Casting distance issue

[Conclusion]

I recently purchased a new rod, cabelas prodigy walleye 7'6" medium light, rated for lures 1/8 to 5/8 size and line weight of 4-10lb. Just came back from a fishing trip for rainbow trout and I was shocked at how poor the casting distance was. This is the longest rod I've purchased and I was expecting better. I've mounted a Diawa bg 3000 with 20lb pp tied to 8lb leader line and was trying to cast an original f7 rapala rated at 1/8 oz and a slightly larger rapala shad rap. Casting I was lucky to get 25ft, any suggestions on whats wrong with this rig?

[new2BC4bass]

I had purchased a Prodigy 7' Medium spinning rod with micro guides.  Hated it.  Felt distance was way too short.  Exchanged for a standard guide rod.  Guides still too small AFAIC.  Distance still poor.  Took it back and exchanged for a casting rod.  Maybe you and I don't know what we are doing. 

 

I got better distance with a 6' ML Berkley Lightning.   

 

EDIT:  BTW, I am very satisfied with the two Prodigy 7' MF casting rods I have.

[Conclusion]

29 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I had purchased a Prodigy 7' Medium spinning rod with micro guides.  Hated it.  Felt distance was way too short.  Exchanged for a standard guide rod.  Guides still too small AFAIC.  Distance still poor.  Took it back and exchanged for a casting rod.  Maybe you and I don't know what we are doing. 

 

I got better distance with a 6' ML Berkley Lightning.   

 

EDIT:  BTW, I am very satisfied with the two Prodigy 7' MF casting rods I have.

Lol I hope it's me and i can fix it! I had read reviews before on the casting distance but it was mixed so I went ahead. The rod is awesome otherwise, sensitivity is amazing. I was going to use it for ned rig and shaky head set ups as well. 

[plawren53202]

57 minutes ago, Conclusion said:

I recently purchased a new rod, cabelas prodigy walleye 7'6" medium light, rated for lures 1/8 to 5/8 size and line weight of 4-10lb. Just came back from a fishing trip for rainbow trout and I was shocked at how poor the casting distance was. This is the longest rod I've purchased and I was expecting better. I've mounted a Diawa bg 3000 with 20lb pp tied to 8lb leader line and was trying to cast an original f7 rapala rated at 1/8 oz and a slightly larger rapala shad rap. Casting I was lucky to get 25ft, any suggestions on whats wrong with this rig?

25 ft. sounds really short for that setup, and you've got good gear there, so there has to be something not working properly somewhere. Couple of things I thought of off the top of my head as possibilities....do you have a guide with a broken ceramic inside it that is maybe causing drag? You can check the guides by rubbing a Q tip inside them and look for fraying. Issues being caused by your braid to leader knot? Either maybe catching on the guides on the way out, or if your leader is long enough that the knot lays on the spool when casting, maybe it is catching on the spool line when you cast? Are the casts coming to a sudden stop, which might indicate that the braid on the spool has dug in?

 

I don't see anything in your setup that would come close to causing this, so there must be a malfunction-type problem somewhere in the chain.

[WRB]

How full is the spool? It should be within a penny thickness (1/16") from the lip.

Rapala original minnow F7 isn't very aerodynamic to sustain flight speed so you need to snap cast hard vs a lob cast to get speed. Piont the rod tip at the lure in flight to reduce line drag and 25 yards should be achievable using 4 lb to 5 lb leader.

Tom

[Conclusion]

57 minutes ago, plawren53202 said:

25 ft. sounds really short for that setup, and you've got good gear there, so there has to be something not working properly somewhere. Couple of things I thought of off the top of my head as possibilities....do you have a guide with a broken ceramic inside it that is maybe causing drag? You can check the guides by rubbing a Q tip inside them and look for fraying. Issues being caused by your braid to leader knot? Either maybe catching on the guides on the way out, or if your leader is long enough that the knot lays on the spool when casting, maybe it is catching on the spool line when you cast? Are the casts coming to a sudden stop, which might indicate that the braid on the spool has dug in?

 

I don't see anything in your setup that would come close to causing this, so there must be a malfunction-type problem somewhere in the chain.

I did the q tip test before ripping the tag off the rod and no fluff left behind. I considered the knot as well when using it so tried casting with it past the last guide (leader is about 2ft) and spooled into the guides and no noticeable difference.  Using the alberto knot if that has any relevance.

 

 

WRB: definitely not that full. Don't have it in front of me but I've spooled a 10lb mono backer to cover the spool then wrapped the full 150yd spool of 20lb pp. Daiwa website says j braid 20lb takes 240yds and 10lb mono takes 200. Would not fully spooling make that big of a difference?

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, Conclusion said:

Would not fully spooling make that big of a difference?

It will make a difference - you've got friction from the spool rim happening. The fuller the spool is, the less it's going to rub on the rim, reducing the friction.

[WRB]

1 hour ago, Conclusion said:

I did the q tip test before ripping the tag off the rod and no fluff left behind. I considered the knot as well when using it so tried casting with it past the last guide (leader is about 2ft) and spooled into the guides and no noticeable difference.  Using the alberto knot if that has any relevance.

 

 

WRB: definitely not that full. Don't have it in front of me but I've spooled a 10lb mono backer to cover the spool then wrapped the full 150yd spool of 20lb pp. Daiwa website says j braid 20lb takes 240yds and 10lb mono takes 200. Would not fully spooling make that big of a difference?

7'6" rod a 2' leader doesn't need to be the tip guide. 2 pennies thickness is 1/8" and that is getting marginally full.

Why 20 lb braid? 12 lb is more then strong enough.

Try casting with the leader about 3" outside the rod tip and cast harder to get the light Rapala moving faster.

Tom

[BrianMDTX]

25’ is 8.3 yards. Are you sure you meant feet, or yards? 25 yards is 75’. Big difference! 

[Conclusion]

1 hour ago, BrianMDTX said:

25’ is 8.3 yards. Are you sure you meant feet, or yards? 25 yards is 75’. Big difference! 

No I meant feet. I may have been short on my initial estimate above but definitely not casting any longer than 30-35. 

 

I've ordered another daiwa bg in the 2500 size. Maybe I'll try spooling this line on that reel when I get it, that should fill it up. I'll try adding more line to the 3000 but seems crazy it would have that much of an impact.

[BrianMDTX]

IMO, even a half-filled reel will cast 25’. Are you sure your line isn’t spooled well and is digging in? 25’ is a little over three times the length of a 7’6” rod. If you can’t cast that far, something is truly amiss. 

[roadwarrior]

25 YARDS is a pretty average cast. That's 75 feet.

[BrianMDTX]

22 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

25 YARDS is a pretty average cast. That's 75 feet.

That’s what I though. But the OP confirmed it's feet. That’s nothing. So if it is feet, something's afoot. 

[Conclusion]

2 hours ago, BrianMDTX said:

IMO, even a half-filled reel will cast 25’. Are you sure your line isn’t spooled well and is digging in? 25’ is a little over three times the length of a 7’6” rod. If you can’t cast that far, something is truly amiss. 

I spooled it and kept the line taught and from what I've read digging line is usually only on thicker braid, although I'm sure it's possible.  I was trolling with this rod and had substantially more line out doing that then I would have through casting. Caught several rainbow on it too so it had some pull on it.

 

I'll try taking it back out tomorrow in the park and see how far I can launch it. 

6 hours ago, WRB said:

7'6" rod a 2' leader doesn't need to be the tip guide. 2 pennies thickness is 1/8" and that is getting marginally full.

Why 20 lb braid? 12 lb is more then strong enough.

Try casting with the leader about 3" outside the rod tip and cast harder to get the light Rapala moving faster.

Tom

I figured 20lb braid would be a good start, my dad has always used 10lb mono or flouro so I went with a comparable braid. You're right probably overkill. 

 

Are you saying cast with the leader knot 3" outside the last guide or 3" off the end of the lure?

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

20# braid won’t be longest casting but not restrictive either. It’s thin braid that digs in not thicker. Make sure the line is threaded thru the guides correctly(not kidding it happens). Fill the spool as suggested. 

[WRB]

41 minutes ago, Conclusion said:

I spooled it and kept the line taught and from what I've read digging line is usually only on thicker braid, although I'm sure it's possible.  I was trolling with this rod and had substantially more line out doing that then I would have through casting. Caught several rainbow on it too so it had some pull on it.

 

I'll try taking it back out tomorrow in the park and see how far I can launch it. 

I figured 20lb braid would be a good start, my dad has always used 10lb mono or flouro so I went with a comparable braid. You're right probably overkill. 

 

Are you saying cast with the leader knot 3" outside the last guide or 3" off the end of the lure?

20" leader, 3" outside the rod tip or about 2' hanging down from the rod tip using rod over 7' long.

Tom

[BrianMDTX]

I would tie a 3/8 oz lure (or weight) directly to the braid and cast for distance. That will eliminate any potential leader issues. If that casts well, tie on a leader that remains outside the tip guide (3” as suggested by WRB). Cast again. If good, try a leader that’s longer and is inside the tip guide and see what the results are. 
 

I had 20 lb braid and a 8 lb leader on my Daiwa Revros LT2500 on a Fenwick HMX66MH-FS-2 rod and it casted well. Your rig should, too. 

[JustJames]

The F7 is not for longest cast, even though it weight 1/8oz but the shape is big and bulky almost 3” long. I don’t think there is any weight transfer system in the lure to help casting distance since it made of balsa wood. BTW 25’ is super short distance, I can get about 50’ easily with my casting gear.

Another point is casting with 7’6 rod, I’m not sure how you cast or familiar with this size rod. I also have Shimano Compre 7’6 walleye 1/16-5/8 that can cast 1/16oz jig about 40-50’ but casting same lure with crucial 6’8 ML 1/16-1/4 is a lot easier and even further distance. In this case longer doesn’t always mean better. 

20lb braid with this size lure, you are not gonna get any distance, the lure weight and the inconvenient shape don’t have enough energy to pull out such heavy line especially when wet.

[NOC 1]

20 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Make sure the line is threaded thru the guides correctly(not kidding it happens). Fill the spool as suggested. 

No kidding. the last time I had an issue like that it took me 15 minutes to figure out that I had somehow wrapped the line around the rod between the last guide and the tip. I have no idea of how I did it, or why it escaped my notice for so long.

[new2BC4bass]

22 hours ago, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

Make sure the line is threaded thru the guides correctly(not kidding it happens).

Been there.  Done that.  Have a 6'9" MHF Elite Tech Smallmouth that has a spiral groove worn in the finish between 2 eyes.  And this happened in a few casts with mono.  Sucks. 

[Conclusion]

Sorry for the delay in getting back I ended up getting out camping. I've attached a photo of the spooled reel, is this too empty? I also swapped the reel out to my 6'6" Aird X while away and using the same lure had similar results so maybe it's a combination of not enough line or just the very light and not aerodynamic lure?

[MN Fisher]

No - that reel looks well filled...I still think 20# braid is a bit much on a spinner and if it is a light lure (got a weight on that?) then it very well could be the issue. For spinning rigs, I cast light lures (1/4oz and under) on 8# or less mono or copoly (YZH) on ML or UL rods...rarely my Medium.

[Conclusion]

On 8/28/2020 at 10:36 AM, MN Fisher said:

No - that reel looks well filled...I still think 20# braid is a bit much on a spinner and if it is a light lure (got a weight on that?) then it very well could be the issue. For spinning rigs, I cast light lures (1/4oz and under) on 8# or less mono or copoly (YZH) on ML or UL rods...rarely my Medium.

Okay perfect thank you. The F7 is 1/8 ounce so bottom of the weight rating for the rod for sure, probably be better with an ultralight. I was kind of guessing on the braid to be honest. My dad and grandfather have been trout fishing for 50 years and have always done it the same way, 10 pound mono. I wanted to get my dad to try out braid because the memory of the mono is driving him crazy. I've also been trying to get him to size down a bit so I picked something that was a similar diameter (20# PP is 6# mono according to their site) and I thought this would be a good compromise. Might actually have to go back to the mono as our leader lines were getting tangled like crazy, but that's a different issue all together! 

 

[JustJames]

47 minutes ago, Conclusion said:

. Also good to know the Rapala's work. We bought about 3 or 4 each between the floating and countdown and didn't get a single bite, mind you I think we were using them at the wrong time of year. I've got an F9, CD5 and a 1/4oz jointed shad to try out as well.

CD05 would be good comparable size to F07 but cast a mile further. If you wanna fish on top just cast it out and reel quick with rod tip high once lure hit water.

I try to avoid trebles hook now, I haven’t use any of my topwater lure at all this year even most of them switched to single hook.

[LCG]

I use 20lb braid to a 8ft 6lb mono leader and have no issues with casting distance. I use 20lb braid because I found that 10lb gave some issues with wind knots. 20lb braid is equal to the diameter of 6-8lb mono so I don't think that's the issue. 

 

Your rod is rated 1/8-5/8oz and the sweet spot is probably in the middle 1/4-3/8oz. That's a pretty heavy Lure rating for a ML rod. My Medium extra fast rod is rated for 1/8-1/2oz. But 25ft is very short, maybe try letting out more line to gain more momentum during the cast.