Seems this went from a reel question to casting techniques. There is a great book by the cast master himself, 5 time national casting champion and major competitor, Ron Arra. The title is called the ultimate guide to surfcasting copyright 2001. He has modified the pendulum cast that was mastered by John Holden. The work of these 2 men should be read by us all, they cast on average 750 feet!!!!
Now to change the subject to tackle:
Daiwa Emblem class reels are excellent, so are the Abu Garcia Ambassadeur 6500 c3 ct mag and the level wind version 6500c3 mag, 6500 c3 ct Blue Yonder. These are all top notch distance casting reels.
Poles.....I agree that a 10' pole is probably going to work better than a bulky 12'. Lamiglass poles are realy good, and also slow to the scene are the inline poles, which are guidless. Daiwa makes one that I own which is actualy almost rifled inside and helps to shoot the line out.
all in all it is form and technique, I practice at the local high school field or at the beach when I can over the winter,(depends on the wheather), we can all improve casting form. Practice, practice, practice!!!!
Line....Berkley trilene XL for mainline and usualy berkley big game for my leader 30-50 # test twice the length of the pole!!! Thats right twice the length of the pole and enough to fit around the reel like 2-3 times (no snap offs!!! and you can realy, realy load the rod). Also many people do not establish a long enogh drop length to load the pole.
For distance casting your shock leader should be 10x the lure or sinker weight, ie 2oz lure= 20# leader (minimum) 3oz = 30# test leader etc....
There is just to much good stuff about fishing to talk about, (and buy!!!) lol!!!
Tight lines,
Mike