best line for casting distance?

[maxing45]

just wondering what would work best fishing from shore?

[Team Otter]

10/4 Fireline Crystal

[AceintheHole]

Magna thin by stren 6-8lbs test

[goblueM]

I'd say your rod and what kind of bait you're casting make a MUCH bigger difference than the line.

But I'd go with a braid or a thinner line, like mentioned above

[PDOGG]

I guess I'd have to agree with Otter and Ace as I use them both but I do more casting with Fireline.

[Northlander]

A long rod with good guide spacing and size and a reel with a big long spool is more important thanthe line. There are a lot of good lines for shore casting. Depending on if your just casting and retrieving like spoons and cranks or casting out a bottom rig. For Bottom rigs in rocky areas I like Maxima. very good break strength and abrassion resistance. For casting and retrieving cranks or spoons I like Power Pro in 10# test. Ill tie on a leader of flouro or a clear line if Im worried about visabilty of line but that usually isnt a concern around my kneck of the woods.

[slipperybob]

It's gonna be subjective: assuming for spinning reels and fresh line is best.

For jigs: 4# test for 3/8 oz or lest 6# test for 1/2 oz or greater.

For cranks: 6# test for 3/8 oz. 8# for 1/2 oz or greater.

Both of these lines with good abrasion resistance

4# gamma 6# break

4# yozuri hybrid 8# break

Other good options:

Stren Magnathin, but frays and nicks easily

Trilene Sensation, but is more stiff

Fireline, frays and fluffs, careful it can cut your finger

other braid lines, frays fluffs, holds a lot of moisture, sprays water.

[UncleKes]

If you are shore fishing you want to look at one of those Long European style rods that Cabela's sells. They also sell them in some of the carp fishing web sites. I bought one from an outfit in Illinios a few years back. They had a HSOforum I bought it off of. The rod is 11' 9 " long and I can cast about 50 yards with it. It is NOT the line but the rod that allows for long distance casting. Simple physics tells you that. However, mass (diameter) of the line does come into play. Thus, 4 pound mono will cast farther than say 80 pound braided. Because 4 lb. mono is thinner and has less mass. to throw around.

But, it is the rod not the reel that is the important thing if you are talking about distance casting.

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[minnesotatuff]

good job!

[NCLaker]

Dang ... good thing I bought my reel before I read your post UnleKes, otherwise I would not have justified spending the extra money on the reel upgrade, thinking it would help me cast farther... LOL.

After using it, I would have to say that I do not notice a huge difference in casting distance, so your explaination must be pretty accurate. Despite this, I still love the new reel

[slipperybob]

If we start talking about rod length, one must also consider the line guide material as well as size of rings and the placement of them. As minute as it would seem from one kind of rod to another, the nature of the overall rod performance determines it. A stiff rod can usually cast a light lure a lot further with a lot more ease. A flexible rod can cast a heavy lure a lot further with the ability to load the weight and leverage that into the cast.

Just not sure if I will be using a 9' or longer rod to jig or crank for 'eyes, but it's plausible to use a float and fly technique.

[Kyle Sandberg]

8/3 fireline. Plenty of strenght and smaller diameter than the 10/4 (allthough it ain't much of one). But yes, the rod makes the bigger differance as well as your technique on how you throw then out.

[UncleKes]

NC Laker: While it may be true that a new reel will cast farther than and old one I suspect this is because the reel is new and well lubricated so there is less drag (friction) on the part that spins around.

Other things come into it as well, slipperybob mentions line guides and they do help but the physics of a rod says that it is a parabola. That is, it is a lever that transfers energy to the tip of the rod and enables you and I to cast a lure at a distance. The longer the rod the more energy is transfered to the tip and the farther we can cast.

Such things as length, rod materials and our own strength come into play here as well. I don't mean to make it sound simple because the physics of the things is not. But then, if you wanted to hear about the science involved you would have paid more attention to the teacher in your high school science class, right? Sorry! I was a teacher for many years and it is difficult to stop being one sometimes!

I have a good friend who used to be a butcher and has biceps like my thighs. I have what I consider a moderate build for someone my age but no matter the material or rod length I have NEVER been able to cast as far as he can. It bums me out to say this, but it is quite true.

I hope this helps!

Tight Lines;

Uncle Kes

[slipperybob]

How I would prioritize for casting distance:

1) Rod: length, blank type, line guide type. I've found that a drop shot rod can cast a lot further with very little effort. Fuji line guides ring size and spacing chart is favored for graphite type rods.

2) Lure weight: that will determine my line test#. We know in general heavier weights goes further. Too heavy of a weight for line and snap...

3) Line#: type of line to handle lure type and reel. Lines with lower weight needs less weight to get spool off. Casting against the wind, you need a line with heavier weight. It's all about inertia and momentum.

4) Reel: super lines need high quality reel for best performance. A combination of grooved line roller and proper tension line wrap on a shallow spool that prevents super lines from digging into itself will allow line to spool off effortlessly. Matching the proper sized reel, especially spool size to rod, effectively the size of the first few line guides, will allow the best line casting. Big spools causes line to unwind through a bigger cone and will cause more line slap on smaller first line guide.

Note: If you ever try casting an ultra light weight lure like 1/80 oz or lighter all by itself, a heavier flouro line will outcast a super line. This situation is where the weight is in the line, not the lure. That's also where that 20' pole comes handy, but that's panfishing and not walleye fishing...

[UncleKes]

SlipperyBob! For my money the priority is ROD LENGTH, ROD LENGTH, ROD LENGTH! Granted the guides will help cut down on the friction on the line which will slow the cast down. That is just common sense talking now. Lure Weight is a factor of course because it is where the load starts to be transferred to the rod and as I said earlier, the line weight will come onto play as well.

I will also say that the blank material also comes into play but simple physics will tell you that a 6 to 7 foot rod will cast farther than say a 5 foot rod all things being equal.

As I said earlier give me a 7 foot rod and Roland Martin a 5 footer and my money will be on Martin. However all things being equal the longer the rod the farther it will cast.

[slipperybob]

UncleKes,

The topic is line for casting distance, not rod length.

In all simplicity it's rod length, but there's no way a 7 foot rod with stainless steel guides will outcast a 6 foot rod with Fuji SiC guides, if all other things equal. Common sense has nothing to do with that, because common sense doesn't measure the friction properties of each material nor the kinetic momentum transferrence of rod type nor the threshold of the line slap cone from the reel to the first line guide in spinning rods. If your rod tip vibrates on a cast that's going to degrade your casting distance. Again a 6' rod like a St.Croix LE will outcast a 7' Shakespeare Ugly stick. A rod that has a small first line guide ring placed close to the reel matched with a big spool reel will mean that there's so much more line rub from the sharp angle resulting in degrading the casting distance. The concept is line performance.

Don't be sold by the simple idea of larger spool means more casting distance. It has an optimal performance threshold. Small spools have big change in spooled line size as line unwinds and the angle of line to lip increases contact angle. Small spools have advantage of smaller initial inertia to unwind line.

A 5'6" foot casting rod with a pistol grip handle measures almost the same as a 6 foot casting rod with a standard trigger grip handle being measured from the reel seat to the tip of the rod. There's maybe only about three or four inches difference, not an entire six inches difference.

Now this is where user and equipment design becomes more of an influence. If your reel is kindof low budget it's not going to help you as much as a better reel with better line management. Line management on the spool is affected by the tension and the wrap pattern. Do not expect that two reels of the same size where one costs fifty dollars will cast like one that costs five hundred dollars. Don't let your common sense fool yourself on this.

Lines. Supple low friction line will outcast stiff abrasive lines. Don't kid yourself that the light line will always be better. Light line are more prone to wind knots as well as bird nests or just plain old twist and kink on you. The less test# your line is the more prone it will break on you. Longer rods have more leverage and that means you will need a stronger line test# to handle that. Even line properties like the stretch factor of mono line over that of superline will play into the shock absorption of it. Just like casting can put immediate tension greater than line test#, the method of casting needs to adjust accordingly, especially when using live bait. Your bait just went solo...

It's the whole combo...plus user and budget...And not as complicated as I make it sound.

I read from BASS: Amongst bass pro anglers, rod length as a consideration for casting distance is the least importance. Most of them can cast with very near equal distance between a 5'6" and 7' baitcasting rod. It's the presentation technique and need to leverage a hooked fish.