Second time fishing

[randdmart]

Hello, 

 

First day of Spring and second time fishing. Carlos had some more trouble with his reel but we bought an extra rod for lure fishing. We have Zebco push button reels with 8lb test line, two #5 split shots with a hook on the bottom.  We’re only getting about 20 feet on our casts no matter how much weight we use, so I'm not sure what we're doing wrong. Carlos got really frustrated so Mommy ran him home. Thankfully we’re only about 10 minutes away from the lake.  After Carlos left I fished with a spinner lure, which I enjoyed but again only got about 20 feet on the casts. I had fun.

 

Any advice on weight or casting would be appreciated.

 

See video for casting reference - https://youtu.be/w2CNtDk4hPI

 

Thanks,

Rich

[garroyo130]

The spool may be underfilled or overfilled. I would pop the top and see if either of those is the case. Even if all looks fine, I would take the line out and wind it onto an empty spool or water bottle and respool the reel.

[new2BC4bass]

Is there a lure rating on the rod?  If so, make sure the lure is within that range.  Preferably in the middle or slightly above.  You could add a little more speed to the cast.

 

That rod looks about 6' long.  Maybe less.  Not a good length for distance, but you should be doing a lot better than 20 feet.  Looks like the cast is longer than 20 feet, but no idea what lens was being used.  A 7" fish weighing 8 oz. can look huge with the right lens photographed at a close distance.

 

EDIT:  And a 20 foot cast can look like 50 yards. 

[randdmart]

1 minute ago, new2BC4bass said:

Is there a lure rating on the rod?  If so, make sure the lure is within that range.  Preferably in the middle or slightly above.  You could add a little more speed to the cast.

 

That rod looks about 6' long.  Maybe less.  Not a good length for distance, but you should be doing a lot better than 20 feet.  Looks like the cast is longer than 20 feet, but no idea what lens was being used.  A 7" fish weighing 8 oz. can look huge with the right lens photographed at a close distance.

My wife made the video with an iPhone 8

23 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

The spool may be underfilled or overfilled. I would pop the top and see if either of those is the case. Even if all looks fine, I would take the line out and wind it onto an empty spool or water bottle and respool the reel.

This same issue is happening with multiple rods/reels, so I think it is us.

[new2BC4bass]

I found this:  "The main camera is a 28mm equivalent lens".  So it will make the rod look long and distance look quite a bit further than it actually is.  That rod probably is around 5 foot after taking away the effects of the 28mm lens.

[randdmart]

6 minutes ago, new2BC4bass said:

I found this:  "The main camera is a 28mm equivalent lens".  So it will make the rod look long and distance look quite a bit further than it actually is.  That rod probably is around 5 foot after taking away the effects of the 28mm lens.

These combos we bought were only like $40, I'd have to measure the length to be sure