I bought a brand new 7’ Lews Mach Smash spinning combo recently.  From everything I’ve read & been told, it’s one of the better bass spinning rod combos out there around the $100 mark.  I bought it because I broke the rod on my Abu Garcia Jordan Lee 7’ spin combo.  I was expecting the smash to be somewhat as effective as my abu, or even better.
Yet,  I can’t get that lews to make a decent cast.  I got wal mart Shakespeares to cast the same lure even further.  So I put the Jordan Lee reel on my lews rod and it casts like a charm.  I’ve re-spooled my lews reel multiple times with good line, lighter line, … compared casts with different lure sizes, tried everything. Why does this $100 combo reel cast worse than a $20 wal mart combo? Obviously the reel is the problem.  I don’t see any obvious issues with the reel itself so I’m really curious to find out what’s going on with this Mach smash reel.  Is it just a bad reel? Am I missing something? Very frustrating! Anyone else own this combo? If so, How is it working out for you?

Also, I am new to this forum. How do I edit a post? I spelled “Lew’s” wrong in my subject title.  Smh, how can i change it?

Do you have enough line on it, the same as your Abu reel? Not enough line will kill your distance.

I always assumed that I did. But that’s something I’d like to try checking now that you mention it.  The reel size is slightly smaller than the Abu but I have even smaller reels casting same size lures further.  I’m gonna re spool it to its max recommended and try it out. I’ll let ya know what I find. Thanks for your feedback! 

51 minutes ago, ZoomFluke said:

I always assumed that I did. But that’s something I’d like to try checking now that you mention it.  The reel size is slightly smaller than the Abu but I have even smaller reels casting same size lures further.  I’m gonna re spool it to its max recommended and try it out. I’ll let ya know what I find. Thanks for your feedback! 

The 3 buttons at the top right will give you edit

The guide train on spinning rods is critical to casting. Less than optimal guide sizes or spacing will kill casting distance. Spool size to an extent and especially line is also important. Fill spool full to just below the bevel at the spool rim. Lighter, more supple line casts best. Of course the rod must load properly with the weight being cast. The reel itself is actually way down the list of things to blame in this scenario.