Improving Cast Distance: Thumbing your Reel, a Lost Art

thumbing-the-reel

Getting the most distance out of your equipment will take a little finesse on your part. We’ve all gone through the challenging act of learning how to cast a level wind baitcast reel; some of us as early as seven years old and others a little more recently. However, I’ve found that the art of thumbing the reel spool seems to be a forgotten art.

On a recent trip with some friends one of the guys had a very nice rod and reel set up. The reel was smooth, but he had it adjusted to not backlash at all and was loosing considerable casting distance. My Lews was easily casting twice as far compared to his cast. His thought process was that with any reel, in order to not backlash it, he’d have it set where it did not require touching the spool with the thumb during the cast.

While this zero backlash criterion is certainly achievable with modern reel technology, as a fisherman becomes more advanced in his casting skill he’s able to open the throttle a little on the reel brakes. At this point, you may be asking yourself, “Well, if that’s done, won’t I get a backlash?” The answer is “No,” but it will require becoming adept at thumbing the reel spool.

Thumbing the reel spool is achieved by barely touching the edge of the reel spool during the cast. It’s a very light application of thumb pressure to cause a little friction at the beginning and end of the cast. A common misconception of thumbing is that the thumb is touched to the line coming off the spool; thumbing is primarily to cause friction with the edge of the spool once the cast is already underway. Only before the release does the thumb position directly on the spooled line. After that point, the side of the thumb will lightly touch the edge of the spool. The edge of the spool is a consistent smooth surface, while the lined portion is constantly changing during the cast.

To begin applying this art to your repertoire, first, practice with your current real settings that you are currently used to by lightly touching the edge of the spool with your thumb immediately after the release to control over-run, and toward the end to feather the lure into the water. At first this will cause a loss of cast distance, so don’t be dismayed. As you get the feel for it, reduce the quantity of centrifugal brakes you have applied by disengaging one brake. Later you will begin to reduce both friction knob and magnetic brakes as well. I don’t completely reduce any of the settings, that would defeat the wonderful technology that’s been created into the reel, but by reducing the amount of braking and allowing your art to evolve you will slowly begin to increase your cast distance.

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