I would like to say that your line is too heavy but I don't know where you fish.
If you are fishing a place with very strong currents, big rocks and a small area where you have to control a fish, those are good set ups. You have to control the fish or they will pop your line.
If you aren't fishing an area like this, you can go with lighter line.
Most every reel out there is Fireline Friendly. If the reels you have are balanced to the rods, then the lines I suggest should work on them. If I were you, I would drop some change on Fireline. It's a very userfriendly superline. It's not a true braid like Whiplash but it is very good.
If you are in an area where control is neccessary, on the bait rod, I would put 30/12 Fireline. I've never used that strength but Mike P says it softens up overtime. If you are in an open area where you can play a fish, go with 20/8 Fireline. I'm using this stuff now and it's fantastic.
For the smaller rod for lures, if you are in the area that needs control, go with 20/8 Fireline. If you don't need the control, go with 14/6. I've used the 14/6 and it's great. I have it on my smaller reel.
The key to long casts is letting the rod do the work for you. If you use lures in the area of the rod specs, you will get more distance and will last a lot longer than if you work against the rod.
The rest of the guys on here summed it up beautifully.
You know what we need to do? A lot of golf centers have cameras that see these sensors on the club and the golfer's body and sends it to a computer. You know, so they can look at the trouble areas of their swing. We need to get a golf club to let us borrow their machine.
Practice makes perfect. Every person has a different style so practice practice practice until you feel the cast is right.