My castings improve over the last 6 or so months slightly. But I wouldn't mind a few more tips etc on how to increase distance 

The otg cast is the basis of all power casts.

Dave Mewburn has recorded casts over 250m with otg casts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y9kDRKIr6jA

The Hatteras Cast

Will this be purely for distance? or will it be for distance with bait?

Both- On the field we do Distance and accuracy casting, 

Question Time- 

Good idea for the forum.Would be a useful addition.

I swear by Tapered leaders, If using a fixed spool  with the right knot they preform alot better, the ones I use are UK casting std length 13 meters so no need to cut them down. on a free spool I also use them and again I find they are very good on the guilds as you dont get the knot catching on the smaller guilds, some guys use a standard shock leader that wraps around the spool 2-3 times as well. Personal I think we need to take on the UK Casting Stds in NZ so it keeps all people on the same playing field - I will post more info on this

Casting plugs from the shore

check out this short vid of Danny Moeskops doing a pendulum cast. He has a very distinctive stance when he starts his cast where he is almost bowing. I'm guessing this is not text book style. Must work though as he is the current world record holder with a distance of 280+ m.