yellow door 1

Free whiting measurers for days

Free whiting measurers for days

Free whiting measurers for days

Free whiting measurers for days

It was mentioned earlier about lures tumbling through the air. I think this can have more of an effect on distance than spool diameter.
I can ping a 15g tear drop sinker that flies nice an straight noticeably further than a #3.0 squid jig tumbles through the air and moves with the direction of the wind.
There is a technique in squid fishing for reducing the tumbling of jigs. You place a bead on your leader, straighten one of the prongs on the bottom crown, then put the straightened prong in the bead, so the jig hands head down with the weight at the end of the line. After you cast, the first jig of the line releases the squid jig so it's point the the right direction again.
 

I really have to look after my wrists these days if I am to enjoy this pastime for many more years.
I occasionally have to use a wrist support brace. Also I have had to developed amphidextrous abilities to share the strain across both left and right wrists & arms. 
The higher gear ratio is essential for YFW surface fishing. So I never use anything under 6:1. However that cannot be taken in isolation. You also need to consider the circumference of the spool. Hence a 2500/3000 reel is so much better than a 1000 reel with the same gear ratio. They provide a greater line retrieval rate (retrieve speed). 
Gear Ratio (spool rotations) X Spool Circumference (spool size)= Line Retrieval Rate (retrieval speed)
Easier to slow a lure down if fast, rather than speed it up IMO.
A good article: https://surffishingsocalsd.com/how-to-choose-a-fishing-reel-numbers-gear-ratios-etc/
“For example, a 4.4:1 gear ratio reel with a 2-inch-diameter spool will recover 13.8 inches of line per turn of the handle. A 6.2:1 ratio reel with a 1.5-inch-diameter spool will recover less than 11 inches of line per handle turn. Therefore, it is the size of the spool in combination with gear ratio that most affects the recovery of the line."
Cheers, Des

What MAH said.
Larger longer spool will give slight distance advantage, I feel this is less noticeable as line diameter reduces but smaller reels perform better else where, I'd personally favour comfort over an extra metre or 2 cast distance 99% of the time.
The rod & caster do the real work with casting if you want more distance I reckon you'll get much more by getting skinnier slicker braid assuming you're not already at the limit for that.

Went from a 1000 to a 2000 and noticed I got better distance.. Same line, same rod.. Had a long cast spool and standard with the 1000 reel not much difference.. Might change with heavier lures, but Im like Des and cast 2-7 gram lures.. I have a long cast surf reel, which has a smaller diameter spool and I have a similar reel with a wider spool.. They wider spool seems to cast further with 30gram weights.. Same line. same rod.. Maybe its just me????

Salt Strong looked at reel size. Using identical 7'6" rods, one with a 1000 Diawa Fuego and the other a 3000 Diawa Fuego, both spooled with 10lb Power Pro and using the same weight. They conclude there was a noticeable difference, but it looked pretty negligible to me.
They were casting what looks like a 28gm teardrop weight, so different to your use. I suspect the difference would be even less with lighter weights.
When I go fishing, if I'm fishing from the shore or with a tub in tow across the flats, I often carry a spare reel in case I have a session ending wind knot, then I can just swap reels (if only spare spools were readily available and affordable!). On the occasion when I have swapped out a reel, I haven't noticed much difference when swapping out a larger reel for a smaller reel.

Found the dimensions for the Vanford Spool
Basically 2mm longer. I find with lure casting no discernable difference.
 

 

Ahh gotcha - I was told wider spools cast further - so I jumped up from 1500 to 2500. I cant remember ever actually testing it but I got the impression it was true. And my experiences with Alvey reels made me think the wider the better.

The less the distance between the line and the spool lip - the easier it slips over that lip while casting. So a larger spool means more line has to slip off before it starts bumping hard on the spool lip.

Im sure theres a limit to how wide a spool can be before it starts bringing its own problems. But i havent had issues with 2500's

Yes  ... Rod, Line, Lure, leader Knots introduce a whole lot of different factors for the cast distance of lures.
My preference is to use a 7' 6" rod for mainly 4 to 9 gram lures.
However I am focussing only on the variables with the reels/spools here.

The park never lies as long as you are asking a fair question😉
 
 

Heres some stuff Ive heard or tried for long casting with bream gear

Lightest line you can possibly get away with
FG Knots
Filling spool dangerously close to the lip
Smooth casting action, so lures dont tumble in the air or just use lures that arent prone to tumbling and are slightly heavier.
Having a rod correctly matched to the lures you throw most often
Ive been told long rods are the go -but Ive never gone much longer than 7 foot.

Long casting surf and carp spinning reels tend to have long, fat spools and I remember the super fat alveys being a great distance casting reel.

I also use 2500 for the fatter spool - but Ive never actually gone down to the park with different out fits to see which one casts the best. That would be the only way to be sure which outfit was your gun long caster

What are some of the factors that effect cast distance in Spinning Reels?
My main application is casting light weight surface lures.
A larger spool diameter I find provides me with a longer cast. Hence I prefer using 2500 size reels over 1000 size.
Spool length I am unsure of. I have a Vanford 2500 which has a longer spool to it's predecessor the Stradic 2500 Ci4+ but not a wider spool.
I don't feel a noticeable difference in the length of cast with the longer spool.
Are they any other factors to consider in a reel to improve your casting?
Cheers, Des
P.S. Attached a the spool size specs for the old Stradic Ci4+. Should anyone find one similar for the Vanford could you post it up please.

 

Nice one SurfcaztR.

I remember going to a salt water fish farm in Ballina and thinking - this is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel - it definitely wasnt.

The owner asked me what lb leader i planned to use - I said 8lb - he said - you wont get a touch on lures unless you use 4lb. These fish have seen every lure and presentation imaginable.

Of course I had to test the theory - only took 45mins to realise 4lb leaders might be the best choice - it made a big difference.

That visit was a bit of an eye opener - at a fish farm where they arent fed live food - their food doesnt look like fish - it looks like pellets - they werent the lure slaying maniacs I expected them to be

The owner came up toward the end of my session and threw in a hand full of pellets to show me what was in the pond. The joint exploded with jewies. They were tracking the pellets through the air before they even landed.

The only lure Id have complete confidence in, is something that looked like a pellet😉

 

Nice one SurfcaztR.

I remember going to a salt water fish farm in Ballina and thinking - this is going to be like shooting fish in a barrel - it definitely wasnt.

The owner asked me what lb leader i planned to use - I said 8lb - he said - you wont get a touch on lures unless you use 4lb. These fish have seen every lure and presentation imaginable.

Of course I had to test the theory - only took 45mins to realise 4lb leaders might be the best choice - it made a big difference.

That visit was a bit of an eye opener - at a fish farm where they arent fed live food - their food doesnt look like fish - it looks like pellets - they werent the lure slaying maniacs I expected them to be

The owner came up toward the end of my session and threw in a hand full of pellets to show me what was in the pond. The joint exploded with jewies. They were tracking the pellets through the air before they even landed.

The only lure Id have complete confidence in, is something that looked like a pellet😉

 

YD1..Yes i did see that B4 in one of your posts and considered that self made spear.But i had this $50 BCF gift voucher burning a hole in my pocket and $40 later walked one out the shop instead.And I did remove the barbs.

Nice one👍 Love the set up

I was convinced by an old flounder guru to make a 2 pronged, heavy spear with long spear shafts and no barbs.

Its a serious weapon that worked much better than I though it would.

He reckoned barbs on the shaft, just slow you down when removing fish and I found that to be true aswell - and the extra weight really helps drive the spear home on those "One inch Punch" style jabs. Especially on boney headed flathead

Your set up looks great 👍- just putting up another option for the diy spear.

Nice one👍 Love the set up

I was convinced by an old flounder guru to make a 2 pronged, heavy spear with long spear shafts and no barbs.

Its a serious weapon that worked much better than I though it would.

He reckoned barbs on the shaft, just slow you down when removing fish and I found that to be true aswell - and the extra weight really helps drive the spear home on those "One inch Punch" style jabs. Especially on boney headed flathead

Your set up looks great 👍- just putting up another option for the diy spear.

No one locally had a flounder spear for sale so i knocked one up and adjusted the prongs,plus some night underwater recording

Yeah Chicken wings are phenomenal - its just hard to know when you have had enough😉

Yep agree, those caramelized bits of the sweet chilli sauce are a nice bonus  
I did buffalo wings not long ago - first time ever - and now hooked on the Sriracha Hot Chilli sauce & Franks Redhot sauce  

I went through a sweet chilli phase that lasted many years - Id put it on anything including fish - when it caramelizes on the edge of a shallow fried whiting fillet - its a taste sensation. You do need salt to even it out though