Casting
Casting
Casting is one of those situation specific things. Quite often we can be like bulls in a china shop, attempting to get our gear out as far as possible, trying to cover as much water a one can. Often it's unnecessary and unproductive due to many extenuating factors. If say, you were to cast the width of a river, the increased drag of your line in the current can effect the presentation of your offering. Steelhead for example hold in marginal waters, those out of the direct effect of heavy current flows. Depending on how your situated on a given drift, a shorter cast is often more prudent than a bomber.
Previous post have nicely covered the mechanics of the cast. Glean all that you can and practice. I have a good friend who only uses a 6.6 medium heavy ugly stick and he's a fish catching monster. Practice and experience allows him to stick his casts constantly.
In younger days I'd always favored the side arm cast. Much like swinging a tennis racquet. A sweeping fluid motion where the line release would be a kin to where one would hit the ball and attempting to target it to a specific spot. I got quite good at it, as long as I didn't have anyone / thing within 10' to my right.
However, in close quarter situations like guerilla combat fishing when your shoulder to shoulder, side arming it is a real problem. First time you foul hook the angler next to you in the mug, is a moment you don't quickly forget....:shock:
The 12 o'clock high cast used scared the crap out of me. I was totally Re-Todd-Ed in my pathetic casting efforts. I spend hours of lost fishing time digging out MOBs (Mother Of all Backlashes) as I was a level wind purist at the time.
Every time I stepped to the waters edge the specter of impending doom set in. The cardinal rule of bait casters is... "Never cut the line. The tangle is becasue of line wraps. The only knots you have are the ones you make". I carried special tools to dig out MOBs when forced to cast high noon style.
Now things are much better on the casting front. In summary it's due in part to muscle memory, and using very little shoulder, 30% elbow, and 65% wrist. A lot like throwing darts.
Kush
The issues you mentioned about birds nests are a result of two things. "Spin up": the speed of your line leaving the spoon based on velocity you which launch your gear and "over run": the speed of your spool when your gear contacts the water..
Your thumb is the definitive braking component to prevent over run. Before you make your first cast after rigging or re baiting you should take a moment to ensure your mechanical spool brake is adjusted to allow your gear to slowly drop towards the ground while free spooled. That will help mitigate the effects of spin up. The moment your gear contacts the water, stop the spool rotation with your thumb. Often you won't need to engage the gears, rather you can continue to drift with your thumb on the spool and simply release pressure to ad that little extra something - something to the swing at the end of your drift.
It's also a good way to release any accidental over run you might not have been able to stop. It's never a good idea to reeling line on top of loose loops on the spool. A wrap is bound to happen at some time and that stops casts like hitting a brick wall.