# Confused about OTG cast lead starting position



## Guest (Nov 29, 2016)

Hi all,

After looking at multiple videos I am more confused than ever about the angle I should position the lead in relation to the rod tip. Peter Thain says that the lead should be parallel to the beach. It looks from his video that the rod tip is about 225 degrees from the beach. Tommy says 90 deg works best for him but it could be between 45 and 90. Others say that 90 is too much. So it looks to me that for the OTG cast the initial position of the lead is not written in stone. Does it depend on the on the casting style of the caster? Will a 90 degree angle help compress more the rod?


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## Tommy (Jan 24, 2001)

Cast, rinse, repeat....

The simple answer is that there is no correct angle for everyone. Many great casters start with the sinker around 45 degrees inside the rod tip. I personally spent a LOT of time from 2006-2010 working the OTG cast and in the end, 90 degrees off the tip with the rod at 270 degrees from target gave me the best result. That puts the sinker though a 360 degree arc. If the caster has the skill and technique to power through, gives very good results.

Start at 45 degrees, make several casts then move the sinker a bit more toward 90. It will either produce better results or not. Give each position as many casts as needed to let your body adjust then move the sinker again. There are many variable so try to keep body position, rod position and hand/arm position the same as you adjust the angle, otherwise you don't know which change made the difference in distance.

Good luck and let us all know what works the best for you.

Tommy


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