Uptideing is the best method to fish from large packed boats in less than 100 feet of water.
It allows up to 12 anglers to fish efficiently with their baits firmly anchored to the botton, and done correctly it will minamalise tangles.
Basicaly the angler uses a 9 foot rod with 10 to 20lb line and casts the bait up and across the tide.
Take a packed charter boat for instance, six angler down the port side six angler down the starbord side. The first two angler fishing behind the wheel house cast almost parelel to the anchor rope, letting lots of line out to form a bow to pull the grips on the lead into the sea bed. Each of the other anglers spaces their cast just behind the first angler, so when all anglers have cast the rods fan out until the last angle is casting down tide.
By the time the last angler has been cast out and all the anglers have drunk a tea its time for the first angle who cast to reel in and check his bait. The boat can be worked like an machine like this untile a fish is caught, then try to get the pattern going again and tangles will be kept down.

Boat casting is a a vast term that uptideing falls into, a lure cast from a boat is boat casting.
One of my favorite methods of boat casting is not very practical from a packed charter boat, but can be done with not to many lines on the boat.
Make a standard running ledger rig, attatch a plain lead to the link swivel. The bait should be cast across the tide and very little line paid out when the lead hits the bottom. Then let the lead slowly role down tide, this can be deadly for bass, and large flatties.

The above is just a sketchy outline, I could fill a book, ooops me old man already did 22 years ago.
Still things always change, and the method of uptideing with ultra light braid und rods that Dave Goodwine mentioned has got me thinking, and listening.

its also a disaster if on a roll you take someones eye out ,keep your uptiding for your own boat like we did 30 years ago under the name "casting"

Sam, I have a copy of your dads book, well, two copies actually, one for reading, and a mint one for the collection, its a very interesting and informative read too. He certainly knows his stuff ....

Chester,
for the life of me I can not see why you have to get all atitudey mate.
it was over 35 years ago my farther found that you could catch more from a crowded boat by casting.
why can you just be nice, critersise if you want but nicely, pull me up on my spelling if you wish, but niceley. BE BLOODY NICE.

Norrie,
have you read the man in the black plastic mack storey.?

a few skippers down here dont allow it so its not my own objection and i'v seen some VERY close calls on others who do
having fished 3 up from our small boat at anchor one is always "uptiding" (casting) seeing the stays were in the way

[ 05. July 2005, 10:24 PM: Message edited by: chesters1 ]

Sam, Thought it was a fishing book mate.... ...Not yet, to be honest recent events have brought it to the fore...but certainly will finish it now....

ITS A FUNNY STORRY IF YOU READ IT YOU WILL PROBABLY AGREE WITH ME THAT HE WAS FROM THE NORTH,.,LOL.That was a joke, read it mate its only a page or so and real funny.

its in the smoothound section i think.

It's a great story - always makes me chuckle when I read it and I've had the book since the early nineties.
"Last of the Clacton pier big game men"
(Smoothounds chapter, Norrie)