Fish per Cast ratio 2024
Redtail reply :
I wonder what the approximate ratio is of fish caught per cast. (Obvoiusly this would be an average over a long period of time) Do you think it's one fish for every 100 casts, 200 casts? Just curious what you guys think about this. I know some days it feels like I make 500 casts to catch one fish.
Nick_Barr reply :
If i did the math right
3 cast per minute
60 minutes in an hour
8 hours in tourney
5 fish=
1 FISH PER 288 Casts on average
roadwarrior reply :
Nick_Barr,
I fish a lot slower than you, probably more like twenty casts per hour, but certainly no more than thirty. I expect 1:10 on my ponds, something less on big water and more like 1:5 on the Tennessee River (although they are not always bass).
If you are really 1:288, I think you need to try some different technique or find a new place to fish.
gamblerOH reply :
Nick_Barr, where do you live? Remind me not to fish any of your lakes 
. You could always sit and let you partner make the first 287 cast then cast yours on the 288, your catch to cast ratio would skyrocket ;D---just a thought
plowertj reply :
i wish i could catch a fish within 10 casts!
Muddpuppy reply :
At 3 cast a min. I'd besprawled out on the deck like winded hound in a short period of time. Crawdads could use my tounge as a diveing board. You need to pair up with my buddy. I started out trying to figure 1 cast a min. at 60% actural fishing time and came out with 36 casts an hour, I think that is still way more than I normally make. 20 sounds pretty close maybe 25. And usually 3-5 fish on fair to good day avg. for a 2.5 to 3 hour trip. My numbers aren't probably as impressive as RW's but I don't try very hard either, some days. Maybe a range of 15 - 20:1 to 36 - 40:1 depending on baits. And probably in the mid range most of the time. My avg. was probably better 20years ago.
5bass reply :
I would think that on certain waters such as farm ponds with little or no pressure the ratio would be lower.On heavily pressured lakes,the fish see 100X more baits,have more places to roam and hide and the ratio goes way up.It really all depends on what type of lake/pond/river you fish.It's like the Bill Dance effect.He fishes private stocked lakes and ponds all the time.He catches a whole pile of fish.
Crazy_Colaizzi_21 reply :
Gambler that was funny and Nick all i have to say is nice math work bad average I thinck it is more like 1 to 5 on a good day 1 to 20 on a bad 
mac7373 reply :
On ponds I could understand having days like 10:1...but you should call the Guinness Records guys if you could go out and consistently every single day do 10:1 and they are legal size keeper bass and not little dinks. Not only that but if on bigger water your ratio only slightly goes down then you should be doin nothing but fishing the BASS and/or FLW tours and making some real money. I have some farm ponds that I can go to any day, anytime and catch bass 1:1 but never catch one over 1/2 pound or so? If you took an honest representation of your fishing "time" and remembered the bad days as well as you remember the good days I think you would be surprised with how much higher your ratio is than 10:1. I have had days and seen pros have days on some of the best lakes in the country where we or I have gone 3-4 trips for 8-10 hours a days and caught one bass a day!!! Ask the guys who make a living as guides on some of these major lakes if they just go out and hammer 'em everyday...nope, they don't. I have been given two free trips to re-book a guide trip before because we have turned up "goose-eggs" on the trip.
288:1 is pretty high though, but is not impossible...like I said earlier, any fisherman who is honest will tell you they have had days worse than that. Using the way it was calculated in the initial post I would say that the average fish caught would not be 5 but rather 8-10 and sometimes allot higher than that and sometimes lower. I would also say that the casting per minute ratio is going to range from 1.5 - 3 and sometimes 4 per minute.
Based on 10 fish in a tournament day it looks like this...remember this is averaged over a long period of time and not just the one day or the best days but all of them...
1.5 casts per min. = 72:1
2 casts per min. = 96:1
2.5 casts per min. = 120:1
3 casts per min. = 144:1
Anybody who is boasting anything better than a 50:1 - 80:1 on a daily consistent basis over a long period of time and isn't willing to admit they too have 288:1 days is probably not being altogether honest. If we all started today and went for 5 years and log ever cast of every trip and every BASS caught with a minimum of say 30-50+ trips a year and the tournament guidelines for size limits where applied not counting dinks...I would bet everything I own that nobody on here would average out to higher than a 50:1 ratio, which would come out to a generous 20 or so keeper bass a day everyday...that's even too low a ratio in my opinion.
Think about it...when we watch the tournament highlights on ESPN or whatever...we see the anglers make maybe 10 casts that they caught fish on...what about the other 1500 casts we don't see? Based on your numbers 10:1...pro anglers must cull like around 100-150 fish a day because if you have 10:1 everyday than I am sure these pros can do that...right? Wrong!!! If you pay attention you see tournaments where pro anglers outside of the top five don't even limit out (5 fish!!!) everday.
roadwarrior reply :
I'll stick with my numbers:
Pond: 1 loop: 5 bass/ 1hr 30 min.
2 minutes per cast (soft plastics) = 45 casts
catch ratio 1:9
I often have a better day, I rarely have one worse
Tennessee River:
Well, I count everything , use live bait and one cast can last 5-10 minutes. Sometimes I'll catch 200 lbs of fish in a day, on a slow day probably 50 lbs. I catch more fish and certainly more pounds on the river than at my ponds.
Catch ratio 1:5, I'll stick with that too.
White River:
This weekend I was fishing for one big fish, which I caught. My partner was more typical, he caught 90+ in two days, many in 4 and 5 fish streaks. Unless you get hung up, one cast usually resulted in a fish. I would guess his ratio was 1:3, but it might have been better!
Muddpuppy reply :
I believe I stated that I figured these off of Fair to Good trips. As far as the figures go they may also be misleading in the fact that I do not always fish constantly through out a day nor do I have to fish under extreame pressure. Sure I get skunked from time to time, and to be honest I meant to put that in. I also said that I couldn't endure 3 casts a minute so I am selective about the casts that I do make. An avg. of one fish an hour out of up to 40 casts or 3-5 fish of any size on a good day on East Texas Lakes isn't boasting. And I did not mean for it to be taken as such. True I did not answer the question as it was put. However I did try to keep the numbers real and explain how I arrived at them, at least to answer an internet question. If you have a problem with them I will be more than happy to deleate my reply. I should have read the post a little closer.
mac7373 reply :
roadwarrior
You need to take that show on the road then. Why are you wasting your time here on this board when you could obviously be out there totally dominating the pro anglers of the world who evidentially don't know how to fish...they should all be able to muster a catch ratio like that. What was that that Jack Nicholson said in the movie "As Good as it Gets"...something to the effect of..."go sell crazy someplace else, we're all full here."
I am not knocking you as a fisherman or anybody else here for that matter, but I have spent way too much time on the water fishing...at least 130+ days a year for the last 15-20 years and not in my backyard or in my private pond either- to know that a catch ratio like yours over that period of time is not possible. The numbers you are using are skewed to favor you...if you went out and fished unfamiliar waters, artificial bait, only largemouth and smallmouth counted and had a size restriction like 12"-15" for 150 days out of a year...not just the good weather days either but all days pre determined just like a tournament your numbers would fall apart in a hurry...its that simple. Now if we want to pick and choose the location, and bait and time of year and...etc then I have a 1:1 ratio, but I don't think that's what the original question was either. Granted, I have gone away from the original question as well, but not to favor me but rather to make it more equal and less biased as a whole.
mac7373 reply :
MuddPuppy-
I don't know if you thought I directed my comments to you but I didn't. I had only read as far down as Roadwarriors and I was so blown away by his claims that I didn't read any further before I posted. All of what I said was more or less directed to RW. I agree with you now that I read your comments. You have the most feasible argument here I think. I think your numbers are closer to the real deal. No explanation necessary as far as I am concerned. Later
Wabassin reply :
Three cast a minute would be impossible for me..When im power fishing a jig the average that the jig is in the water is 8 to 10 seconds as I hop it 2 or 3 times and make another pitch. My fish per cast ratio is probably something like 50:1 big fish (keeper in a tournament) and probably 20:1 for dinks. Most the time less than that.
mac7373 reply :
Just for the heck of it here are some results from tournaments in that area plus various other areas. Pay special attention to the total number of anglers and limits caught.
**BASSMASTER SERIES MISSISSIPPI 2: PICKWICK LAKE
Tournament Winner: LEON TIDWELL
Winning Weight: 19 lbs 8 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/06/2005 End Date: 03/06/2005
Number Of Anglers: 84
Fish Caught: 171
Total Weight: 429 lbs 6 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 13
**BASSMASTER SERIES NORTH ALABAMA: LAKE WHEELER
Tournament Winner: JACK RAGSDALE
Winning Weight: 6 lbs 5 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 04/24/2005 End Date: 04/24/2005
Number Of Anglers: 104
Fish Caught: 216
Total Weight: 353 lbs 12 ozs
Bass Limit: 3
Limits Caught: 53
**BASSMASTER SERIES SOUTH ALABAMA 2: LAKE EUFALA
Tournament Winner: BILL CHAMPION
Winning Weight: 7 lbs 6 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/06/2005 End Date: 03/06/2005
Number Of Anglers: 132
Fish Caught: 106
Total Weight: 256 lbs 3 ozs
Bass Limit: 3
Limits Caught: 11
**BASSMASTER SERIES MISSOURI 1: GRAND LAKE OKLA.
Tournament Winner: GLEN YOUNG
Winning Weight: 13 lbs 5 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/13/2005 End Date: 03/13/2005
Number Of Anglers: 128
Fish Caught: 127
Total Weight: 330 lbs 13 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 2
**BASSMASTER SERIES TENNESSEE/KENTUCKY: PERCY PRIEST LAKE
Tournament Winner: BILL EATHERLY
Winning Weight: 12 lbs 0 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/13/2005 End Date: 03/13/2005
Number Of Anglers: 63
Fish Caught: 43
Total Weight: 114 lbs 8 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 0
**BASSMASTER SERIES NORTH ALABAMA: GUNTERSVILLE LAKE
Tournament Winner: DOUGLAS TRUE
Winning Weight: 22 lbs 11 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/13/2005 End Date: 03/13/2005
Number Of Anglers: 143
Fish Caught: 178
Total Weight: 675 lbs 7 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 5
**BASSMASTER SERIES TEXAS: SAM RAYBURN
Tournament Winner: LEONARD PRICE
Winning Weight: 20 lbs 8 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 04/10/2005 End Date: 04/10/2005
Number Of Anglers: 163
Fish Caught: 526
Total Weight: 1,280 lbs 15 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 61
**BASSMASTER SERIES TEXAS: TOLEDO BEND RESERVOIR
Tournament Winner: PHIL HENNIGAN
Winning Weight: 17 lbs 8 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 05/08/2005 End Date: 05/08/2005
Number Of Anglers: 137
Fish Caught: 292
Total Weight: 656 lbs 13 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 16
**BASSMASTER SERIES OKLAHOMA/ARKANSAS: LAKE DEGRAY
Tournament Winner: NATHAN STRATTON
Winning Weight: 15 lbs 9 ozs
Tournament Year: 2005
Start Date: 03/20/2005 End Date: 03/20/2005
Number Of Anglers: 83
Fish Caught: 184
Total Weight: 349 lbs 14 ozs
Bass Limit: 5
Limits Caught: 11
These are all 1-day results from various lakes with various levels of pro anglers. They were picked at random concentrating on southern lakes and rivers. If you put together all the numbers...
Total Anglers: 1,037
Total Fish: 1,843
Total Limits: 172 out of a possible 1,037 = 16.5%
Total Casts: 1,244,400 (based on a avg. of 2.5 per min.)
Fish to Angler Ratio: 1.78 to 1
Catch to Cast Ratio for ALL Anglers combined: 1 fish to every 675 casts or as we wrote it in previous posts 675:1.
Even if you slow it way down and say 1 cast per minute...
497,760 casts total = 270:1.
Hmmmm? I am telling you...some of you guys are in the wrong line of work.
mac7373 reply :
Wabassin
Your info much like Mudd's sounds a heck of allot more realistic to me.
FL_fisher reply :
mac is right if you can catch fish at a ratio better than 1:50 then you need to think about going pro even 1:50 is very good .no ponds included. just think if you fish for 8 hours and catch bass at a 1:50 ratio at 2 cast a min you will catch 91/2 bass keeper bass. if you fit this then stop what you are doing and go pro.
Gatorbassman reply :
Now that number sounds more like it. I have been working on increasing my casts per minute this year only when conditions warrent it. I have found that the most important thing isn't how fast I get the bait back in the water but how accurate that cast is. I have been pitching and flipping alot more and I can now hit a coffie cup a 30 ft one out of five times. Just like everything else. The more you practice the better you become. I still have trouble skipping though, but that's next.
Wabassin reply :
Learn to skip with casting tackle, spinning is easy but so is casting once you get it down. You wont lose as many fish with it due to bad cover.
5bass reply :
Looks like mac has been doing his homework.....I agree with all that he has said.His numbers are more realistic.
D.Taylor reply :
Good work mac
We spent a total 4.5 hrs on the water and caught over 45 bass. Most were caught on senkos and tubes heres the trick we had maybe 5 over 14 inches the biggest was 16 the lake limit was 18 inches.
If you have a 75 to 1 ratio of keepers over a 8 hr day you are having a great day.
I know you can find that one spot and catch them on every cast till they quit biting but the rest of your day you can chase your tail and not get bit.
KU_Bassmaster. reply :
Do those number's include short fish though. I don't think they do?? The total number of fish caught should go way up, and also if you read RW post he is not just talking about bass. I think when he says "200 lbs." I think he is talking about stripers.
I have been pitching docks the last week and on average I would catch 3 fish an hour and about 1 of every 5 of those would reach the limit (15 inches).
2.5 cast per minute = 150 cast every hour
50:1 for all Bass
250:1 for "keeper" Bass
I think these numbers also reflect what type of bait you are using. My numbers reflect using a YUM Beaver tail and jig-n-pigs. If I was to throw a 4 inch plastic worm I think I could have caught a whole lot more, but MAYBE 1 out of 15 would be of legal length.
mac7373 reply :
KU_Bass...
No those numbers do not count "short fish" for they do not fall into the "keeper" criteria set forth by most tournaments. The average slot that I have seen is normally 12" but I have seen in other states were it can fluctuate from 12"- 16". Regardless of what RW said, I specifically stated that it only included smallmouth and largemouth and that the limits as in a bass tournament should be the criteria applied. (makes sense seeing as this is a bass fishing thread) This ratio is not about stripers or hybrids or trout or catfish or perch or little dink bass from an overstocked pond or anything else other than bass of the smallmouth and largemouth variety. Like I said before...if it were just anything and any fish I could skew my own numbers to 1:1 ratio, but what's the point of that? It proves nothing and lends nothing to the debate/discussion.
Redtail reply :
Wow-I just realized how bad I am at fishing!
Let's say you fished an 8 hr day (50 casts an hour, 400 for the day) and got no fish, which I've done. If in the next 5 times I went (same senario 400 casts a day over 8 hours) but caught one fish every hour on all 5 trips, that would be 40 fish in 2,000 casts for a grand total over 6 days of 2400 casts for 40 fish or 1 fish every 60 casts. To me that would be great fishing and I've never done that either. I'm afraid my ratio is well over 100 to 1.
I think I better go back to golf!
roadwarrior reply :
Whoa! mac7373,
I'm not a tournament fisherman. I don't just "go fishing", I go CATCHING. My ratios are based on counting everything.
First of all, I fish for big fish on water that holds lots of them. I fish the same water most of the time. I NEVER search for fish. If I'm on new water or big water, I hire the best guide on the lake.
Second, I generally fish live bait on the Tennessee River. I feed them exactly what they like to eat. I catch multispecies, and I count them all. Yep, that's right: skipjack, drum, gar, buffalo, bream, crappie, catfish, sauger, white bass, Kentucky, largemouth, smallmouth and stripers.
I'm not a tournament fisherman, I don't get jazzed about catching 15-20 lbs of fish over a two day event or fishing for twelve inch "keepers". I do much better than that fishing artificials on my ponds.
Maybe you should come on down to the river and discover what catching is all about. Sure, we'll target smallmouth and you might catch a monster, but along the way you'll catch a lot of other fish, too. If you like catfish, you can keep them all and take a hundred pounds home with you.
p.s. My comments on this thread were directed to Redtail's post, not "YOUR CRITERIA". Again, I'll stick with my ratios for my fishing.
mac7373 reply :
RW
If you want to talk ratios including skipjack, drum, gar, buffalo, bream, crappie, catfish, sauger, white bass, Kentucky, stripers, chinook, silvers, brown trout, rainbow trout, steelhead, halibut, marlin, shark, whale and...blah, blah, blah...etc...etc, then you should move over to the board called---Other Fish Species---link follows...
http://bassresource.com/cgi-bin/bass_fish/YaBB.pl?board=species_ID
...I mean, last time I checked this board was called--General Bass Fishing and not General Multi Species Fishing?
Yep...this thread was started by Redtail. I found his topic intriguing and waited for him to elaborate on it but he didn't...so I did, that's, that. I asked the question in a different way with "my specific criteria" and you come back saying that you stand by your numbers. That being said, you either don't understand the question, or you are just trying to flame and get something started? I asked the question with those specific guidelines to basically see how many of you would give me a half-@$$<? answer like 5 or 10:1, which would show me who the real bass fisherman are and who's just pretending, and so far you are the only one who doesn't seem to play by the rules. Again, if its just any fish...I have a 1:1 ratio and I will prove that all day long. I bet if you didn't sit at home and watch the weather/news and say "well tomorrow looks good so I will go tomorrow" and if you were forced out of your comfort zone and didn't have a guide holding your hand and wiping your nose, your numbers wouldn't hold water. You go 30-40 days in a row, not skipping a single one because the weather doesn't suit you or whatever and you fish on your own expertise and not have a guide baiting your pole and setting the hook for you and you fish for keeper size BASS, hell you might just quit fishing when you realize its not as easy as you think.
Ever read Bassmaster Magazine...ever check out the new series called "A Day on the Lake" where they take the top pro anglers on the circuit and put them on a lake they have never fished and never seen, with whatever conditions that are present the day that was scheduled rather than looking for optimal days, (like you) with no idea what the patterns are in this water, just see how they fair and how well they find fish over an 7 hour period. Edwin Evers...an Oklahoma boy I might add (Boomer Sooner) had about the best day I have seen so far and he only caught 5 fish for a total weight of 13lbs 11oz. Skeet Reese was the most recent victim; he caught 3 fish for 4lbs 6oz. I bet if you told Skeet that you could fish that lake and go 10:1 against his approximate 350:1 (being that he is a typical Cali power fisherman, he casts at least 2.5 per min.) he would probably laugh you out of the water. Oh....my fault, your not talkin about bass...right, I am so stupid sometimes. But...it does beg the question, "if your not talkin bass, what are you doing here then?"
I don't remember anybody asking about how many Walleye or Redfish you catch and what guide you use. But if that question was asked I would welcome your numbers and bow down before them, but until that time or until you fess up to the fact that you can't catch bass at a rate of 10:1 and quit insulting the intelligence of me and anybody else who has fished for bass in any capacity...like I said earlier, "go sell crazy someplace else-we're all full here".
guest reply :
1:9
WOW!
abelfisher reply :
Hey Mac7373,
You need to go over to your medicine cabinet, and look for the bottle that say's "Chill Pills" and open it up and take the BIGGEST ONE IN THERE!!
I think if anyone is trying to get something started, it sounds like you are. Man, just chill out!
Glenn reply :
Mac - watch your tone and accusations - and I MEAN IT!
I have no problems banning people who cannot treat people in a courteous and polite manner. Either you start showing some respect to others, or you're gone.
Don't even bother arguing or debating with me about this. It will only grant you the instant boot. No Exceptions!
elkhunter7x6 reply :
Mac it seems to me that you have gotten a little carried away. If you go back and read the original question redtail simply asked fish to cast ratio. There was no spacific criteria as to size of fish,size of lake , tourney rules,ect. (I assumed bass was the species). Just simply fish to cast ratio.
Now as unbelievable as the published #ers by RW may seem to you, does it really warrant the bashing. After all you are boasting being able to catch 1:1 ratio on you terms. Maybe you can, I can not.
Howeever, I do think that the numbers that you put together for you criteria was well thought out fairly accurate for a public lake. But some folks do have access to above average fishing holes and better ratios are possible.
Perhaps you should have started a new thread instead of bashing a good man.
I am new to the forum,(not too fishing) and personnaly feel that RW makes this Forum a more informative and friendly place to hang out.
Mac if talking about fishing makes you this angry perhaps you should find something else to talk about.
JTL reply :
Mac7373,
I think that in the movie "STRIPES", they used a statement that went something like this:
"Lighten up Francis"
mac7373 reply :
It's over as far as I am concerned.
As far as the 1:1 claim I made its true, but still is not an accurate representation of what we were discussing so there for it does not count. They are all largemouths under 10 inches and are in a private pond me and my family own that we use to stock the other ponds on our property. You can take a rod and reel with one of those Manns in-line spinners and reel them in until your arm falls off.
As far as what I wrote...prove me wrong.
Roadwarrior to Nick_Barr
QuoteIf you are really 1:288, I think you need to try some different technique or find a new place to fish.
Why...288:1 is a heck of allot closer to the truth and a more accurate representation than 5:1 or 10:1...he flat out told someone they don't know how to fish basically. No outcry that that was disrespectful?
The next time I read something from someone who is clearly "out in left field"...I'll ignore it. No problem here.
Lastly...
If I have offended anybody...I really apologize. That wasn't the goal or intent I had in mind. I had no idea some were so sensitive. I used no profanity and said nothing derogatory, but if reading my posts some found themselves offended or however it may have effected you, I am sorry. It won't happen again.
JTL reply :
Although this is a "General Bass Fishing" forum, look on the bright side...
The "Musky" is known as "the fish of 10,000 casts"...
mac7373 reply :
Yep...
I like the quote too
Quote"Lighten up Francis"
That gave me a laugh. Later
Redtail reply :
I should have been a bit more clear with my original question, but I just assumed since this is a Bass Fishing Forum and named the Ultimate Bass Fishing Rresource Guide, I was only talking about bass.
My original intent was to ask how many casts you guys think you make (on average) to catch a bass, any species of freshwater bass any size in a pond, lake whatever.
Sorry for the confusion this caused!
Roadwarrior-You are definately one of the most respected people on this forum!
elkhunter7x6 reply :
Mac I believe in constructive critisism. I just thought you got a little carried away. I enjoyed your information, just not the rest of the non-sence.
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