Tips for getting a long cast?

Hi folks,
Generally speaking, what is recommended to obtain the farthest possible cast
from a spinning rod and reel? I've read in one magazine that the lighter
line you use, the less resistance you get and therefore the farther the
cast. But my dad always said that with a heavier line, you can use heavier
sinkers to get it out further. I've also read conflicting views on setting
up the reel spool and what size reel to use. I read in one fishing magazine
that keeping the spool as full of line as possible reduces the friction the
spool places on the line as it unravels during the cast (and when using my
hand to pull line off of a spool that's only filled halfway or less, this
does seem to be true). But I've seen other fisherman claim on the 'net that
the trick to a longer cast is to keep *only* as much line on the spool as
you need to make the cast and to allow sufficient line to play a fish,
because with a full spool the line will whip around in a wider circumference
and thus cause more friction against the rod guides during a cast. I've also
read that a small spool feeds out the line in a smaller circumference (and
thus places less friction against the rod guides), but one would think that
a smaller spool also causes the line to form tighter and more numerous loops
and have more "memory" which would cause more friction against the rod
guides as it's played out.
Any thoughts?

- Logic316


"If your main parachute fouls, deploy your reserve. If your reserve is also
fouled, you have the rest of your life to get it straightened out."

"Logic316" wrote in message
...
: Hi folks,
: Generally speaking, what is recommended to obtain the farthest possible
cast
: from a spinning rod and reel? I've read in one magazine that the lighter
: line you use, the less resistance you get and therefore the farther the
: cast. But my dad always said that with a heavier line, you can use heavier
: sinkers to get it out further. I've also read conflicting views on setting
: up the reel spool and what size reel to use. I read in one fishing
magazine
: that keeping the spool as full of line as possible reduces the friction
the
: spool places on the line as it unravels during the cast (and when using my
: hand to pull line off of a spool that's only filled halfway or less, this
: does seem to be true). But I've seen other fisherman claim on the 'net
that
: the trick to a longer cast is to keep *only* as much line on the spool as
: you need to make the cast and to allow sufficient line to play a fish,
: because with a full spool the line will whip around in a wider
circumference
: and thus cause more friction against the rod guides during a cast. I've
also
: read that a small spool feeds out the line in a smaller circumference (and
: thus places less friction against the rod guides), but one would think
that
: a smaller spool also causes the line to form tighter and more numerous
loops
: and have more "memory" which would cause more friction against the rod
: guides as it's played out.
: Any thoughts?
:
: - Logic316
:
:
: "If your main parachute fouls, deploy your reserve. If your reserve is
also
: fouled, you have the rest of your life to get it straightened out."
:

These are all observations I have made over the years and are not based on
science or double blind tests etc.....

Larger spools allow for less line memory as you state and being larger often
have more room inside for beefy drag washers and heavier duty parts.
A full spool offers less resistance for the line on the lip of the spool, if
you have resistance on the runners due to this you have the wrong runners
and probably the wrong rod. rods designed for overheads have a lot smaller
guides than a rod designed for use with a large spinning reel which in turn
should have smaller than one designed for an large Alvey.
The line size does affect casting distance, adding more weight to a heavier
line can help but then you have less senility of the bite in most cases and
I find thicker lines achieve less casting distance.
Rod choice and the positioning of the reel seat have drastically more effect
on casting distance than most reel choices would.
Technique for the length of rod does make a difference.
I have found that using a soft fishing line rather than the hard armoured
types helps a lot with casting.

If you want to get serious you can try a braid line, it is more expensive to
buy, needs (well it makes life a lot easier) a lot better reel designed to
be used with braid, the rod should have quality silicone line guides and you
need to learn better knots, but once the lessons are learnt it will amaze
you the differences.
You can use a lot smaller diameter line enabling you to sling those large
leads and still feel the bite, not to mention you can spool the reel with
more line (for a given line class) meaning you can use a smaller sized reel
if you prefer, less memory and the line usually floats so it can avoid some
snags.

--
Brad Leyden
6° 43.5816' S 146° 59.3097' E WGS84
To mail spam is really hot but please reply to thread so all may benefit (or
laugh at my mistakes)

On Tue, 1 Jul 2008 17:50:49 -0400, Logic316 wrote:

Hi folks,
Generally speaking, what is recommended to obtain the farthest possible cast
from a spinning rod and reel? I've read in one magazine that the lighter
line you use, the less resistance you get and therefore the farther the
cast. But my dad always said that with a heavier line, you can use heavier
sinkers to get it out further.

The problem here is that you need to match the line to the intended fish,
not the weight of the sinker. If you need light action for say crappie or
blue gill, especially for light nibbles, you don't want 14 lb test just to
get a heavier sinker to cast farther. Match the line and sinker to the
fish and the sensitivity needed. IMHO, if you need to get farther, get a
boat or get closer. I can get some pretty good casts off an ice jig,
splitshot, and slip bobber with a 6 1/2 foot rod and old, large
Garcia/Mitchell 300.

Can't comment on the rest.

I've also read conflicting views on setting
up the reel spool and what size reel to use. I read in one fishing magazine
that keeping the spool as full of line as possible reduces the friction the
spool places on the line as it unravels during the cast (and when using my
hand to pull line off of a spool that's only filled halfway or less, this
does seem to be true). But I've seen other fisherman claim on the 'net that
the trick to a longer cast is to keep *only* as much line on the spool as
you need to make the cast and to allow sufficient line to play a fish,
because with a full spool the line will whip around in a wider circumference
and thus cause more friction against the rod guides during a cast. I've also
read that a small spool feeds out the line in a smaller circumference (and
thus places less friction against the rod guides), but one would think that
a smaller spool also causes the line to form tighter and more numerous loops
and have more "memory" which would cause more friction against the rod
guides as it's played out.
Any thoughts?

- Logic316


Longer rod? Switch to fly fishing?


"If your main parachute fouls, deploy your reserve. If your reserve is also
fouled, you have the rest of your life to get it straightened out."

We fish Stockton beach during the salmon run and we often have to cast long
disances. What I do is fish with the lightest line capable of landing my
intended species in a reasonable time (in this case 8lb) and I platt a
double onto the main line about 1 1/2 rod lengths then to the double I tie
on a 50lb shock leader also about 1 1/2 rod lengths long. This allows me to
throw an 85 grm Halco about 150 metres (wind behind me) with a 13 foot rod
and spinning real.
If i swap to bait I just rig the sinker onto the shock leader above the
swivel and use a "Vanish" trace to the hooks. I've never had bust off's and
the combination of the double and shock leader makes it easy to trace and
land fish.

Steve