My brother picked one of these combos for pretty cheap at Fleet Farm and was wondering what line you'd spool it with? He originally put some 20lb Sufix braid on it but I couldn't get it to cast 1/2 ounce sized lures anywhere (compared to how well I can throw them on spinning reels). My experience with baitcasters is for the large muskie baits (thus heavy line). Which line will give him better distance? Because I know with the brake all the way loosened it should get better distance (a check with a muskie topwater indeed revealed it is possible to cast a mile on that reel, nothing mechanically wrong with it).

He should be able to do fine with the 20 lb braid.. Keep in mind, casting distance is more the rod than the reel in my opinion. And also the person using it. A half oz lure should be no problem.

I would say with a 1/2 oz lure and 10 lb mono.. I can cast a baitcaster farther than a spinning rod of equal everything.

Do I smell a casting contest???

No, seriously, I would agree with Dietz there.

There maybe an overloaded with reel grease and that's somehow possibly slowing the bearings.

Two things on reel that can be adjusted for casting distance. The brakes and the cast control knob (clutch). On my cheapo Shimano Coriolis 100E there's not much room for adjusting. There's good line management and then there's backlash.

I guess I'll play around with it more. Buying it as a combo it doesn't have any disassembly instructions so taking it apart isn't something I wanted to do right away. The line wasn't wasted though, just pulled off that straight onto another rod. The rod is a cheap 7 ft MH IM-6, so it should have ok casting distance. Like I said the closest thing I have to it is a 6501c3 (and he's never used a baitcaster), so low profile is new territory.