Bob,
It's all in the wrist, IMO.
You want to have the rod tip pointed slightly down, and no slack in the
line...with your thumb pointing to around 7:00 to 8:00 (if your holding the
reel in your right hand). The amount of line to have out is almost perfect
if you have it even with the reel (as your holding the bait next to it with
no slack). A little less is easier, a little more is harder.
As you let go of the lure, lift the rod tip quickly by flexing your
wrist upward...not your whole arm!! You can create quite a bit of velocity
using this technique. The shorter line will allow you to develop slightly
more velocity, while the longer decreases velocity. Release pressure on the
spool as the line reaches the bottom of it's arc towards the target. Do not
just let the spool run freely either. You still need to feather it. One
little trick I used while learning to pitch was to set the line amount out
that was equal to the reel location and go through the pitch without
releasing additional line. When the line gets out a ways, lower the rod tip
and try to make the lure travel parallel to the ground. When it reaches the
end of its outward swing, lift the rod tip and fire it right back towards
you. Continue this motion over and over, learning the feel of what it takes
in the rod tip and wrist action to keep the lure travelling back and forth,
parallel to the ground. It also helps learn to develop velocity with the
lure, strengthens the odd wrist muscles affected and how to time out the
pitch so it travels close to the water.
Start out casting at targets that barely require any additional line
release. Pitch to it many times. Move the target back five feet, then
pitch several more times. Keep at this and you will find your distance
increasing.

I think what you really need is a long winter to practice inside!!!

Have fun... After a while you will find yourself pitching in large sideway
arcs so you can swing lures behind things, like docks or stumps! If nothing
else, it definitely increases the enjoyment of the sport...

--
Andrew Kidd
http://www.amiasoft.com/ - Software for the rest of us!
http://www.rofb.net/ - ROFB Newsgroup Home



"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
s.com...
I pitch with extra slack line held back in my hand. More of a combined
pitching and flipping technique since I don't actually hold the bait. It
was very easy for me to figure out how to do this since it is just a
variant
of fishing a cane pole with more line than the length of the pole. My
very
first fishing pole was a 3 section cane pole and I could easily work eight
to ten feet more line than the length of the pole when I was a little guy.

Pitching where you hold and throw or pitch the bait with the line spinning
off the spool escapes.

I can cast side arm with some accuracy so if I need the extra distance I
will often switch to casting instead of pitching and then I'll strip line
off the reel by hand as soon as my bait hits the water to try and get that
vertical drop.

When I have tried to pitch off the reel I either get a back lash or I
can't
get any more distance than flipping.

What is the basic trick I am missing?

Bob La Londe
www.YumaBassMan.com