Poor casting distance

[RyanDR]

Just bought the St. Croix Premier 7 foot ml fast action spinning rod. Have it paired with Pflueger President 6930 with 7lb sunline. Planned to use it for finesse techniques with lighter weight lures, mainly my hair jigs, grubs, drop shot ect.. Took it out today, but the casting distance sucked. Especially on my 1/16oz hair jigs. Even a little higher the casting distance was poor. Maybe 15-20 meters. But I flight my MH fast worm rod to another continent. But it was pretty frustrating when I can only cast 10-15 feet sometimes. 

[new2BC4bass]

From what I could find the rating for that rod is 1/8-1/2 oz.  I know nothing about hair jigs, but if total weight is less than 1/8 oz., then you are going to have problems with that lure.  St. Croix rods normally fish heavier than listed.  The rod has to load properly for any kind of distance.  Abu rods are also know to be heavier than their rating..  My ML Villain with the same low end rating won't throw a 1/16 ounce lure any further than I can spit.....and I can't spit worth a darn.  That is why I now have a Fenwick River Runner.

[WIGuide]

I'm in the same boat as New...it sounds like you bought the wrong rod for what you're trying to throw. If you look at rod specs at all, they all have a recommended lure weight range. The rods sweet spot will usually land in the middle of this range. The rod you purchased has a recommended weight range of 1/8 oz to 1/2 oz. Your little 1/16th oz hair jig is smaller than recommended weight giving expected poor performance. Even if you dropped down to a light power Premier, 1/16th is at the very bottom of it's range. Your best bet for those hair jigs would be and ultra light power.The ML rod would make for a good dropshot rod though.

Also, for what it's worth, 15-20 meters (roughly 50 to 65 feet) is not that short of a distance.

[new2BC4bass]

51 minutes ago, WIGuide said:

Also, for what it's worth, 15-20 meters (roughly 50 to 65 feet) is not that short of a distance.

That wouldn't be bad.  However, the OP said feet, not meters.

[kickerfish1]

Something around 1/16 oz is probably going to need be fished on light action rod. Like others said try to look at the rod ratings for lures and match it to what you are wanting to throw. Also for something that small you may need a lighter line too, like something around 4 # as the smaller diameter line will be a bit limper and should help cast a bit further. And anything under 1/8 oz isn't going to be casted real far anyways.

[WIGuide]

On 4/15/2016 at 0:59 PM, new2BC4bass said:

That wouldn't be bad.  However, the OP said feet, not meters.

He actually said both. At the end he said distance in feet, but earlier on he stated it in meters. 

"1/16oz hair jigs. Even a little higher the casting distance was poor. Maybe 15-20 meters." 

[J Francho]

I'd say I'm pretty hard pressed to whip a 1/16 oz. hair jig (wet, it's probably just shy of a 1/4 oz.) much more than 40 feet with the right rod.  I wouldn't even bother tying it anything more than 4# line.  Anything over 6# is too high for a light bait like that.

[new2BC4bass]

1 hour ago, WIGuide said:

He actually said both. At the end he said distance in feet, but earlier on he stated it in meters. 

"1/16oz hair jigs. Even a little higher the casting distance was poor. Maybe 15-20 meters." 

You are correct, sir.  Saw the feet at the end, and didn't look any further.

[lmbfisherman]

Definitely before purchasing a rod you should definitely look at the lure ratings to make sure it meets the specs of what you're intending to do.  Also lighter line will help you get a little more distance, also if you leave a little more line out before you cast you can get a little more distance cause you will have smidge more leverage. 

[Kevin22]

That's probably about right for casting distance with 7# line. That's about how far I can throw a 1/16 jig/leech for walleye with the same rod and 6# line. If you need more casting distance you need to go to braid as a main line or drop down to 4# line. Your rod/reel choice is perfect though, that's what I use for walleye. 

[S. Sass]

Not trying to be a smartass as I have made mistakes as well but have you double checked to make sure you didn't miss an eye threading the rod? Im older and its hard to see in low light for me. I missed once went through the frame of the eye. Worked but wasn't a great performance. 

[Tim Kelly]

Fluorocarbon casts much worse on spinning gear than mono. 7lb is pretty thick. I wouldn't expect that line to cast a light wind resistant bait well at all, especially if the hair jig is dry. Braid or lighter mono will transform things.

[RyanDR]

Returned and got a ML Shimano Compre. The lure rating is lower. Casts a decent distance that I can live with. I may get a lower test line too, but I'll see how the 7 lb goes. 

13 hours ago, WIGuide said:

He actually said both. At the end he said distance in feet, but earlier on he stated it in meters. 

"1/16oz hair jigs. Even a little higher the casting distance was poor. Maybe 15-20 meters." 

I meant feet. We use meters a lot in track and I had my mind on that. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

12 hours ago, J Francho said:

I'd say I'm pretty hard pressed to whip a 1/16 oz. hair jig (wet, it's probably just shy of a 1/4 oz.) much more than 40 feet with the right rod.  I wouldn't even bother tying it anything more than 4# line.  Anything over 6# is too high for a light bait like that.

Exactly. You have to remember a bait of given weight and profile will only fly just so far no matter what. A 1/16 oz jig is not much heavier than some large flies that require fly line. 

[Kevin22]

56 minutes ago, RyanDR said:

Returned and got a ML Shimano Compre. The lure rating is lower. Casts a decent distance that I can live with. I may get a lower test line too, but I'll see how the 7 lb goes. 

I meant feet. We use meters a lot in track and I had my mind on that. 

If you could only cast 15-20 feet (5-7 yards) with the 7' ML croix then you have issues FAR beyond the rod. The problem is in your line. I can wrist-flip a 1/16 crappie jig twice that distance with my 7' ML croix, and in fact I did fish 1/16 black hair jigs with it for about a week last summer when the walleyes were on a leech bite and everybody was out of the real deal. I'd remember if I could only cast them 15 feet!

[RyanDR]

22 minutes ago, Kevin22 said:

If you could only cast 15-20 feet (5-7 yards) with the 7' ML croix then you have issues FAR beyond the rod. The problem is in your line. I can wrist-flip a 1/16 crappie jig twice that distance with my 7' ML croix, and in fact I did fish 1/16 black hair jigs with it for about a week last summer when the walleyes were on a leech bite and everybody was out of the real deal. I'd remember if I could only cast them 15 feet!

What line where you using? 

[PennBass]

I would suggest something like 8 or 10 lbs. braid. Very thin, great for casting distance. 

[shackman]

Do you have your line spooled to an 1\8" from edge of spool? even with a 1\16 oz bait,  Something is not right to only be able to throw 10-15 feet.  that's only 2 rod lengths.  

[Kevin22]

2 hours ago, RyanDR said:

What line where you using? 

To be honest, any 6-8# line I have would cast more than 15'. I can use my hands and throw a 1/16 jig two rod lengths. For that week last summer, I believe 10# sufix 832. Heck I bet I could use one of my catfish spinning rods with 25# big game and throw a 1/16 jig 15 feet. 

Check and make sure you didn't miss a guide or get it through a guide support instead of the guide ring, especially the tip. 

Then check and make sure you spooled your reel correctly.

Finally buy some new line that you can cast. I bet good old trilene XL 6# would work fine, I've thrown many of crappie jigs with that line, or even 8#. I used a lot of 8# XL and XT for walleye back in the day, and used a lot of 1/16 jigs with minnows, leeches, or half crawlers... never  had a problem casting 20yds (60') if I needed to. Otherwise, 10# braid should be fine. That's what most of my walleye gear has now (PP and 832), and I have no problem with 1/8 and 1/16 hair jigs.  

[new2BC4bass]

23 hours ago, S. Sass said:

Not trying to be a smartass as I have made mistakes as well but have you double checked to make sure you didn't miss an eye threading the rod? Im older and its hard to see in low light for me. I missed once went through the frame of the eye. Worked but wasn't a great performance. 

Did it damage the rod?  I'm an old guy with bad eyes.  Missed 3rd guide from end.  15 minutes of casting 12# mono left a groove in the finish.

[Bass Turd]

Check that there isn't a a loop in the line hanging off the spool or anything sticking up that would stop line from coming off the spool cleanly.

[S. Sass]

6 hours ago, new2BC4bass said:

Did it damage the rod?  I'm an old guy with bad eyes.  Missed 3rd guide from end.  15 minutes of casting 12# mono left a groove in the finish.

No but the line was scraped up so I considered it garbage. I didnt cast but like 2 times though and it was obvious something was wrong.