A fishing reel directly measuring line travel (not velocity or acceleration) past two or more points along the line, with said data being fed back in real time to a comparative control loop which initiates a direct contact spool brake to slow or near-instantaneously halt spool rotation in order to maximize casting distance while eliminating backlash under all casting conditions. During the cast, the line length fed from the spool is prevented from exceeding (to the point of backlash) the line length being pulled out from the spool. During a cast in which the lure is suddenly halted (as in the case of the lure striking a structure or object), the system senses control instability and fully halts the spool rotation so that backlash is prevented.