Of course the Newells are still good! The Daiwa SLX reels have a disengaging pinion and a light spool. They cast very well. The Penn 525 Mag is still a favorite amoung shore casters with the mag cast control, light spool and disengaging pinion.

 

Putting all other considerations aside, I think that you would be hard-pressed to beat the old Penn Squidder (140) or Jigmaster (500) with plastic spools. JMO

This post edited by Offshore6 08/18/2009

 

Newell

What he said!

 

I don't know about the others as i don't own one.

But I've never cast as far as I can with my Saltiga 20.
Straight 80 lb spectra and a lite Iron Mounted on a GUSA 85 MAG. Goes on and on and on.

David

 

I am shocked that no one has mentioned the Daiwa Sealines!! These are the best casting reels IMO...You can cast the lightest chovy farther with this reel then any other. And the price, well that about says it all.

 

The SL-X are Sealines. They cast better than the SL-SH.

 

The SL-X are Sealines. They cast better than the SL-SH.

Oops **turns red with embarrassment** missed that in your post sorry!8@

 

Old school and bullet proof Penn 500

 

Another Newell vote, the 533 especially. JMHO

Paul

pAUL

 

Penn 525 Mag... enough said!!

 

NEWELL

 

Pure casting was the question....ABU 6500/7500CT or the Avery....go ahead laugh all you want but most distance casiing records are with either the Avery, abu 6500 or 7500.....

This post edited by fishybuzz 08/18/2009

 

Pure casting was the question....ABU 6500/7500CT or the Avery....go ahead laugh all you want but most distance casiing records are with either the Avery, abu 6500 or 7500.....

Ok I'm laughing Don't doubt it's true though Fishy!

 

Absolutely right, David. Holder of many distance records. Swings sideways so it faces forward and casts like a spinning reel with line peeling off the front face of the spool. Gawky as can be but has set a lot of records and has a lot of fans.

Details on how it casts here.

 

Being that you asked what the best casting reel was,not just the best for distance,for me,it would be my Shimano Stella 20k. It gets light or heavy baits out as far as anything I've ever used and NEVER gets a birdsnest ! What more can you ask for? Well,besides a lower price ,but you do get what you pay for.

 

Being that you asked what the best casting reel was,not just the best for distance,for me,it would be my Shimano Stella 20k. It gets light or heavy baits out as far as anything I've ever used and NEVER gets a birdsnest ! What more can you ask for? Well,besides a lower price ,but you do get what you pay for.

Sounds crazy for us died in the wool level wind guys, but there is something to be said for a good spinning reel , i.e. Shimano Sustain or Stella (I say save the $ and buy the Sustain).

In regards to the level wind, I have not heard anyone mention the Avet SX, but it has a tremendous freespool and castability.

All in all, it depends what you are going to use it for?

 

Shimano Curado! Not only a great caster, but a pleasure to fish with . . . but I always put my reel onto something. It's surprising the added distance you can get by using a rod; and I put my Curado on an 8.5' G Loomis salmon rod. At my age I can't lift heavy weights anymore and I guarantee this setup weighs less than half as much as just about anything else. Of course I'm just fishing locally . . . .

 

The original question was BEST casting reel for DISTANCE....discounting all other aspects including fish fighting ability, drags, gear ratios etc etc....

This post edited by fishybuzz 08/19/2009

 

What's the best casting METAL SPOOL reel. I think the Trinidad 20 is. IMHO. Casts like a beauty.

 

The original question was BEST casting reel for DISTANCE....discounting all other aspects including fish fighting ability, drags, gear ratios etc etc....

I was trying to point out that the reel by itself doesn't do much. . . thus the question "reely" can't be anwsered, or if answered, doesn't make much sense. However, if someone was to ask, what is your favorite outfit for throwing surface irons less than 3 ounces or given a specific rod (say a Calstar 900 XL) what reel do you think can throw a specific weight the farthest, we might get an answer . . .

 

Absolutely right, David. Holder of many distance records. Swings sideways so it faces forward and casts like a spinning reel with line peeling off the front face of the spool. Gawky as can be but has set a lot of records and has a lot of fans.

Details on how it casts here.

Hey... I did not think spinning tackle or Alveys would be allowed. Alveys are only good for surf fishing applications in the sand with bait. You can't reel them in fast enough to keep your sinkers from getting hung in rocky conditions, and the are two cumbersome for working plugs. How about redefining to the longest casting tackle we've actually fished with, and caught fish. For me that would be a 15ft "Amazon" surf rod (made by Olympic) matched to a Shakespeare Sigma 080 spooled with 490yds of 15 lbs Trilene XL. I fished that rig for a couple years for striped bass in Texas and could consistently cast a 4oz Cordell Pencil popper over a hundred yards with it. After I broke that rod I went to a green gray glass 15ft 3-piece Daiwa rod that I could throw just about as far. If I really wanted distance I'd go down to twelve pound mono on the same rig and add a ten ft long casting leader of twenty pound test. I'd swing as hard as you could and once it cleared to the twelve would just sail and sail. I know I was getting at least thirty to forty more yards set up with the twelve, but it was a lot harder to land bigger fish over twenty pounds fishing that way. I figure between those two rods I landed over three hundred striped bass over ten pounds all on plugs but the largest on those rods was only a 28 lbs on the Daiwa. Broke both those rods, just wore them out with use, my next stick was a 13ft Ugly stick, and I could cast almost as for with that. On that rod I landed a 33, and a 36 pound fish. Here's one of those fish:

You know it's funny but the larger the spinning reel the better they cast as more line comes of the spool every wrap, and unlike with conventional gear the larger spool adds no mass or friction in the equation, as it does not turn. That's why those Alveys cast so well. Every loop around the spool equals several turns of a conventional reel and it comes off with almost no friction. Additionally the larger the capacity the better your off as the line fill level to the lip of the spool remains higher. I found for a spinning reel to cast a hundred yards it has to hold a minimum of 250yds, but with 250yds your still almost half way into the spool at the end of the cast. That's why I like the 080's. With almost a 500 yard capacity of fifteen at the end of the cast with 100yds of the reel the spool has only dumped 1/5 of the line and still is almost full. Now days I can't believe I used to chuck lures all day with those big rods. They funny thing is the rod length did not have that much impact after 13 ft. With a thirteen foot rod I found I started with the rod horizontal to the ground 180 degrees from the target then cast overhand hard releasing the line at maybe 110 degrees from the target, with a fifteen rod I'd start with the rod much higher at maybe 130 degrees from the target and snap in kind of a quick motion still cutting of and releasing at the same point. Less of a swing more of a snap, but I could get about the same distance either way Of coarse if I had to do it all over again: I'd use thirty spectra with a ten ft top shot of 20 on a smaller reel like a Penn 560 slammer. Same advantage of the 12 pound mono with the casting leader but with less stretch and more strength to land the larger fish. I'm already experimenting with thirty spectra for Iron on spinning gear and it definitely gives you and advantage in distance over conventional reels like the Penn 525 mag. As much as spectra has changed the way we fish conventional reels I think were going to see a even bigger revolution in spinning gear as the issue with spinning gear has always been that the reels could not cast heavy line. Well with spectra they can, all we need is a new generation of affordable reels designed to utilize it. Jim

This post edited by Jim Day 08/19/2009

 

Just to clarify, nobody uses Alveys in international casting competitions.
The smart folks at Alvey created a "new" casting weight category that did not exist before [about 2 ounces], and declared themselves the new record holder for that category.
Official competitions [using metric sizes of course] use about 4.25 ounces [junior], 5.25 ounces [ladies], 6.25 ounces [mens].
In some practical fihsing applications, no doubt the Alvey would be tops.
I also hung out a lot at Hermosa Tackle Box back in the day, and especially remember Jerry Morris trekking up to Morro Bay and absolutely slamming the big albacore [and occasional opah] on the Alveys.
All of that said, virtually 100-percent of international competitors use either the "European version" of the Penn 525MAG [much more elaborate mag system], or the highly-customized casting special versions of the Abu 6500 called "Blue Yonder" or "Chrome Rocket".
Although the distance record is a moving target, and I don't follow the circuit closely, it is well over 900 feet [yes, 300 yards!!], and I think the current record holder used a highly modified Penn.
Another funny thing about the whole casting thing, the Europeans totally dominate, and even the best Americans are not on their level.
My theory is that fishing in Europe is mostly pretty poor, so casting itself evolved into a sport of its own.
Here in the US, where fishing is usually pretty good, we spend our time concentrating on catching fish!




Disclaimer- Penn Pro Staff

 

Unless you modify the Trini it doesn't even cast as good as the Torium 20 much less one of the other highly rated reels.

 

Being European ,I can say that Ambassadeur 6500 custom tournament reels ( factory modded,without levelwind ) and finely tuned bearings,even special oil blends are the preferred choice of the tournament casters .They also have 'fixed spool ' ( spinning reel ) classes. All that said .It's mainly the rod blanks made by Zziplex or conoflex that produce the casts hitting 300 yds .These are designed for the pendulum casting technique that compresses these very fast action ,carbon blanks and produces this kind of distance. For record breaking distance casting ,technique and rod blank choice are prime concerns .The reel is mostly ABU simply because it requires less home modding than others . Just as a point of interest ,during a full on pendulum cast ,reel spools have been measured spinning at 40,000 revs per minute !For further details of this technique ,I expect you'll find demo's on youtube ,but please note that trying it with the surfcasting rods made for the American market will not work well ,they are not designed for this style of casting .

 

to many distance casting competitors the king of the hill is the abu 5500 CT mag elite. below are pics of my blue yonder and qtc frame along with heavily modified ABU with machined frame, hand selected ABEC 7 bearings, new tighter tolerance rotating parts and the 'knobby' - think of a manual version of shimanos DC cast control. there was a penn 525 'super mag' for the UK market. its a souped up 525 by Neil Mackellow. i had one, it was pretty sweet.

but most of these trick reels have little practical use for fishing. my all-time faves are stil the SloSH (daiwa sl20-sl30) and shimano TSM MKII. the later SloShes made in thailand dont compare to the orginal japan prod. the later vers w/ disengaging pinion dont seem to cast as well for me. of the current crop the avet sx stands out and has been adopted by a lot of pro surf/beach casters for good reason.