What is a casting cage?

These casting or fishing cages as they have become known have been popular with Kiwi anglers and boat makers for a number of years but have only recently garnered interest in Australia. Do you need one? 

In the past, a fishing boat was considered a good one if it had a large cockpit, decent freeboard and side coamings that were wide enough to flush-fit rod holders. 

No more. These days, the very best trailerable sport fishing boats have state-of-the-art multifunction electronics displays, joystick engine controls for low-speed manoeuvrability, and structural features such as bow fishing decks with electric trolling motors, 360-degree walkaround cabins, cockpit coaming bolster padding, huge live wells, electric pump-out kill tanks, cockpit toe/foot rails, and lots more. 

The evolution of the trailerable fishing boat continues. Smart anglers continue to develop ideas, innovations, and tricks to help you catch fish. 

The transom casting/fishing cage is another of these clever innovations. I don't know who came up with the idea, but our mates across the Tasman have been fitting transom casting cages to their boats for several years so I expect this idea originated in New Zealand. 

So what is a transom casting cage? Well, essentially it is an extended aft boarding platform with more support rails than you'd find on a regular boarding step/platform. 

Lots of boats have one or two rails on the outside of a boarding platform/step to help you climb into the boat from the water, or from the road at a boat ramp. In this situation, the rails are used simply as grab rails. 

With a casting cage, a ladder-style railing system is used to create a wall or cage to surround and support a standing angler. The top of this cage needs to be at thigh height, and situated inboard enough so that an angler can lean/brace against the top rail without fear of falling out. 

Essentially, the casting cage needs to provide the same level of support you get by leaning against the side deck coaming inside the cockpit. The angler needs to be able to stand safely inside the casting cage with their hands free to flick lures about and to fight a fish from the extreme stern of the boat. 

The best casting cages will also be fitted with a toe support rail down low to wedge your feet under for additional security. 

Most will also incorporate a folding boarding ladder so the aft platform can still be used for the purpose it was originally intended, such as getting in and out of the water.

Casting cages can be fitted to most boat types. Dual outboard-powered catamarans can have a casting cage wrapping around a centre boarding platform, between the outboard engines. 

With regular vee-hull boats, you can obviously have a port or starboard casting cage, or have one on each side of the centrally mounted outboard engine(s).

Some boat makers have completely enclosed transom casting cages, while others prefer a half-cage, leaving the inside of the platform open alongside the engine.

For a casting cage to be effective, the boat's transom must be configured with transom doors and walk-out platforms on one or both sides. It makes no sense to have to climb out over a transom wall to get into a casting cage. 

Offshore anglers can also then swim a big fish into the boat through the casting cage ladder opening, and then through the open transom door to the main cockpit.

Casting cages are now available from a range of mostly New Zealand boat makers. Of the Kiwi brands available in Australia, I have seen casting cages on Extreme Boats, as well as Surtees and Stabicraft. 

Innovative local alloy boat builder Formosa Marine has also made the casting cage an option for most models above 5.65 metres in length.

As noted, powered catamaran manufacturers have used central boarding/casting platforms for many years, both with and without a surrounding cage/boarding ladder. Local boat makers to do so include Kevlacat, PowerCat, Sailfish, Voyager and more.

I have fished for decades without thought of a casting cage, so no, you certainly don't need a casting/fishing cage. 

That said, there have been times when I have lost fish right at the boat because my line has snapped off on the engine propeller, trim tab or some other transom protrusion. 

With a casting cage, you can stand and battle a fish right out the back of the boat, making it much easier to keep your fish away from the transom and those nasty sharp line-cutting edges and objects located thereabouts. 

I would still be hesitant to use a casting cage offshore in rough weather (you'll get wet for starters), but in smooth conditions, having one (or two) transom casting cages does provide you with more fishing deck space, which is valuable in a small boat. 

Having made this comment, casting cages are only going to be suitable/practical on larger craft with sufficient stern buoyancy to carry the weight of one or two anglers standing right out the back of the boat.