from the middle and hold that in ur hand. then you grab the line closest to you and you are set. it's a lot of setup. but it seems be working for me.

what i'm asking is if anyone has any diff tech that is easier to remember. i saw the one youtube video with a young kid in the back yard. he just grabs a third down and old it in throwing hand. then grabs the close line of weight half way and away he goes. i can't get it to open properly wit this tech, but it's easy to remember.

also when i am throwing it is opening up but not the width of the circle. more like an oval. how do i get a wider opening when throwing.

any help would be awesome from you guys who live down here and fish daily.

thanks a lot!

jim
tight lines


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## Papa-T (Sep 5, 2011)

Well if you keep watching videos on YouTube you can find one that fits you. I've been throwing my 6' net the same way for 30 years. Old school style I guess with no teeth. I've showed others how to throw but couldn't begin to explain in words. Main thing I can say about catching bait is to be patient. Don't just throw unless you see bait. And throw slightly in front of where their swimming or you'll miss. I've stood motionless for 10-15 minutes at times before throwing. Good luck.


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## Guest (Jun 27, 2017)

Being short has nothing to do with anything. You could throw a 10' net once you get the technique down. The longer the net, the more of the top you would coil up along with the rope line. Yep, hard to explain in words.


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## oldguy (Sep 15, 2014)

I am still perfecting my technique of many frustrating years. Fill your yeti cold cup with small amount of ice, pour in a copious amount of Crown Royal. Take a long slug. Find your net. Take another long slug. Refill your cup with Crown. Take another drink. Walk over to beach. Coil rope in hand. Take another drink of Crown. Stagger down to the surf. Grab net with coil hand. With free hand, hoist another slug. Slip yeti down in the waist band of your shorts. Grab net half way down, drop coil. With hand now free, take another drink. Re-insert yeti. Pull pants back up. Coil net around hand. Shake rope from around ankles. Trip and fall down into tide pool. Take out yeti and take another slug. Ask some kid in tide pool to help you stand. Take out yeti and drink some more. Ask kid to hold your cup. Coil rope around neck. Grab your shorts half way down. Twist at the waist and throw. Drop coil so you can grab your ripped shorts when they fall to your ankles. Hide behind kid. Grab cup back and take another slug. Fall. Pound sand. Attempt to remove rope from around your neck as wave back-flow takes the net seaward. Regain balance in time to be struck by beach chair being flailed by kid's irate mother......


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## CoolDude (Sep 28, 2010)

Papa-T said:


> Well if you keep watching videos on YouTube you can find one that fits you. I've been throwing my 6' net the same way for 30 years. Old school style I guess with no teeth. I've showed others how to throw but couldn't begin to explain in words. Main thing I can say about catching bait is to be patient. Don't just throw unless you see bait. And throw slightly in front of where their swimming or you'll miss. I've stood motionless for 10-15 minutes at times before throwing. Good luck.


I throw mine even when I don't see bait. I guess that's part of the fun for me. Sometimes I'll throw where I don't see anything and end up with a few shrimp, crabs and a stray baitfish or two. I'll throw anywhere that I don't see snags...marsh, surf or off of a dock/pier. If I'm in a hurry to collect bait then I'll site throw at schools. I'm 5-8 and use a 6' net. I wouldn't want to throw anything bigger. I've seen short guys throw big nets, but I try my best to avoid hang time. For me, the bigger the net the higher it needs to be tossed so that it can open up. I'm super certain that baitfish see that net opening above their heads and are sometimes able to avoid getting caught up.


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## Shanep (Jul 1, 2015)

I coil it in my hand with the crown, pull up the nearest weight and lay that in the same hand, then grab a weight about 3' to the front. When you throw, keep the length between the two weights tight and pretend you're throwing a board with two hands


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

For small cast nets this is the easiest and fastest I have found. IMO works up to about 6'. I don't throw much more than that usually. 

I have a 10' but I cannot get it to pancake very well.

Watch craigslist for someone selling an old net or watch walmart to find a cheap one to learn to throw in your yard. I practiced with a good net, tore it in the yard and got pissed.


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

Link for above post, you stay dry and no teeth


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

^ this way will work with even a 10' net (20' diameter), ya just load it more. anyway that gets the weighted line spinning will work, just practice!
js


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## hawkman (Jun 16, 2014)

This person does a good job throwing a large one. (I came by this youtube video honestly, searching up "how to throw a cast net". If you search for "cast net girl", though, you get a whole slew of em, or that's what I hear, anyway).

https://youtu.be/sKDPFQymjY0


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## letmefish (May 23, 2015)

NO NO NO!!!!

Lookup Capt Jeff aka "Lunkerdog". He has a youtube channel. He throws the net better than anybody. None of that "put the net in your mouth" crap. Very fast and easy way to load and carry and throw a cast net of any size. Just fold the net up in one hand and chunk it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BopnzenW_L8

Then watch this one. If you have to play it back in slo-mo that's fine, but the proper instruction is there. He sorta trolls guys with it, because they lose their minds and bitch him out cause the camera man doesn't hold the camera still. Of course that's by design also.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=CwrvaNrmJgs&v=PRlXzPWDNsE


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## jimim77 (May 6, 2016)

thanks guys for all the links. i'm playing with a few different techniques. i think a lot of my problem is not rotating, but i'm practicing. i appreciate all the links. 1 month to go. i'm really looking forward to this trip as always. surf fishing is such an awesome change of pace from the inland fishing i can only do here in pa.

jim
tight lines


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

js1172 said:


> ^ this way will work with even a 10' net (20' diameter), ya just load it more. anyway that gets the weighted line spinning will work, just practice!
> js


Do you grab the net like you see many with a large net: grab around the horn then take half the length of the net in the same hand then loop it over your hand?


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## spydermn (Apr 26, 2009)

letmefish said:


> Lookup Capt Jeff aka "Lunkerdog"....https://www.youtube.com/watch?annot...&feature=iv&src_vid=CwrvaNrmJgs&v=PRlXzPWDNsE


So I went out in the front yard the other day and took the "pick it up and chunk (sic) it" approach that "Lunkerdog" shows. It took me all of 5 throws to get it down. It is super easy. I can reload the net to throw in about 10 seconds, and can get a 95% pancake on every throw with my 10'. I may make a video to help with the finesse points he skips over but basilly you grab the net all in you dominate hand. grab the lead line in the other hand then throw the cast net the way you would think you throw a cast net. Slight spinning motion holding the lead line in your non-dom hand just a fraction of a sec longer. Works great


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## letmefish (May 23, 2015)

spydermn said:


> So I went out in the front yard the other day and took the "pick it up and chunk (sic) it" approach that "Lunkerdog" shows. It took me all of 5 throws to get it down. It is super easy. I can reload the net to throw in about 10 seconds, and can get a 95% pancake on every throw with my 10'. I may make a video to help with the finesse points he skips over but basilly you grab the net all in you dominate hand. grab the lead line in the other hand then throw the cast net the way you would think you throw a cast net. Slight spinning motion holding the lead line in your non-dom hand just a fraction of a sec longer. Works great


That's awesome!!!! The only other person I've seen throw like Capt Jeff was my Grandfather. He taught me to throw like that when I was a kid so one day while surfing youtube videos I find a video of Capt Jeff "chunking" his cast net and I was like, "holy cow". Then I started checking out his videos and sure enough he tosses it just like my Gramps did back in the day. He trolls people on youtube because they act like assholes because he doesn't take the time to give a step by step breakdown, and demo of how he is holding the net. Then he blames it on his camera man. LOL!!!!


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## fran35 (Jun 16, 2014)

I don't know, I have tried almost every different method. The easiest to deploy and perfect (for me)has always been the teeth method.


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## js1172 (Jun 5, 2012)

I load a 6' net once, grab the horn and grab it at 1/3 the way down, coil it into the hand, 1/2 the weights coiled and in the same hand, pull the lead line up and grip it in the hand with the net. grab the leadline an arms length away from where you have it gripped, start rotating your throwing arm 1/2 way into the throw before you release it, get the lead line spinning and it will pancake, you throw a 20' net the same way just load it 3 times, I'll try to find a vid.
JS


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## letmefish (May 23, 2015)

That's to much explanation for me. I prefer the way Capt Jeff explains it...

"Listen, you fold the net up in one hand and you chunk it".

Jump ahead to :26 seconds. You'll see.


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