The Art of the Cast

Man has been throwing a net since the beginning of time.  Funny thing about it is, not much has changed in the thousands of years it's been around.  Sure, materials and designs may be different, but the casting technique and purpose hasn’t changed much, if at all. 
 
With that being said, one would think throwing a cast net would be an easy thing to do; and with practice it can be.  But I still marvel at the ones that can do it well.  Some folks make it look effortless as they float it out on the water in a wide breathe over a ball of bait or cruising school of fish.  A 10 foot wide net is my sweet spot and I can throw it with a respectable degree of success.  But, to watch these guys throwing a 12 or 14 footer is truly amazing.  Just imagine wrapping yourself up in a huge piece of wet fabric that weighs as much as a cement block and tossing it overboard or off the dock and trying not to go in with it!  What’s really impressive are the mullet fisherman that can throw these nets while standing in chest or waist deep water.  Crazy hard!
 
I started our son Will around 8 years old with a 4 footer catching bait around the oyster bars down at the coast.  We have a favorite spot he named “Redfish Island” where we can almost always catch enough bait for long morning of inshore fishing.  He was always independent and took off on his own as soon as the boat hit the shore to catch the mighty Bull Minnow.  Now he  is 16 years old, has a 9 footer and can throw better than me.  The student is now the teacher and I can check that one off my list of things he needs to know how to do in this life.