e've all been there. Standing in the beautiful, vast surf, casting our long rods for hours without a single hit. So we wonder, maybe this just isn't our day. We cast again, but our concentration has ebbed, so instead of watching the line and maintaining contact with the lure, we lose ourselves in the music of crashing waves--until the music is pierced by the sharp, shriek-like howls of seagulls.

Down the beach a flock circles and dives: a sure sign bait fish and probably stripers our moving towards us. Something goes off in us. An adrenaline rush? A predatory instinct? We don't exactly what, or how to describe it, but its changed us. Electricity seems to be surging through us. We're wired. Eagerly, we watch and wait. The seagulls move close. But darn! They're out of our casting reach. Disappointed, we wonder, what will we tell our wives--that the stripers just weren't running, again? Maybe. But the sad thing is, it doesn't have to be that way. The seagulls, you see, aren't beyond out reach. They're beyond our skills. Exactly what do I mean?

For years tournament fly casters have been refining their techniques, and as a result are now casting farther than before. Can their techniques can help us surfcasters reach that faraway fish? Yes, I believe. But on a crowded beach, will we have to risk hooking someone with our lure? Absolutely not. To help me explain, let's begin by looking at some universal casting principals.

FUNDAMENTALS OF THE CAST
1. The lure will move in the direction the rod rip moved just before it was stopped.
2. To effectively load the rod we must begin the cast slowly, then accelerate and reach maximum speed just before we stop the rod. (If we begin the cast too fast the lure will also move too fast and, therefore, not fully pull on the rod.)
3. To use all the power stored in a loaded rod, we must abruptly stop the rod without lowering the tip from the target line.
4. All things being equal, the more we lengthen our casting stroke the more we will load the rod. With these principals in mind let's now turn to the techniques of long-distance surf casting.

THE GRIP
Any slack in the line will make it impossible to fully load the rod. Therefore, long- distance fly casters make sure they begin the cast with their rod and line hands close together so slack can't come between them. When casting a spinning rod we often add slack by not holding the line with enough tension. Even worse, just before we come to an abrupt stop our index fingers prematurely releases the line and the lure sails high and off to the right (assuming we're right-handed.) To avoid this, I place two fingers in front of the reel stem and two behind I pickup the line with my right index finger, then I move my hand back so that only my index finger is in front of the stem. Next, I pull the line up and back and gently press my fingertip against the stem, but not the line. (I need to feel the weight of the lure to cast it accurately.) When casting heavy lures, I recommend wearing a golf glove until you get your timing down.

THE SLINGSHOT STANCE
My left foot is forward and points straight ahead or slightly to the right of the target. My right foot points outward about forty-five degrees. My feet are shoulder-width apart. My knees are slightly bent. With the lure hanging down about two feet from the rod tip, I move the rod tip straight back, cock my wrist back and turn my shoulders and hips back. I stop the rod at about three-thirty to the horizon. My rod hand is about ear-level and not past my rear shoulder. My forearm points to about one o'clock. (Holding the rod in this position will make it easier for us to stop the rod without lowering the tip from the target line and to move our right arm in-sync with our body rotation. More about that later.) Finally, I shift my weight to my back foot.

THE CAST
Leading with my right elbow, I begin slowly, making sure I move my right arm in-sync with my weight shift and body rotation. I do this for two reasons:
1. If my arm moves faster than my body I will, in effect, become an arm-caster and lose power. Ever wonder why a major-league pitcher looks as if he's throwing so effortlessly?
2. If my arm gets in front of my body I will prematurely lower the rod tip and therefore unload the rod.

Back to my cast.
Pushing up with my right hand, and pulling down with my left, I accelerate the rod and move the butt perpendicular to the target line When my right arm is about three-quarters extended, I reach maximum speed by breaking both wrists halfway. Abruptly, I stop the rod at about eleven o'clock and release the line. All my weight is on the ball and toes of my front foot. My front leg is straight.

THAT EXTRA DISTANCE
So, we practiced these techniques and we're casting farther than ever, but wouldn't you know it: we're back on the beach and the fish are ten feet beyond our reach. What's a surfcaster to do? We'll again borrow techniques from fly casters, and lengthen our casting stroke similar to the way spey (rhymes with say) casters lengthen theirs. To do this I start out with a different stance. I hold the rod across my body, my right arm is about three-quarters extended, my right hand about shoulder level. The rod tip points forward, about thirty degrees to the right of the target line and about thirty degrees above the horizon. My weight is on my front foot. I begin the cast keeping my right elbow pointing down, shifting my weight back, and moving the rod tip up and back in a oval circle until I'm back in my slingshot stance. Without stopping, I make my slingshot cast.

SETTING THE HOOK
Since you're lure is now really out there, you'll need a longer, more powerful hook set. Therefore, as I retrieve the lure I hold the rod across my body--the rod balances in my right hand. The rod handle is under my left armpit. My weight is on my left foot. My right foot is back. When I feel a strike I point the rod towards the lure, quickly take up slack, then rip the rod tip up and back as far as I can.

IN CLOSING
So now if you don't catch a fish what will you tell your wife? Luckily, we anglers are blessed with a treasure of excuses.