I went to the local wharf yesterday evening to have a go at throwing some lures around.  Wasn't expecting to catch anything, just wanted to have a practice and see how it all worked.  Although the distance I cast was improving over the hour or so I was there (it couldn't have got any worse from when I started!) I don't think it was that good.  With a finnor FNS7050 7' rod, OF8500 reel and a 160mm starwalker lure what sort of distance do you think I should be aiming for?

On the plus side, my newly acquired ability to tie FG knots seems to work as I didn't lose anything.

not 100% on how far it is, overcooked it the weekend and cast a brand new cherry pia onto the rocks which did  a fair bit of damage

Definitely back to the wharf for more practice then as I reckon I was only getting about 25m at best.  The Finnor rod is very stiff, would a softer rod help with casting as I also have an ugly stik black tiger, which is a similar length but softer action.  I'll give that one a try next time.  I need to experiment with drop back as I wasn't using much at all, I think I was worried about getting it all tangled up.