All that concerns me in a fishing reel is reasonable performance and build quality, sensible price and decent after-sales service. Unfair and narrow minded as it may be, I also prefer to stick with the long established brands. Abu, Daiwa and Shimano, basically. Other reels are probably just as good.

Like practical beach fishing itself, this piece has nothing to do with tournament casting, advanced reel tuning and custom conversions. I make the point not because I’m anti-technology but because I hear from so many fishermen who can’t see the wood for the trees.

A guy emailed me just last night: “I cast about 120yd. I’ve just fitted ceramic spool bearings and they make no difference. Do I need to use special oil as well?” Another one: “My CT backlashes almost every cast even with the biggest brake blocks. Should I get a magnetic reel?”

Given that hardly anyone can fish at 150m, why are we so hypnotised by reel technology – or rod technology, come to that? You can cast a long way comfortably and consistently with something like an ancient Penn Surfmaster 100 tamed by nothing more sophisticated than a drop of gearbox oil.

So many fishermen spend a fortune on all the latest gear in the forlorn hope of gaining another 20 yards. They would do far better to stick with the old kit and invest in a few casting lessons. And by the way, 99 per cent of reel tuning problems disappear as soon as a caster’s skill improves. Fluidity of technique is the most effective spool controller of them all.

Good casting is all about understanding a few key steps, then making the commitment to master them. At which point I hand you over to Peter Thain, who’s just published another gem about improving your casting. This time he spells out some key basics.

Meanwhile, I’ll order myself another 7HT, stick in one brake block, and soldier on happily for the next ten years.

I see no point using expensive rigs to fish dirty ground. Come to that, do complicated rigs armed with all the lastest technical wizardry actually catch that many more fish anyway? I’m not convinced.

This time of year when I fish areas so snaggy that losses are high, I use this set-up. The lead is a home-moulded 150g or 170g bomb with a single tail wire. Some have swivelling anchor wires. I used to form a ring in the wire for leader attachment, but now I simply bend the wire back on itself into an upturned “U”. The free end of wire is then bent into a bait clip.

The hook length is fixed to the leader with a clip made from about 50mm of 16swg wire. One end is formed into a closed ring of about 3mm diameter. The other end is folded over into a tight “U”. The stalk between the two ends is about 25mm long.

The closed ring slides on to the leader and is fixed by wrapping the leader three or four times around the wire stalk. The little “U” traps the leader and stops it from unwinding. The hook length is tied to the closed ring. Thus, the baited hook – and with any luck a fish as well – will stay connected even if the clip slides along the leader under pressure.

Lastly, I thread a piece of rubber tube on to the leader, tie the lead on, then pull the tube over the knot for protection. Made in 16swg stainless steel, the “U” withstands a pull of more than 200lb, so casting strength is not an issue.

If the baited hook doesn’t align properly with the baitclip on the lead, adjust the top clip up or down the leader as necessary.

I scrounge bits of old lead. A one-kilo roll of stainless steel wire cost me under a tenner about 15 years ago, and there’s still plenty left. Which means the entire rig is worth less than 20p including a good quality hook. Tight-fisted, or what!

 His other articles on casting are equally good, so I suggest you bookmark the site and keep going back there.

CLICK ON THE ARROW to hear my interview with Terry Carroll:

Frozen half to death during a Sea Angler photo shoot at Walton on Naze, I dragged myself into Richard Holgate’s tackle shop to scrounge a cup of tea and to have a snout at what’s new in the Meta-lite custom rod range. Richard’s latest creation is due to hit the scene when a few details have been finalised. This new beast, as yet unnamed, will join the range of superlative fishing and casting rods that includes the evergreen Flick Tip NG and the big-hitting Storm. More about this latest toy when I’ve had chance to try it.

Meanwhile, for anyone with a dog-eared but otherwise healthy rod that needs sprucing up after a few hard seasons, Richard’s rebuild service could be worth a look. Quality blanks last a long, long time. Some may soften a little after years of belting out big leads, but even they remain perfectly serviceable for decades. Being thrashed often makes a fast and powerful rod more user friendly anyway – yet another good reason to grab any old Zziplex, Conoflex or Century that might come your way. For no matter how old and tatty it is, almost all these rods are worth bringing back to life.

At £100 all in, the rebuild alone is fair value for money. The icing on the cake is that the rod will be picked up from and returned to its owner at no extra charge. With courier fees unlikely to be less than £15 each way, this makes Richard’s deal particularly tempting, especially for fishermen without a local custom builder to call upon.

More details at Meta-lite Rods.

Apart from the joy of picking up a classic for peanuts at a boot sale or in some tackle dealer’s secondhand rack, there’s a real prospect of getting hold of what could prove to be the finest rod you’ll ever use.

What’s so special about old-timers such as the Zziplex GS series, Conoflex 240T, the occasional veteran Daiwa and Penn, and even the daddy of them all the Abu 464? In a word, usability.

Back then, fishing and tournament rods and methods were more closely aligned than they are now. Many of us used the same rod for fishing and field work. And with minor adjustments, we used the same pendulum style – the style known as the fishing pendulum in contrast to the flat pendulum methods now dominant in competition.

I don’t want to go into the pros and cons of pendulum styles except to point out that excellence with the modern flat style usually requires a long and very stiff rod. This is exactly the kind of casting style and the design of rod that the average guy on the beach struggles to master.

The fishing pendulum cast – like the majority of us beach fishermen – does best with a less savage rod. Nice tip, fairly stiff butt and a progressive middle section; a maximum of 13ft 6in long; speed and stiffness balanced for smooth delivery of 150-170g leads and baits across a broad band of distances. That’s why 1980′s golden oldies in particular continue to be such wonderful fishing weapons. Of course there are modern rods that measure up. Trouble is, they’re often lost in a forest of lesser products where the emphasis is on marketing hype and designer bling rather than on solid, appropriate engineering.

After years of playing around with all kinds of braided lines, my opinions remain split. Extremely low diameter compared to nylon of the same breaking strain is a telling factor for fishing in fast, deep water – hence braid’s popularity in boat fishing.

Owing to minimal stretch and the way these super-lines transmit the tiniest of vibrations, braid is excellent for bass fishing with plugs and spinners. You can feel every nuance of a lure’s action. Bite and fight are way superior to anything experienced on ordinary line.

But for everyday beach fishing, braid gives me serious issues. First off, the price. On almost every beach I fish regularly, losing tackle is part of the game. Pulling for a break is expensive enough as it is. Bearing in mind that one reelful of braid costs as much as a bulk spool of mono that lasts me a whole season, here’s one expense I’m not prepared to accept.

I don’t mind admitting that I find braided lines of around 20lb breaking strain – indeed any ultra-thin line – difficult to cast from a multiplier unless the spool is damped with big brake blocks or maximum magnets. On the bright side, though, braid’s low diameter certainly boosts distances.

Thicker braids are easier to handle on multipliers, though they seem rather prone to scorching. On the other hand, the breaking strain of these more multiplier-friendly braids is pointlessly high unless you are cranking conger and big rays up the side of a cliff. Bear in mind that 35lb-odd line used hard on a small CT will soon find any shortcomings in the gears and drag washers.

Casting thin braid from a fixed spool is lovely… until the inevitable web of twisted line comes off the spool. Here’s another key difference between everyday beach casting and, say, lure work at short range. You can usually unpick a tangle when you’re bassing. But the web of line flying off a beach reel takes no prisoners. Definitely a snap-off. Maybe ring damage as well.

On balance, then, the sensible plan is to proceed with caution for routine surfcasting. But if you’re into lures and other short-range work, treat yourself to a spool of braid. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

Of the fourteen who had planned to come, six got lost on the way and failed to turn up. One of them somehow confused Essex with Kent, and motored down the M2 to Dover instead of sticking to the M25. Fed up with driving, he booked into a B&B and went out for a few drinks, eventually stumbling into “a hell of a nice nightclub with a bird’s eye view across the harbour”. After a few Stellas, he noticed that the harbour lights had disappeared. No worries. Time for a nap anyway. He woke up in Calais, where he discovered that the nice nightclub was the bar of a cross-Channel ferry.

Of the remaining members, five had wanted to come but weren’t allowed out by themselves. Which left three who turned up to cast, of whom:

One had forgotten to bring his rod.

One was disqualified for stepping over the oche. Actually, it was the front leg of his Zimmer frame that crossed the line.

The last old boy made a pretty fair throw, ending up in the classic tournament caster’s semi-crouch. He stayed frozen like that. His daughter went over. She came back shaking her head. “Dad’s had a little accident. He’ll have to go home and change.”

Today’s casting lesson: Quit while you’re ahead… and never go back.

The cast control on standard fishing reels usually contains an array of tiny magnets. Since most CT multipliers are adapted from baitcasting reels, the braking force even at minimum setting tends to be heavy-handed for beach fishing. Contrary to common sense, a spool casting light plugs and lures relatively short distances usually needs heavier braking control than the same spool throwing a heavy chunk of lead vast distances.

The first step in tuning a mag-controlled CT is to remove a few of the magnets in the array. Taking half of them out usually speeds up the reel enough yet retains enough braking to keep you out of trouble. For more performance, the next step is to replace the array with a single magnet. Not so along ago, this was an home engineering project unless you owned a reel such as the Penn 525 “T”, one of the few production reels with a tournament-grade magnetic system.

These days you can buy a custom brake for DIY fitting to most CT multipliers, or have the reel worked on by a tuning expert, or even buy a reel such as the magnificent Rocket Reel F1 which is designed with all-out casting in mind. However you do it, you’ll end up with a quick reel – probably way too quick for everyday beach work. To be more exact, you’ll have trouble finding the right screw setting for reliable results at the low end. Such is the nature of single magnet controllers that a fraction of a turn can switch the reel from friendly to fierce.

I don’t like messing about with reel adjustments while I’m fishing. With an add-on single-magnet system such as the Barbones sideplate conversion, it’s easy to dial in a little more brake when, for example, I’m casting a big bait into the wind. For sure, it’s more convenient to turn a magnet screw than to strip the reel and add a bigger block. But what I find difficult with single magnets is going back to the safe minimum setting when conditions improve.

It seemed to me that some kind of speed limiter would help, so that the reel would stay fairly safe even if I accidentally wound the magnet screw a little too far out. The obvious answer was to put one small brake block into the reel’s centrifugal brake. With that installed, it doesn’t matter how far I back off the magnet; that little block is my safety net.

For field casting, the block comes out again. Now the spool is free to spin as fast as I want it to go – right into the danger zone if necessary. I also put a couple of paint dots on the controller as a reference point. In my case, it’s the lowest magnet setting I find reasonably reliable for field casting without baits. This is my starting point for messing around with different tackle set-ups, and means I can easily go back to my baseline if things go wrong.

Most fishermen are not and never will be expert casters. It’s not because they are lazy or defeatist. They are simply being realistic. Their only aim is to cast well enough to put baits into fishy territory. Without the time or patience to master a pendulum style, they’re looking for a quick, straightforward solution.

The Easy Cast does exactly what it says on tin: it blends a simple set-up and natural body action with a sweet, forgiving nature. Of all the ways to cast, it is the most tolerant of operator error and tackle mismatch. Get the basics somewhere about right, and a few practice sessions should have you fishing around the 100m mark.

Despite all the advances in beach tackle and casting methods, few fishermen using the old overhead style – or worse yet a half-baked pendulum cast – can throw a bait that far. In other words, simple off-ground casting with basic kit doesn’t mean second rate results. Given a little bit of effort, fishing at 125m is a realistic aim. For the handful of fishermen willing to commit to the necessary practice, an Easy Cast with a generous layout and plenty of body rotation is good for 175m or more over grass. Tournament casters can push it a lot farther than that.

Regardless of its potential, the Easy Cast is at its best as an all-round fishing method that demands nothing special in the way of tackle. Its simplicity and practicality attract more and more surf fishermen worldwide.

If you have been put off trying it because of the style’s alleged failure to cast from anything less than flat, clean sand, or to work with clipped-down rigs, then relax. Like any off-ground method using a long rod arc, the extended form of an Easy Cast, like the South African style, does need a clean runway for the sinker. But in the everyday fishing set-up with the leader angled under the rod, the rig does not drag along the ground. Lift-off is clean and instantaneous even with Breakaway leads. As a bonus, you can cast from beaches so steep that pendulum casting is impossible.

Using clipped-down rigs is a pain at first because the hook disconnects from the bait clip when you lay the cast out. The answer is to make sure that the leader never falls slack while the rig is on the ground. Easier said than done, you might think. Not so. But yes, there is a trick to it.

There’s a hidden benefit as well. The Easy Cast is built on the same solid foundations that underpin advanced methods such as pendulum. So the really good news is that, should you ever wish to, converting from an Easy Cast to a big swing should be a reasonably smooth journey.

There are a couple of Easy Cast video clips on my YouTube Channel that might help you.