How To Throw A 10-Foot Cast Net The Easy Way

by Chasten Whitfield

Has this ever happened to you?

It’s dawn on a Saturday morning…

As you come off plane and slowly approach the popular “bait flat” where six of the best local guides are all sitting close together waiting for first light so they can throw their nets.

They all watch you move into the middle of them, a couple of the captains say hi, while the rest just give you blank stares.

You start chumming, you pull your cast net out, and you put on your slickers and wait for the bait…

You glance over your shoulder to see one best guides of the group load up his net on his shoulder and throw a perfect circle… his net lands with a soft swish and you wonder how he does it so effortlessly.

You begin to load your net and as you glance at the pod of bait headed your way, you notice all eyes are on you.

It feels like you’re being watched by an Olympic committee.

With all eyes on you, it’s go time.

You toss your net with everything you’ve got only to have a quarter of it hit the side of the motor with a loud KABOOM!

The net fails to open and assumes the shape of a banana.

To make things worse, the net makes a splash like a 10-year-old doing a cannon ball, and you are too embarrassed to look up and see how many of your fellow anglers watched you do that.

We’ve all had an embarrassing cast net toss (even those six best of the best local charts captains had bad tosses at one point or another).

This post is designed to help ensure that you don’t get embarrassed ever again when throwing a big cast net.

The Triple Load Cast Net Throw

Today, I am going to share with you the way I throw a cast net.

It’s called “The Triple Load,” and I have found it to be the easiest way to throw a 10-foot cast net.

After many failed attempts, I actually taught myself how to throw a cast net and ended up using this “triple load” method after all of the different things I tried.

This is also the same method I teach to young kids (even 3-year-olds), so I know it works with all sizes of net and people.

Finally, if you know anything about me, I’m a pretty thin girl, and this method lets me throw a 10-foot net without much effort.

Here’s what you will learn in this super easy (and most efficient way) to throw a 10-foot cast net video:

• How to properly hold a 10ft cast net for perfect pancakes
• How to throw a 10ft cast net
• How to fix cast net throwing issues (we use actual pieces of colored tape so you can see exactly where you need to adjust when you have a bad toss)

Let’s talk about how to hold a cast net first.

How To HOLD A 10ft Cast Net

Having the proper hold (aka – the loading process) of the net is essential in consistently getting good results. Because if anything is out of place on the hold, not even the most perfect of throws will enable it to fully open.

So when you’re in the process of throwing a cast net, make sure to take note of exactly how you’re sectioning off the net as well as where you’re holding it.

Below you’ll see the core steps required to properly hold a 10 ft cast net so that you can consistently throw circles without using much energy.

Best of all, the video at the bottom will show how to fix any potential issues you have when learning how to throw a big net in addition to showing up-close views of the entire process.

Below are the steps required to manage the rope and top portion of the net in addition to the bottom section

Note: These directions assume you’re right-handed… swap out the lefts with rights (and visa verso) in the directions if you’re a lefty.

Top Section Hold Directions

• Put all the rope in your left hand with the loop around your wrist.
  • For small hands (like mine) just make bigger loops. The bigger the loops the less you have in your hand and it’s easier to hold.
• Take the top of the net (know as the horn) and put it in your left hand as well.
• Grab as far down as you can on the net and make a loop, then put that in your left hand.
• Grab the net one more time about at your waist height and make a loop. You will put it in your left hand also.
  • Note: These loops will depend on how tall you are. For example, if you are short like me I have to grab the net three times, but if you are tall you can grab it just twice. Go with whatever you’re comfortable with.

Note: Watch these steps in action starting at the 0:59 mark of the video below.

Bottom Section Hold Directions

1. Take 1/3 of the net and take it under your left elbow and put it up on top of your left shoulder.
   • The net should rest on your shoulder with little effort.
2. Take the lead line closest to you and throw half the net over your right shoulder.
   • This will also rest on your body until the next step.
3. Use your right hand to section off half of the remaining net.
   • Easily done by using your to sling small sections at a time over your right forearm.
4. Now take your right hand and grab all the net section that was supported on your forearm.
5. Finally, take your pointer finger and thumb and pinch the lead line along with the net.
   • Your arm should be extended by your side.

Note: Watch these steps in action starting at the 2:29 mark of the video below.

Now that we have the proper hold, let’s go on to the next step which is the throw.

How To THROW A 10ft Cast Net

The actual throw of the net is important as well, so be mindful of exactly how you’re rotating the net as well as when you let go of it during your cast.

Always be mindful that you want to use the momentum of the net and its weight to swing out kinda like throwing a Frisbee. After some practice, it’ll quickly become muscle memory for you so just know that it’ll get much easier after some practice.

Key Steps For Throwing A 10 ft Cast Net:

Note: These can all be seen in detail starting at the 3:30 mark in the video below.

1. Rotate the net to your left and swing the net backward to load the back-swing.
2. Move your hands at the same rate going from left to right while rotating your hips and shoulders accordingly.
3. Once the net’s forward momentum is established and the lead line sections in your hands are swinging outward, it’s ready to leg go of everything but the single piece of lead line that your holding with your right thumb and pointing finger.
   • The portion of net on your shoulder will naturally slide off from the momentum of the forward section.
4. The final movement will be a quick pull of your right hand to spin the portion of the net closest to you before the final release.
   • This spin will almost draw a circle as it lands.
5. Catch tons of bait:)

Be sure to watch the full cast net video below to see all of these steps in action.

The Ultimate Cast Net Tutorial [VIDEO]

How To Fix Cast Net Mistakes

Fixing cast net throwing mistakes is something that everyone goes through at some point in their learning process.

In fact, many of the established cast net throwers can have slumps that require some analysis too.

So to help you more quickly resolve any mistakes you may face, we flagged each of the three core sections to see where they end up on a good throw.

Here’s what we found in terms of which part of the load controls which potential problem areas of the throw:

• Far left to center section: Controlled by your back hand
• Front right to forward right section: Controlled by your leading hand
• Front left to mid-distance left: Controlled by your back

Here’s what I personally learned when making the analysis portion of this video:

 The section I was having trouble with was the section on my left shoulder. And I learned this because I had what almost looked like a dent in the net.

The analysis tape revealed that part of the net as being in the section that was supported by my left shoulder in the throw. So that told me that I had too much on my left shoulder given that it wasn’t all shooting off from the forward momentum of the net held in my left hand.

I threw the net again but this time I put less on my shoulder, and it was a perfect pancake… problem quickly solved:)

Hope this video and blog has helped you throw a perfect pancake and whack the bait.

Conclusion

As you can see in the video above, throwing a 10-foot cast net isn’t hard once you know the mechanics.

The most critical part is how you hold the net. Once you get that down, the rest is just timing your release.

Finally, now that you can identify which part of your body (left hand, right hand, or shoulder) is causing the issues, it should be much easier for you to correct bad tosses going forward.

What do you think?

Did we miss anything? Do you have a simple way to throw a big cast net?

Let us know if you have any more questions regarding throwing a cast net in the comment section.

Tight Lines!

Related Video: “How To Throw A Cast Net Without Using Your Mouth” (watch it here now)

Related Post: “Inshore Fishing 101: The Ultimate Inshore Fishing Guide” (see it here now)

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