Fouled casts and tapered spools

[ebergerud]

I fish stripers in the Bay Area from shore. That means chucking lures (usually Kastmasters) maybe a hundred times per outing with a spinning reel. Sometimes it even works. Just stumbled on this board so maybe someone here can help me out. When I first started fishing I went through a series of reels (Swedish Abu Garcias were my favorites): anything that would hold about 200 yards of 10lb line and fit on a steelhead rod. This was before the advent of the tapered spool and a fouled cast was rare indeed: could go days without one. Sometimes a little line twist, maybe an over-zealously filled spool, or too much beer would cause a snafu, but that was rare.
All that changed with tapered spools. Not one of those things laid down retrieved line perfectly straight and depending upon make fouled casts were common. (Even had a Fin Nor - it was one of the worst.) Presently have a Penn Gold Series that is an improvement but still a periodic headache. So my "go to" reel is an antique Shimano that has an antique even spool, lays down the line perfectly well and never fouls.
I'll never get sponsorship for my outings, but I think after thirty years of chucking metal I do know how to cast, so I'm not blaming myself (at least on this issue). Anyone out there do similar fishing where quantities of casts are huge and a reliable cast is the absolute top priority. I'm perfectly willing to pay real money for a good reel and would be glad for suggestions concerning a new one. My old Shimano is almost as old as I am and won't last forever.
Eric

[Handcrafter]

Not sure if this an answer but it might be worth looking into. I just spooled a Okuma Cedros w/300 yds. of 30# braid and it seems to be level all of the way across, I didn't think to check it before hand. I fished the SF bay area from shore for many years and my go to reel is a abu 5500c that has and is still going strong. I just replaced the drag with one of Cal's smooth drags and cannot wait to try it out.......hope this helps........Lynn

[algdog]

I switched over to conventional reels a long time ago just because of things like this. never any dependability out of a spinning reel, maybe the new ultra fancy ones are the ticket now
but I think they have the same problems as the old ones.
someone here may have an idea about the newer reels
practice with a conventional reel for a while and all of the spinning reel type problems will be gone forever

[helm]

I fish stripers in the Bay Area from shore. That means chucking lures (usually Kastmasters) maybe a hundred times per outing with a spinning reel. Sometimes it even works. Just stumbled on this board so maybe someone here can help me out. When I first started fishing I went through a series of reels (Swedish Abu Garcias were my favorites): anything that would hold about 200 yards of 10lb line and fit on a steelhead rod. This was before the advent of the tapered spool and a fouled cast was rare indeed: could go days without one. Sometimes a little line twist, maybe an over-zealously filled spool, or too much beer would cause a snafu, but that was rare.
All that changed with tapered spools. Not one of those things laid down retrieved line perfectly straight and depending upon make fouled casts were common. (Even had a Fin Nor - it was one of the worst.) Presently have a Penn Gold Series that is an improvement but still a periodic headache. So my "go to" reel is an antique Shimano that has an antique even spool, lays down the line perfectly well and never fouls.
I'll never get sponsorship for my outings, but I think after thirty years of chucking metal I do know how to cast, so I'm not blaming myself (at least on this issue). Anyone out there do similar fishing where quantities of casts are huge and a reliable cast is the absolute top priority. I'm perfectly willing to pay real money for a good reel and would be glad for suggestions concerning a new one. My old Shimano is almost as old as I am and won't last forever.
Eric

I recently purchased a Daiwa coastal inshore 3000 which has a tapered spool.
I used it every day for a week fishing the beaches in Sanibel Island FL. and probably made 200 casts or so every day. I was using power pro 15 pound test braid and had no issues. I reel in slowly as I fish with DOA shrimp most of the time. From what I read the tapered spool is supposed to be an improvement. Don't understand why you were having trouble. Do you use mono?