I am far from an expert, but what got my
eye about your question is something that
I had trouble with. A good fishing buddy
and pro guide in Alaska once told me
the following things:

1) Make sure your rod and reel are
matched properly.
2) Make sure you have the correct
line on your reel and that the reel
has been loaded properly
3) Make sure you are holding the
rod/reel properly when you are
casting. There have been many ways
indicated that they should be held, but
the best is the one that does for you.
4) To get distance on your casts, this
requires multiple things"
a) proper rod/reel combination
b) proper line size for the rod/reel
combination
c) proper lure size/weight
5) When filling a reel with line, the line
must (must) be loaded according to
mfgr's direction for that reel. If you put
too much line on the reel, you will have
trouble with 'rat nesting'. If you do not
put enough line on your reel, this is
the biggest cause for shortened casting
distance - with not enough line on the
real, the line will be faced with much
more resistance in coming off the
reel during the cast.

Hope this helps......CHIEF