What kind of setup do I need to cast at least 100 yards? I will be throwing a 5 to 6 inch perch and maybe a weighted popping cork. Looking for rod length, type of reel, line. Thanks..

I'm thinking a big Abu since that's what most casting records are set on and a long *** rod. I knew a guy years ago who could stand on the beach and cast out to the end of the pier. Had to be 150 yards ay least. He used 6 ounces of lead and a 15 foot 3 piece spinning surf outfit.

bet that perch is going to be a happy dude....

What manasota said. The rod has to be alteast 10 - 15 foot with a heck of a wieght on the end.

Look on surf casting records on www.anywho.com. I just checked it out & there are some folks in Austraila casting 629.76 feet.

I didn't check on what they were throwing it on but I'm sure the info is there.

There's a website somewhere that's dedicated to long casting as a sport. There's a bunch of video there to watch and they have instruction videos for sale and give seminars. One video shows a demonstration at a major league baseball field and the dudes are standing at home plate and casting over the fence. 450 ft. LOL

Spinning rig is not the way to go. You will need a good casting reel. All the world record casters or long distance casters use casting reels. I dont know if you have ever tried to cast a spinning rig over 300ft but if you do, there is a good chance you will lose your fingers if you are using braid. You will need a special glove or cover for your index and middle finger in order to keep the pressure off of the skin while the rod is loading. I fish with a 9+ft rod when fishing on the jetties and when rigged with my cabo and braid, loading the thing and flinging it as hard as I would like would deff. cut off my fingers. I can get great distance with the setup but nothing like I can with a calcutta 700. The only problems that I tend to have with a casting reel is burning the skin off of my thumb. For a while I couldnt grow skin back on my thumb because I had been using it so much. SUCKED.. Perch is also not a good bait to try and launch so far. You can cast them and probably that far if not further but you have to make sure to be very smooth on your cast. Any popping will rip the hook right out of the fishes back.
Reels, any good reel will get you distance but the Penn 525 is known for long distance. I would have to say that for distance, this reel will be tough to beat. www.hatterasoutfitters.com/s-mart/new525mag.htm
I like my calcutta 700 quite a bit too.
Rods:Lamiglass makes some of the best rods for long distance. Another good brand of rod would be BreakAway and they are made here in Corpus. Both brands are american made(for the most part).
When it comes to rod length, the longer the rod, the longer the cast. 10-14ft should be plenty and you should be able to cast a country mile if spooled with braid. Mono though will still cast like a rocket!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A good rod and reel will make the task easy.

http://www.breakawayusa.com/shop/videos.htm

Breakaway is where ya need to go for some ideas.On a spinning long distance set-up,breakaway makes a trigger that you can put on your rod to save your fingers.You can find them at cabela's also.They also make a protective piece for your thumb for casting reels.Check um out.Check out the forums.

Trust me, they don't use the normal (finger holding the line) spinning cast routine when going for long distance.

I'll be using this setup in the Salt for redfish. Is there a certain bait dead or preferably alive that will hang on for the ride? Also I find braid to hang up when really trying to sling it a long way on my baitcast reels. It seems like it's digging into the rest of the line on the spool. So braid or mono for distance casting? Thanks for all the info...

Just looked at the Penn 525, nice reels. I didn't even know they had mag casting controls on these big honker reels. So now, which one the Std. Penn 525 or HO 525, it has a hopped up mag control system. Anyone have experience with either one? HO, it's starting to remind me of the Musatng 5.0 days.

Might look at the avet line to. I love my LX and mx, only issue i have is they almost spin TO freely

Check out Cabelas. They have some good informational videos on long casting and sell everything you will need. I always see the video running with some Aussie talking about casting over 2 football fields.

Go post your question in the Rough Fish/Carp section. Those guys, especially Lonestarcarper, regularly cast 300-400 feet and they do it without using very heavy weights. It seems they use 14' rods with large spinning reels and 12 lb line, or something like that.

Kevin
PS: I posted this link in the Rough Fish section. Maybe one of them will reply. The Aussies in the comments above have to be carpers.

Sutton - thanks for the plug...

http://www.casting-jca.org/tom/sport.htm

http://www.anglersnet.co.uk/Carp-Fishing-Articles/long_distance_carping.html