Relearning how to cast
 

I had no idea that learning to cast a conventional reel would be such a pain in the butt! I've been fishing with spinning tackle for over 40 years and am pretty confident with my gear. I just spent that last 45 minutes trying to cast a Penn 146 and am frustrated as hell! WTF?!? How hard can it be? The dude on YouTube made it look easy enough. :mad:

Do you have a tension nob on the reel that will slow the spook down? If so I suggest adjusting it so that the spool doesn't spin too fast just so you can get practice in and build your confidence. As you get more confident loosen the nob so to increase the speed, and then you'll be back in the saddle again.

Slow that spook down :p

crawl, walk then run method. tension nob.

It took me about half a day to learn how to cast with that type of real. I learn to always keep your thumb on the spool.

Yeah, there's nothing worse than a spook haulin-ass on you :biggrinjester:

keep that line wet too!! its always made a big difference for me while practicing at the park,

Uhh...tension nob? I'll have to look into that. Thanks. I'll wet the line, too. Back at it tomorrow.:o

There should be a chrome nob on the left side of the reel, the more you crank that in the slower the spool will be. Cranked out speeds the spool up.

Yeah, I found it and cranked it down. Cast it in my house and caught a 9 lb little dog that grabbed the practice plug. Wife yelled at me. The rod went back into the garage.

No humans were harmed in the practice though so you're good.

Dont forget to apply the brakes!

There a bunch of reels out there that cast better than the penn you are using. Maybe start with a low profile bait caster that has both magnetic and a centrifacal brakes. Set both brakes at max and then work your way to lighter settings. Mike

Go heavy on the thumb at first. Practice lobbing some weight and then locking it down with your thumb early to prevent a back lash. As you educate your thumb and build up your confidence go for a little more distance.
Learning how to quickly get that bird nest untangled is part of casting too. So no matter how it goes your learning skills.
I just got a seeker 9 ft jig rod. I can cast ok but now I am going for distance while sitting and its like relearning to cast again. I am giving it all I got, and have earned some record braking backlashes for my efforts. All part of the learning curve.
Using heavy lines I think are easier to cast with. At lest a backlash with 40lb mono is easier to get out then with 50lb braid.
Use Zen. Your mind already knows how to cast, it all that thinking that gets in the way.

From what I've been reading on the internet, I've made it more difficult than necessary. Thinking like a trout fisherman where ultralight is the way to go, I spooled the Penn 146 with 15 lb mono -- not the best idea. I did reduce the amount of backlash after following some the advice from you guys. I decided to switch to my Daiwa Sealine 50H that is spooled with 65 lb spectra. The good news is that I didn't have a single bird's nest. The bad news is that I can't get the plug to go further than 20 feet. I don't have the spool tension set very high either. Maybe I need more weight? More practice tomorrow.