# Hatteras Cast



## whitebassfisher (Feb 5, 2006)

I am a newbie with a couple of questions. For my type of fishing, I believe the Hatteras cast would be the one for me to use and practice. How much drop do I have to use? At what point do I hit the power forward: as the weight is swinging up and away from me, right at the top of the arc, or after it starts back down toward me? Thanks


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## Orest (Jul 28, 2003)

On the way up toward your body.


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## ReelinRod (May 29, 2003)

The Hatteras cast drop is down to your gathering guide to start. 

With the rod held nearly vertical with the butt on your forward hip drop the tip back to begin the swing. At the same time you want to begin raising and extending your arms rearward. This requires a pretty good amount of momentum in your sinker to maintain its motion, swinging back. 

At the apex of its rearward swing (about head high) you should be in a javelin position, arms back, weight 60/40 on rear leg. Here's where the timing is critical. . . Now you begin your forward motion, hips first, torso, shoulders and arms last.

The mistake most make is when they begin their turn and forward motion, the rod tip drops and contact is lost with the sinker. It is imperitive that tension remains on the shocker at this critical change from rearward motion to forward.

Try to get your arms as far back as possible, the more extension you can muster the further the cast will go. The best way to describe the "hit" is to imagine there is a brick wall right in front of you and you are swinging a sledge over your head . . . That moment where your weight has been transfered from back to front and your arms are overhead, try to hit that wall with the head of the sledge . . .

The cast where the weight is swingng back towards you is the Aerolized Unitech.

Hatteras Outfitters has a video of the Hatteras Cast on their photo page, it is best to download it to your system and view it at a larger resolution; the viewer that opens on the HO site is tiny and can't be maximized.

http://www.hatterasoutfitters.com/


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## whitebassfisher (Feb 5, 2006)

*Thanks*

I appreciate the very good explanation. I have viewed the Tres Irby demo many times off the HO site, but I did not think to put it on my PC and maximize it. I would watch several times watching the rod, several times watching his arms, etc. However, I could not see the weight because it gets lost in background on the tiny screen. Also, it happens so fast that your explanation helps a lot. My fishing conditions are such that an OTG cast is not possible, and I need to keep feet movement to a minimum. I thought the Hatteras cast and the aerialized Unitech would be my best choices. Thanks again!


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## Tommy (Jan 24, 2001)

Whitebass,

Drop to gathering guide is about right. Try to use the same drop every cast. It helps control the timing. You may adjust up (shorter) a couple of inches with heavier (8nbait) payloads. 

Maintaining contact with the lead (like sarge said) is very important. You don't want the leader to develope slack at any point. 

Stance and footwork is the foundation of your cast and very important. At the hit you want an "open" stance, chest facing the target with the right foot at clock center and left foot at about 10:30. You can start in this position and rotate back at the hips or you can take a step during the cast to get in position. Try without the step at first.

Swing back to around 7:00. At the appex of your outswing begin the turn leading with the lower body. Kinda like a spring uncoiling. Push the left hand out and concentrate on keeping the arms extended away from the body. As you come around the longer you can keep the left hand/arm extended the better. Out in front of your eyes/forehead facing the taget is ideal. This is when you hit it. Push with the right and pull with the left. The best power is generated coming around at a 45 deg angle. Halfway between straight overhead and true sidearm.

I hope this helps,

Tommy


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