I'm not a spinning reel guy but I'm thinking it might be fun it try distance casting and be a good excuse to buy more stuff.
What's the best size reel to use? I know it depends somewhat on line size so say for 50-65lb braid.
I would think there's some friction from the spool lip as the line comes off the spool.Is that true?
I've seem some reels with tall spools, is that some thing to consider or just a gimmick? Does a wider spool help?
I've got a couple 13' blanks to play with so I'll refer to the "Logic" thread for guidance on that.
Also what's a good size weight to use? I'm thinking 2-3 ounces with a torpedo shape?
Thanks in advance!
I have never fished with a spinning reel but from experience the following:-
Generally they outcast conventional reels by a good margin, .....
Often the light shorter rods, using 30 lb braid, < 2 oz weight effortlessly cast 100 mt.
Sheridan, question is what will you fish for, and how choppy will the water be. Typically, drum fishing in NC with a rig that long, I'd go at least 7000 size reel, and more likely 8-9000 size, with 50-80 lb braid (usually 65) and a about 15 feet of mono shock leader. The tall cone shaped spools appear to feed line easier, and i think Penn has come out with those spools in the SS or Slammer line, can't recall which. 5-6 oz and bait seems to through the best for me, but it depends on the size and shape of the bait, and the weight. Torpedo-shapes like bank sinker throw better than storm / pyramids, but don't hold bottom as well. Sputniks are good for this too.
Once in a blue moon, I'll fish a big Quick like a 5000, but 99.9 % I'm using SS or Slammers if I'm surf-spinning: 9500SS, 850SS, 750, 650, 5500 and 760 Slammers. For certain they sling a lighter weight / smaller bait better. A 5000 / 6000 size Abu will too- however, you lose on the back-end with those reels reeling it home very slowly.
JMO, spinners are better for birdsnest avoidence when chucking into the wind. JMO, a tall, narrower spool with the slow ossilation winding system seems to reduce casting friction at the reel and up to the first guide. I have a too plasticy Shimano Ultegra that is made like this and throws braid with an 1-2oz. plug a country mile(a nice Loomis 10.5' rod with great load-snap back capability helps). Should be interesting if I get a big ol Ulua on it someday, will the reel hold-up?
I'll be fishing off the local pier, not really targeting Anything particular, that changes as the water warms. This is more of a quest for maximum distance. Just dragging small grubs close to the bottom can be effective for lots of things. Like a Carolina rig with a fixed torpedo sinker
Lighter (read: thinner) line usually improves distance. Less air resistance, I suppose. If all you want is distance and not fishablilty, why not a 1-2 oz. weight on 4 or 6 lb. test? You'll have to watch out for snap offs, of course.
Frank
#1!!!!!!!! PROTECT YOUR FINGER !!!!!!!!!
a robust cast w/ spinning tackle, 65# braid & 2-3 oz. will slice you bad enough
to ruin your day... 6-8 oz. might cause permanent damage :(
duct tape on index works to start... then, modified glove or finger guard (archery?)
then, rod-mounted Breakaway Cannon is well worth $20+, for prolonged/extended casting
otherwise, VERY generally...
taller/shallower spools are better for distance; usually involves
some sort of more-partsy/finicky/expensive oscillation system
Quote from: Gfish on March 25, 2021, 02:41:57 PM
JMO, spinners are better for birdsnest avoidence when chucking into the wind. JMO, a tall, narrower spool with the slow ossilation winding system seems to reduce friction. I have a too plasticy Shimano Ultegra that is made like this and throws braid with an 1-2oz. plug a country mile(a nice Loomis 10.5' rod with great load-snap back capability helps). Should be interesting if I get a big ol Ulua on it someday, will the reel hold-up?
older Biomaster/Ultegra was JDM Stradic
4000FG w/ braid to 25# fluoro held up to a cow ray... even w/ felt
I'm sure I had the drag up to low teens, for quite a while
Quote from: Swami805 on March 25, 2021, 11:56:50 AM
I'm not a spinning reel guy but I'm thinking it might be fun it try distance casting and be a good excuse to buy more stuff.
What's the best size reel to use? I know it depends somewhat on line size so say for 50-65lb braid.
I would think there's some friction from the spool lip as the line comes off the spool.Is that true?
I've seem some reels with tall spools, is that some thing to consider or just a gimmick? Does a wider spool help?
I've got a couple 13' blanks to play with so I'll refer to the "Logic" thread for guidance on that.
Also what's a good size weight to use? I'm thinking 2-3 ounces with a torpedo shape?
Thanks in advance!
you just opened the Pandora box !! its a whole world about long distance casting with spinning reels.
you can find a lot of info with the guys in Striperonline .com on the subforum/section of distance casting.
before I started repairing reels which led me to meet local guys with charter service and started fishing in boats I was more into surf fishing (yep 10x cheaper), so I know something about long distance casting but far from being a pro as our friend Jeri from South africa
do you know the line rating of those 13ft rods?
some are for heavy weights "heavers" and some other are for medium-light lines
-- Best reel to buy is kind hard to answer because there are reel totally made form distance casting with a tall but shallow spool so, the line wont rub on the spool lip that hard, but some of the best ones and specialized ones are kind of hard to get in USA, mostly normal on UK and rest of Europe, but if you search Penn, okuma and daiwa have some models for the USA market, but wont see those reels catching big fishes from the shore, those reels are more common on dry land tournaments than actually fishing with them.
then you have some good spinning reels for surfishing with the spool not as shallow and tall but still more larger in length than a normal spinning BOAT reel.
again, to answer what is the best sinker weight for your rod depends on the specs of each rod, the idea is to use the sinker that "charge" the tip of your rod in order to "activate" the catapult action of the rod with your cast, if you use a 2oz sinker and your rod is a heaver which needs 4oz at least to cast better then with only 2oz sinker you will be only casting what the force of your arm give without the help of the action of the rod (like trying to use a broomstick and a sinker attached) thats why you see pictures of long rods totally bent behind the caster with the sinker attached, that bend on the rod is which will be sending the sinker to the moon.
so, sinker weight is totally attached to the specs of each rod, now the recommended line also depends if you are more into the maximun distance or a good distance for actually fishing for a good fish. for maximum distance use 15# mono and 40-50# mono shock leader, the leader lenght needs to have at least 2-3 rounds on your spool and still 3/4 average of the length of your rod so you can adjust as needed to make your cast depending on the technique used, as OTG cast (off the ground), pendulum, powercast, etc.
if you are going to use braided line then you can use 20 - 40# with a braided line leader of 80-100#
the rule of the thumb for the leader is to use 10x the sinker weight in order to avoid breakages on the cast and hurt yourself or someone near from you, this only apply to surf fishing looking for the best distance on which you apply a lot of force on the cast and you can have a 3oz sinker traveling away at 150mph directly to the head of someone or something.
so, 10# leader or line for 1oz lure/sinker, 20# leader for 2oz , 30# of 3oz, etc if you can go with a bigger leader than your normal sinker weight used the better although some guys swear they can cast 4oz on a powercast with no worries and 25# mono line with no leader, maybe they are not casting that hard or the line is extremely strong but I prefer to keep my line on those "rule of the thumb" specs for less worries.
and of couse dont forget finger protection for those strong powercast with heavy sinkers, better to find some Leather finger protection than those cheap plastic ones, a braid line with a 5oz sinker on a powercast will slice a plastic protective glove easily.
I actually started fishing from the shore with spinning reels, but since here in Sea of Cortez we dont have strong wings I switched to surf fishing with casting reels, after you have the basic training with the spinning reel for surf casting using a casting reels is like going from driving an automatic car to a manual one, its more fun and entertaining while fishing and with good reels and training you can outcast the spinning reel guys on the shore the problem will ALWAYS be the wind no matter how good you are or how expensive gear you have, on a windy day a spinning guy will be fishing and you might not.
my current surf fishing spinning rods is a Tsumani airwave 9ft and a Shimano sonora 4000 reel with 40# braid and 60# braid shock leader and for baitcasting surf fishing I use a 12.6ft rainshadow rod and a daiwa saltist 20h or abu 6500c3
my previous (now sold) spinning surf fishing gear was a Cabelas predator 12ft carp rod and a daiwa emcast sport (which have the long and kind of shallow spool), I normally cast 3oz plus bait with that combo to the moon.
but since my shore fishing only have small fish I downsized my surfishing gear to my current which is a 14ft salmon rod for 1oz lure and 10ft salmon rod 1oz lure and 4000 and 2500 sized spinning reels
Sheridan, why would you want to use a spinner if you already have the experience and skills to use conventional? Pursuit of more distance is a worthy goal but those really serious about distance use conventional reels. Spinning reels do not necessarily give you more distance.
If the object is to find something new and different to do, then you might as well make it interesting and look for the longest push-button spincast reel.
Spincasting, that would add a new wrinkle. Somehow I was under the impression that the spinning guys were getting more distance these days. Just want to try something different.
The blank I have is a 13' all glass old Conolon, feels like a nice 40lb rod, about a size 14 tip so it's plenty beefy with a nice bend. Should fit the bill.
I'm going to take a look a a few reels I can buy in the States, something good for 65lb braid since I have a few thousand yard of it.
Should be a good new rabbit hole
Thanks for the tips everyone
compadre Sheridan, this okuma surf reel looks pretty good, similar to daiwa emblem pro and emcast sport which are two good surf fishing reel, this one is not expensive and not too heavy, available in Tackledirect USA
I watch casting contests from time to time. The pros seem to all use conventionals, but there are some individuals throwing spinners a long way these days.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REEFNfEhCjc
The Man
It doesn't count if you either 1) cast off the bait or 2) don't actually try to catch anything. I guess people get in contests like that when they either don't have water with fish or they can't catch anything anyway!
This guy casts pretty well for a vintage era spinner and at $3 plus shipping not bad.
Tha
Quote from: MarkT on March 29, 2021, 12:30:48 AM
It doesn't count if you either 1) cast off the bait or 2) don't actually try to catch anything. I guess people get in contests like that when they either don't have water with fish or they can't catch anything anyway!
t's like saying people race cars because they have nowhere else to go!
Anytime there is someone driving the state of the art in technique and equipment it is good for those who practically apply the equipment. Besides, watching a 300+ yard cast is kinda amazing.
The Man
How many spinning reels are gonna hold 300+ yds. of any heavy line?
Frank
w/ 50-65lb braid that Swami wants to use? ...many upon many
should be something decent in 14 oz. ballpark, maybe?
Since you're asking about getting distance with spinning reels I'll give up what I have been using for the last 30 years. Largest fish caught by me with a spinner from the shoreline is a 54lb GT/Ulua. I have seen Ulua brought up from shore on spinners in excess of 100lbs.
The reels I have been using are Daiwa SS9000, Shimano Stella(5000-20000) - not really distance casters but decent, Shimano SpinPower Power Aero, and Shimano Ultegra 14000. These reels are attached to rods in the 13-14 1/2' range. All rods are equipped with Breakaway Cannon's mounted at 90 degrees to the reel. I usually cast 40-60lb hollow core with the appropriate sized wind-on leader. Engaging in actual fishing I can get about 50-70 yards with a small bait and lead up to 8oz. I'm not a good caster so I'm positive a good caster could squeeze out another 20 yards using this gear.
The Shimano Ultegra can cast pretty far using 5-8oz lead and 60lb hollow core. The line lay is excellent. If you know how to fight smaller sized fish from shore the Ultegra will handle. I haven't caught any Ulua over 20lbs with this reel yet but I have landed large stingrays and small 40lb sharks. I would like to try a Shimano Aero Technium but they are hard to find.
The SpinPowers can cast pretty far too but the largest spools available are good only up to 40lb hollow, I've had the reel emptied on runs from larger fish when using 60lb hollow. Spooky. I've casted lead up to 9oz with these reels.
The Daiwa SS is an older reel and has brought up Ulua up to 21lbs. Can't cast as far the other reels I own. I used the Daiwa Emblem's in the past but have bent the spool shafts so I stay away from them.
Stella needs no summary. Casting distance achieved by ME is somewhere between 15-20 yards LESS than the Ultegra with similar sized lines. I load 60lb hollow and cast lead between 6-9 oz using the 18000/20000. I use 40lb hollow on the 14000. These reels will handle any shore fish here in Hawaii, make sure your ROD is up to the task too.
Hope this gives you some ideas or, at least, a starting point.
Thanks for that, plenty to chew on
The rods I use are CTS S8 customs, CCP, Daiwa Saltiga Ballistic (all 3 models), old Cosmotech (4-6oz), Nitro (medium heavy), Purglas, and Older Fenwick SurfStik customs. The CTS and Cosmotech are the best casters for me with the Ballistics not far behind. The CTS running guides are Titanium Low Riders in sizes 6, 8, and 10 depending on the rod ratings. The size 6 handle the wind-on serves of 60lb fluorocarbon leaders.
I have a Fenwick Elite Tech 14' rated 1-6oz that I stripped and rewrapped, elongated the rear grip, changed and relocated guides, to be used as a spinner. I've purchased an Ultegra CI4 5500 to pair with this rod but haven't used it yet. In test casting with the Power Aeros, 60lb hollow, and 4-5oz lead I was getting over 120 yards casting lead only casting at the football field. I think I'll get better distance with 40lb, 4oz, and the Ultegra. The rod is a little too slow tapered for my liking but it gets distance.
Lots of good info on this thread.
For distance fishing the single biggest upgrade for me was going to braid, and the lightest possible for the application garners the longest casts, all else being equal.
Braid brings it's own set of issues, of course. Wind knots, leader knots breaking off on power casts, requirement for finger protection, etc...
Length of Lever (fishing rod) being next most important, and it's length is dependent on a number of factors such as target species, rod action, etc. 12' has been the most effective max length for distance casting for me, though I have rods from 8' - 14' and they've each got their strengths and weaknesses.
Next, design of the reel, especially the spool. As others noted, a wide, tall spool has the greatest potential for long casts.
I have a diawa Emcast with the long-cast design, and tossing bait at the beach with mono it does a great job. iirc, it's spooled with 17 or 20lb mono. I'm going to change out the line to 15 or 20lb braid and should be able to cast almost to Mexico from here... (lol)
If you're just looking for just a bit more distance, and otherwise your gear is set up the way you want, using the min. diameter braid for your application will likely give you an extra bit of distance, maybe 'enough'.
Here's a vid I enjoyed which covers the issue:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7JqbTjHPJ18
There is a chap in our area, who has had quite a bit to do with long casting, he uses conventional reels, with ceramic bearings, he sprays the bearings with alcohol before use, does not add any other lube,.
he stresses that you have your right hand up the rod, using it as a pivot, & do most of the cast by pulling with the left hand, with more of a round cast instead of over the shoulder.
of coarse the timing of letting go of the line is very important to get a straight cast, cheers Don.
Quote from: Swami805 on March 25, 2021, 11:56:50 AM
I've seem some reels with tall spools, is that some thing to consider or just a gimmick? Does a wider spool help?
absolutely does..
http://www.ticafishing.com/fishing-reel-samira-sbat/
I think is available in the US. There are lots of long-cast specific reels for the rest of the world, but can be tough to find here. US fishing doesn't have much emphasis on shorecasting, where S. Africa and Australia are mostly about surfcasting.
Gliss is the line I like. My brother has some 12 and 14ft rods for shore fishing the Australian salmon runs, uses these long cast reels with Gliss. In practice casting under good conditions we were getting 150yds plus..
A good cast goes noticeably further than most. Then you have the fun of thinking about it and trying to replicate whatever it was that worked..
Overpowering the cast kills the distance, the timing of force application needs to be precise..
My first thought when I read the title was, "Why buy a spinning reel for distance casting?"
Then I read your comment about it being a good excuse to buy more stuff. I can get behind that.
Good luck.
I use a Quantum Cabo 120 that holds about 500 yards of 100lb braid. It packs 60lbs of drag.
Ocean Master Rod from Bass Pro. I can cast a 4 oz weight and a big chunk of bait a good distance.
Then sit back in the chair.
No Kayaks or Giant Senators.
It is super nice to walk out of the Condo with a chair, a bag and a rod with a cooler over my shoulder.
Not multiple trips that take my truck to move the gear.
I can bring in a decent fish with this setup with minimal effort.
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=25542.30
Quote from: Shark Hunter on May 11, 2021, 11:56:06 PM
I use a Quantum Cabo 120 that holds about 500 yards of 100lb braid. It packs 60lbs of drag.
Ocean Master Rod from Bass Pro. I can cast a 4 oz weight and a big chunk of bait a good distance.
Then sit back in the chair.
No Kayaks or Giant Senators.
It is super nice to walk out of the Condo with a chair, a bag and a rod with a cooler over my shoulder.
Not multiple trips that take my truck to move the gear.
I can bring in a decent fish with this setup with minimal effort.
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=25542.30
Nice!