Throwing Stick Tips

I’m a big fan of using a throwing stick rather than a catapult and have a couple of sticks that I regularly use. I find them a great way to get bait out at both short and long distances and I like the spread of boilies they put out. They can be a tricky thing to use when you are first getting started but with some practice and a few tips, you can really hone the skill to be really accurate every throw. I’ve recently added a short-range throwing stick to my collection. It’s a great addition as it makes getting your bait to a close margin or island really targeted. If you are fishing to overhanging trees with a bit of practice you can skim boilies under the tree too. I’m going to start with a beginners guide to using a stick, if you want to get straight to the tips click here – Top 5 Tips.

How Do You Use A Throwing Stick?

1. Get the right size stick for your boilies
2. Start with 1 boilie a throw
3. Find a spot on the far bank to aim at as a guide each time
4. Hold the stick back so it is level with your shoulder (you should hear the boilie roll back down to the bend)
5. Flick your wrist quickly to launch the boilie

Take some time to practice with 1 boilie at a time and see the different distances you can get on the throw. Once you have mastered it a little more then you don’t need to stop by your shoulder and can just launch boilie after boilie in quick succession. Common issues Boilie lands short – If you launch it and pull the stick over too far then the boilie will sometimes land in front of you. In this case, stop the launch a little earlier trying to keep the stick straight as shown in the video. Boilie goes high – This means you’ve stopped the throw too short, or not been quick enough in the snapback. You need to try and get the movement faster and more fluid to get it coming out at a better angle.

Top 5 Boilie Throwing Stick Tips

Here are my top 5 tips followed by some frequently asked questions

1 – Use the right stick

With throwing sticks it is not just a case of buying one and use it whatever the conditions or lake. Having the right stick for the peg you are fishing will really help you improve your usage of them. I have a couple of sticks that I always have with me for different size boilies and different lengths. I have an 18mm long range stick and a 15mm short-range stick. The short-range stick will possibly get them further than a catapult but for me, it’s easier and more accurate. On a recent social session, at Ghorsty Hall lakes near Crewe, I was hitting around 44 meters with the stick with standard boilies and little effort. With a little more effort and wetting the stick, a range of around 50 meters would be about the limit. On the larger longer-range sticks a range of 100 meters and above is achievable with the right bait and practice.

2 – Use the right bait

Getting the boilies right is essential when going for longer distances.  If you find your boilies are splitting under the pressure when throwing long distances then it’s best to air dry them out overnight to make them a little harder. This will again aid you in getting more accurate over longer distances. My Casual Carper boilies work well in throwing sticks – You can see my full range of bait here.

3- Wet the tube

This is another trick that can help stop splitting and get some extra distance. By wetting the inside of the tube the bait slips down easier and has less pressure to fly out of the end. If you have not had a chance to air dry tour boilies and even with a wet tube they are splitting you can try wetting the boilies before you send them too.

4 – Send multiple boilies at once

Once you are used to the stick you can start getting more and more boilies in them. This is really effective if you are looking to create a good spread of boilies. Build up how many you use as the technique varies slightly with the more boilies you put in. As a general rule, you need to flick faster the more boilies you have in the stick. ** Don’t mix sizes or types of boilies in the stick – They will all go different distances and really reduce your accuracy. Here’s my guide to stick sizes and how many you can send accurately.

• Short-range stick – 6 seems to be about the optimum for keeping a decent distance on them. If you are using it on a shorter range than the maximum then 8-10 is possible but it does create a wider spread than it would be using a catapult from my experience.
• Long-range stick – With a longer stick 10-12 seems to be around the optimum for maintaining distance and accuracy. This does depend on the size of the boilie too in the longer-range sticks.

5 – Create a pattern to fish

Firstly remember that this isn’t the same as spodding! You are not looking to feed a really tight area more create an arc of bait and position a hook bait at each end of the arc. for me, this is a good way to fish on a lake where there is a lot of spodding going on (as long as you have enough clear water to do it in). The stick makes less disturbance on the water and the arc and spread is designed to get the fish moving around the area picking up bait rather than getting their head down on one spot. Here’s an example – you may want to keep the arc tighter and fish closer than shown below depending on your personal preference.