Learning to cast a conventional

[BackBayMan]

With a total of about 24 casts in the park and 3 sessions on the water, I'm really liking the conventional. My new 12' Penn Battalion with Penn Fathom 40 Star Drag using a 6oz weight and bait will easily cast as far as the 4oz weight and bait I was throwing with my 15' Ugly Stik and Coronado spinner. I'm guessing I'm getting 40 to 50 yards pretty consistently. And I think there's a lot left in the new rig.

I'm using straight 4 strand 80lb KastKing braid tied to a 10' 100lb mono rub leader with a FG knot. No problems with backlashes or snapped lines from birdnests. Yes, the reel will double over a little when the bait hits the water at night because I don't know exactly when to thumb it, but nothing that doesn't take care of itself in a couple of steps  walking the pole back to the pole holder.

I will switch to 8 strand 80lb KastKing braid as soon as it get here. I'll be interested to see if the roundness of the 8 strand affects the performance. I suspect that using the thicker 80lb braid helps over smaller diameter lower pound test braid, but what do I know.

I've been using the reel straight out of the box, which means that there should be 3 of the centrifugal brakes activated. I'm going to open it up to confirm this and turn one of the brakes off to see if I can get a little more distance without backlashes. If that turns out ok, and there's no innocent bystanders in the park, I'll start trying some off the ground casts. One thing is for sure, the longer casting techniques are going to be a lot easier on my casting finger with the conventional

[Latimeria]

I had the worst backlash ever yesterday (I don't even remember any serious back lashes in the past 4 years). 
I think I have to take my reel apart.  I heard a "Klink" and "Rattle" on one big mega cast. I suspect one of my magnets slipped off and lost all control on a big cast.  It was FUGLY!

[BackBayMan]

I had the worst backlash ever yesterday (I don't even remember any serious back lashes in the past 4 years). 
I think I have to take my reel apart.  I heard a "Klink" and "Rattle" on one big mega cast. I suspect one of my magnets slipped off and lost all control on a big cast.  It was FUGLY!

Once every 4 years I can live with. And it's not like you don't have issues with spinners. I've snapped off my share of rigs with wind knots that came out of nowhere, and then there's my personal favorite, the bail that snaps closed when you cast

[BenCantrell]

and then there's my personal favorite, the bail that snaps closed when you cast

Any spinning reel that does that is not appropriate for surf fishing.

[BackBayMan]

and then there's my personal favorite, the bail that snaps closed when you cast

Any spinning reel that does that is not appropriate for surf fishing.

Sometimes that little nut gets loose, or you knock it with your hand, or the fishing gods get bored and decide to play a little trick

[Fish Jerk]

and then there's my personal favorite, the bail that snaps closed when you cast

Any spinning reel that does that is not appropriate for surf fishing.

Sometimes that little nut gets loose, or you knock it with your hand, or the fishing gods get bored and decide to play a little trick

Another big reason for this on the big spinners is handle placement. The handle has enough mass on the bigger ones, that if the handle is in the wrong position when you open the bail, the force of the cast will cause the handle to spin and close the bail. Many east coast guys prefer bailess models or remove the trip mechanism from the bail so that it can't close when you spin the handle.

[LONGCAST JOE]

and then there's my personal favorite, the bail that snaps closed when you cast

Any spinning reel that does that is not appropriate for surf fishing.

Sometimes that little nut gets loose, or you knock it with your hand, or the fishing gods get bored and decide to play a little trick

You forgot to mention one, which I seem to only do when all eyes are on me...Forget to open the bail at all before letting go of with a full force cast 🤭🤗

[Pinoyfisher]

The better spinners designed for surf casting have bails that won't close during a cast or even when you try to wind, they have to be manually flipped. My Spinfishers do that. 

[WheresMyBeer]

[BackBayMan]

Nice Bat! From 2013.....

[WheresMyBeer]

This is so cool!!