When I was growing up all the spinning reels had large diameter spools. Then in the 80's or maybe the early 90's, everybody came out with smaller diameter spools and claimed they gave you more casting distance. Now I'm seeing ads for a company that is coming out with large diameter spools and claiming that they give you greater casting distance. I can only guess that everybody will move back to large diameter spools now.

Is the whole fishing industry a bunch of smoke and mirrors and marketing gurus? Which type spool really does give better casting performance? Are we going to wake up in ten years and find everybody has gone back to small diameter spools and claiming that they give greater casting distance?

You can easily figure this out for yourself. Take two reels of roughly the same size, but one with a larger diameter spool than the other, load both with the same line size and type, and cast them both on the same rod. Try several rods with both reels, so you get some idea of how butt guide size affects them.

I can tell you which will cast better, but you'll learn more if you go out and do it yourself. Have fun.

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Just a passing thought. I try to have my first guide at least 1/2 the size of the spinning reel spool, if there was a return to the large spools that would make for a mighty big fist guide.

rhr

all of the long distance spinning reels ive seen have a longer spool

Take two reels with the same diameter spools and the one with the taller spool should cast farther. For example an older green Penn verses the newer Daiwa Emblem Pro. Similar diameters but different spool heights.

I assume he's talking about spool diameters, not length or height.

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Here's an old link with some distances and information regarding Chuck Wilson. Chuck held the US championship for several years. Since his undergoing extensive neck surgery his distances have dropped to about 650'. Mark Edwards is the current champion. His best cast that I an aware of is 751'.

Don

[www.hanapaa.com]

Tom is right, Ken is talking about spool Dia and it is only common sense that if one revolution emits 5 inches of line and the smaller dia spool emits 3 inches of line the 5 inch larger dia spool will cast farther...up to a point where the line gets low on the spool making the lip an ever growing mountainous hurdle to over come. So at some point the lengt of the spool slot above the arbhor has to come into play, also the diameter of the that arbhor, The spool taper adds to casting length if it is of a larger dia at the base then it is at the spool lip. The slot length has alot to do with how far and how easily you can achived better distance on a cast, in that the amount of line that is held in the widest dia possible on the spool is also a very significant contributing factor, and the slot length will limit things also.. almost as much a spool dia. The fact of the matter is that the spool is two dimensional when it comes to achieving efficient longer casts. The question was posed about only one dimension which is simpole enough to extrapolate an answer....Now, if the slot for the sake of this hypothetical situation, was one line thickness long, in that, each succeeding revloution of the line would be stacked upon the last line coming off the spool even a larger dia would not make for efficient casting distances beyond a certain range, where as a smaller dia spool with more line stacked in a greater dia (near the outside of the spool cavity) could beat out the larger dia spool.

OK Chris, what did you do with Cliff??????????????????????

Mike (Southgate, MI)
If I don't want to, I don't have to and nobody can make me (except my wife) cuz I'm RETIRED!!

Simply put, there's a link between spool diameter and length, and a compromise where they meet that offers the best between both worlds. Too long and you get friction from the line dragging from the back of the spool. Too deep and there's too much friction coming over the spool lip once a lot of line is out. Then on top of all of that you gotta worry about line capacity in case you hook into a beast once you get that record breaking cast out there!!

Mike:

I got Cliff a job, and then did a search on is posts...Hes around lurking, chomping at the bit, but probaly has little left after working for the Man all day

well look at Alvey reels...They are more or less a 5-7 inch wide spinning rod spool specially designed for casting long long diatances...Some of the record holders use them. And I don't think that the spools are very long either.