Well reading the comments from those who use a casting aid, I will shortly make an investment and try one out. We are never too old to learn and I am happy to give one a go.

I must say I don't have problems when casting and it would be many years since I cut my finger doing so. I will only buy one aid to start off with, this as long casting holds no real appeal, I do very nicely between eighty and a hundred metres from the beach. Then there is the additional problem of telling others I have aids.

I have just put this video on YouTube, it covers an experiment session I had two weeks ago, I was using a head-cam for the first time. The fish I hooked crossed the line on my second rod and the 12 pound braid went through the nylon like a knife through butter.

You are so right about softer rods behaving like spinning rods. In the video you can see this 14ft-6in rod easily absorbing the extra pressure the inshore waves, although small, are putting on the gear. This Okuma rod, sadly no longer available, punches well beyond its weight, I will be very upset the day it finally cries enough.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eSE8rJ4z2A