How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

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HollowPoint
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How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by HollowPoint »

New Guy Here:

I've read through several of the posts featuring the Hurd Super Caster as the subject matter and for the most part those posting these topics seem to be collectors of one degree or another.

The information I was hoping to find is; how does one actually cast with a Hurd Super Caster. On my specimine I've not figured out if such a thing is even possible. At first glance one might think it's similar to casting a bait-casting reel but those fishing reels have a free-spool that allows for that. On the Super Caster, since the spool is connected directly to the handle, that spinning handle makes it nearly impossible to cast beyond the end of my shoes.

Is there a technique for casting the Super Caster or was the name SuperCaster just a marketing name given to destinquish between this rod/reel combo and others in the Hurd linup of products?

Any insight you guys can impart would be appreciated. By the way, I'm not a collector. I plan on taking mine fishing once I get this thing figured out. :fished

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Low Profile »

Hollowpoint,

I think you may be correct in that most Hurd Supercasters are not in use and are simply collectors items. I have one and it's operation is pretty similar to any other non-free spool bait casting reel from the day. The exception being that the Hurd came equipped with a unique button at the rear of the reel that when pushed acted as a spool brake. In theory this would help prevent backlashing.

In today's world you won't find too many fishermen that can actually cast a non-free spool casting reel. In the day when they were the norm fishermen tended to use heavier wooden lures that could be cast some distance with non-free spool reels. Shortly after the ABU free spool reels hit the market reels like the Hurd and countless others went by the wayside (as far as fishing tools went). Tournament gurus still use non-free spool reels to this day and can achieve impressive distance and accuracy results with them.

Your Hurd will cast but the casting stoke, line choice and optimal lure weight will take some getting used to.

Tx, Low Profile
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john elder
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by john elder »

Yes, that spinning handle can seem quite daunting in this age of reel technology, but that’s How most all casting reels behave prior to the 30s-‘40s , as lowprofile indicated. The heavy lure helps greatly and you want to use braided line, not mono. Also, an important trick is to get that spool as full of line as you can, which effectively increases the arbor diameter and will markedly improve your luck in casting. Load it up and go driveway fishing for a bit. Start with relatively high release (appr 2 o’clock). Let us know how it goes!
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by HollowPoint »

Thank you gentlemen.

I thought this might be the case but I was holding out hope of perhaps finding someone who had actually fished with their Hurd SuperCaster and found a work around for not being able to cast it as well as one would hope; especially with a name like "SuperCaster".

As a side note; I recently bought one of those little novelty "Pen-Reel" fishing rod/reel combos and the same situation exists with that setup as well. I mention it because I've managed to dream up a home made addon do-hickey that allows me to removed the handle via a very small spring loaded latch, cast the line and then immediately re-attach the handle for reeling in. With the handle removed, the spool is more able to free-spin to release line. With this ultra, ultra light "Pen-Reel," this allows me to actually cast the line rather than unspooling it by hand and throwing the bait out into the water.

I figure if I can't perfect a technique for casting this Hurd SuperCaster in its factory configuration I can try retro fitting it with one of these little home made do-hickies just so I can cast it to the opposite shore of the river where I fish. I have plenty of old school heavy lures I can try but I'd like to be able to use some of my more modern lighter weight lures; as well as some of my home made 3D printed lures.

The good thing about such a retro fit is that it is in no way a permanent alteration. It's simply a convenient work around addon I came up with.

Thanks again for your replies gentlemen.

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by john elder »

Load up the spool
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Bill Sonnett »

About 20 years ago I ran into a gentleman who was still fishing with his Hurd Supercaster and claimed it was one of his better reels to fish with. As far as free spool casting reels as opposed to "standard non-free spool" reels. I really don't mean this to be personal but I always suspect that anyone (and I have run into several) who does not know that the overwhelming majority casting reels in everyday use, were not free spool before the Amabassadeur 5000 took off in the late 1950's, must be fairly young (under 60) or did not grow up fishing at every opportunity. Come to my backyard and I will have you casting with a Marhoff or a Pflueger Nobby in short order. -- LOL
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by HollowPoint »

Actually I'll be 62 in a couple of weeks, I own several fishing reels including bait casters. I guess my initial inquiry may have made it look like I'm a fishing reel newbie but I have plenty of wet fishing line under my belt. I've never been a collector of anything. When I acquire something new it's usually meant to be used for it's intended purpose. That includes this little Hurd Super Caster that really doesn't appear to have been designed as a stellar performer in the casting department.

I just prefer fishing reels I can cast that don't come with a learning curve as with this little Hurd Super Caster. As I mentioned in my previous post, I now have that under control via a home-made work around that allows me to cast the Hurd Super Caster with out the spinning handle creating so much drag on the overall cast. What this means is that I can now actually cast it as opposed to fighting it to get the line out into the water to where the fish are.

The two good fellows who initially took the time to reply to my question confirmed what I had suspected about the Super Caster. That's all I really wanted to know. Now I can move on and take it fishing. I have a storage closet where I keep all the fishing equipment like reels, polls and lures that I've worn out over the years. With any luck, now that I'll be retiring soon I'll be able to wear out this Hurd Super Caster as well.

On a completely different note; I happen to come across a remark while I was looking into the Hurd Super Caster that kind of made me wonder. The remark stated something to the effect that the company that made the Hurd Super Caster also used to make Tanks for military back during WWII. It went on to say that when the war ended the Hurd company had to start manufacturing other items like the Super Caster.

According to this blog, the rod portion of the Hurd Super Caster is just a re-purposed tank antenna. Is this true? Have any of your guys ever heard of that?

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by oc1 »

It is not just the spinning handle that puts the brakes on. You also have spinning main and pinion gears and, perhaps most importantly, a worm gear, pawl and levelwind wire running back and forth. Getting rid of the levelwind often has a greater impact than having freespool. I have some reels that give me the same distance whether they are taken out of gear or not. A Langley Target and Shakes 1744 come to mind.
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Bill Sonnett »

A fellow who was a member of the Shakespeare competitive casting team told me they used Marhoffs with the levelwind removed. I have tried to fish with reels with no levelwind but once the fish is on, my mind is too engaged with playing the fish to mind how the line is spooling with the inevitable result that it is piled up on one end of the spool. LOL I do 90% of my fishing with a Pflueger Nobby or a Coxe 25N both with 10 pound test Wexford braided Nylon. In the dark of night I usually use a Pflueger Skilcast as when it is adjusted properly one can wing a Jitterbug way out there in the dark with no worries about a backlash. I prefer using vintage tackle for the same reason many hunt deer with a bow (I also hunt squirrels with a flintlock) that reason is, that for me it is more fun.
I love to get old reels, work on them until they run as smooth as silk and the take them fishing using pre-1960 plugs, mostly surface fishing for Largemouths after dark.
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by oc1 »

If the reel is small enough that you can palm it (get it tucked up into the palm of your hand) then you can use your thumb to lay the line from above. It's comfortable and becomes second nature so you don't have to look. If the reel is larger and you have to lay the line with thumb and forefinger from the front then it becomes uncomfortable and cumbersome.
-steve
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by charleyb »

I still use my dad's Hurd whenever I can, which these days is not often. It is indeed an 'acquired skill' to cast but works well enough once you get the hang of it. This particular Hurd likely has about a million miles of trolling and another half-million miles drift-fishing; mainly in Rice Lake, Ont., out of Bewdley. I use my thumb for back-lash control ('control' being optimistic!) as that's the way I was taught. The drag button is too 'touchy' for my liking.

As far as the tank antennae story, I have always found it interesting, according to the rumors, that they would make a mass produced military item in several lengths and 'actions' (flexible, medium, stiff) as advertised by Hurd. I would think that the concept and/or machinery for forming the antennae were copied/purchased by Hurd after the war and modified for the rods. Hurd was a major lock manufacturer and staff would be well versed in design changes and modifications to products and equipment; disclaimer, I have not seen hard evidence for this, just conjecture on my part.

Regards,
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by HollowPoint »

charleyb wrote:I still use my dad's Hurd whenever I can, which these days is not often. It is indeed an 'acquired skill' to cast but works well enough once you get the hang of it. This particular Hurd likely has about a million miles of trolling and another half-million miles drift-fishing; mainly in Rice Lake, Ont., out of Bewdley. I use my thumb for back-lash control ('control' being optimistic!) as that's the way I was taught. The drag button is too 'touchy' for my liking.

As far as the tank antennae story, I have always found it interesting, according to the rumors, that they would make a mass produced military item in several lengths and 'actions' (flexible, medium, stiff) as advertised by Hurd. I would think that the concept and/or machinery for forming the antennae were copied/purchased by Hurd after the war and modified for the rods. Hurd was a major lock manufacturer and staff would be well versed in design changes and modifications to products and equipment; disclaimer, I have not seen hard evidence for this, just conjecture on my part.

Regards,
Charley

I don't know if that "Tank Antenna" thing is true or not either. I just thought it was kind of interesting. Since this Hurd fishing rod/reel combo seems to be a real conversation starter for alot of the folks I've run into while out and about, every time I've mentioned the "Tank Antenna" thing I've done so with some reservations cause I don't have any reall proof that it's true; however, it certainly sounds plausible. It would be nice to have some confirmation about this so that I'm not just spreading old wives tales.


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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by HollowPoint »

I was going to try to upload a couple of CAD renderings of the fix I came up with for both my Hurd Super Caster and the little novelty Pen-Reel I recently purchased. Both fishing reels are plagued with the same inability to cast any farther than the edge of the shoreline for me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bjxy-F6Hhn- ... umarex_tim
https://www.instagram.com/p/BjxzuC5HXFi ... umarex_tim

I don't know if I'm inserting these image links correctly. I guess I'll find out when I press the "Submit" icon.

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Retired Guy »

I'm resurrecting this Hurd Super Caster post that I started a few years ago.

Since I last posted anything on this forum I changed internet providers and email addresses at least twice over. As a result, I was no longer able to sign onto my old original account.

I reached out to the powers that be here on the Reel Talk forum but, I never got a reply for help to get back into my old account.

It was only after I opened a new account that I heard back from anyone.

I wanted to ask a specific question about the Hurd Super Caster so I can move on to fabricating another "Work-Around" to help me to actually be able to cast this "Super Caster."

My previous user name was "HollowPoint." Because of the new account, my user name is now "Retired Guy." As the name implies, I'm now retired so I have a bit more time to play around with my Hurd Super Caster.

In one of my previous posts I uploaded some CAD renderings of the "Work-Around" I had come up with that would help me be able to cast my Super Caster similar to the way I can cast my more modern bait casting reels.

After having toiled to fabricate that first "Work-Around" attempt, I found it to be far too rickety to use effectively so, I came up with another "Work-Around" in the form of an easily removed and installed (On/Off) handle setup, with a more solid and tighter tolerance set of components that would help me cast my Hurd Super Caster as the name "Super Caster" implies. This new "Work Around" does not permanently alter my Hurd Super Caster reel in any way.

My only hold up now is finding a specific bit of information about the thread pitch of the brass crank-shaft that the little crank-handle is secured to.

Do any of you know what that thread pitch is?

My thread pitch gauges only go as fine as 32 threads per inch. I found that even that fine of a thread pitch was still a bit too coarse.

I tried my metric thread gauges and although they have some much finer thread pitches, none of them matched the factory thread pitch of the Hurd Super Caster's little brass crank-shaft.

Initially I thought it was a 1/4-32 but, that turned out not to be the case. I then discovered that there is such a thing as a 1/4-36 TPI thread pitch. I'm thinking this must be the correct thread pitch but, before I buy an inexpensive tap and die set for this specific thread pitch, I want to make sure that this is actually correct for this little brass crank-shaft.

Can any of you guys confirm this? Is the thread pitch for the little brass crank-shaft on the Hurd Super Caster 1/4 by 36 thread per inch?

Thanks.
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by john elder »

Glad you are back, RG! Re that thread, the best bet is to get a finer thread gauge and measure it. It is worth the few bucks to pick one up if you are going to do more work on this and other early baitcasters, since 32 TPI is about as big as it gets. Most screws will be 36, 40 and 48 TPI, but get a gauge that goes down to 60 TPI and you will be covered. I’m sure you can quickly pick one up on Amazon or Ebay. Sounds like you are missing a nut?

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Retired Guy »

Oddly enough, I was just on the Ebay site just before deciding to check to see if I'd gotten any replies to the thread pitch question.

I had been thinking the same thing as you suggested but, I was also hoping that someone had replied with a confirmation about it being a 1/4-36 thread pitch.

I went over to a local Ace hardware store hoping that they had either thread gauges or screws with that same thread pitch so I could confirm it that way but, they had neither a 1/4-36 thread pitch gauge or screws.

I've already drawn up the CAD models to what I had in mind, and I used some easy to work with aluminum stock I had laying around to fabricate a first prototype components just as a proof of concept.

I'm sure it will work now. I just want to get the correct thread pitch sorted out so I can make my little "Work Around" components made out of steel instead of the overly soft aluminum.

Thanks for the reply.
Last edited by Retired Guy on Thu Nov 16, 2023 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Brian F. »

I reached out to the powers that be here on the Reel Talk forum but, I never got a reply for help to get back into my old account.

It was only after I opened a new account that I heard back from anyone.
Sorry to hear about that. Don't recall getting any message requesting help. If you know the email used for your old account, we can delete it. Pls send it to me in a pm. Welcome back.
Aloha
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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Retired Guy »

Thank you sir:

Since I've now created a new account, all is right with the world again.

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Re: How To Cast A Hurd Super Caster

Post by Retired Guy »

I just wanted to show those who may be interested, the second "Work Around" I came up with in order to be able to actually cast my Hurd Super Caster.

If I can get this CAD rendering to upload properly you'll know exactly what I had in mind. My first attempt at fabricating a type of "Work Around" for getting my Super Caster to cast just didn't have tight enough tolerances and it had far too many tiny components. It had alot of slop in it so it made for a real rickety little crank handle.

I tried casting with it in my back yard but due to the poor fit of that first attempt, I never bothered to take my Super Caster out on the water for some actual fishing.

I had planned on uploading a SolidWorks video file of how all the components fit together but when I tried to upload that video to my Instagram account it wouldn't recognize the video file type.

Once I get the right threading die figured out I'll video record how quickly I can install and remove this new little quick detach reel crank handle. For the time being, this Computer Aided Rendering should give you a good idea what I was shooting for.
https://youtu.be/O8So-ehh1AU
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