Bait caster beginner

So I have been learning how to use a bait caster since the beginning of March and I got the basics pretty nicely. I was on a 6ft rod with a pistol grip in March and I decided to get a different rod that I was able to use 2 hands with. My dad gave me a rod that he never used for anything; an 8ft Berkeley lightning rod. I figured that I would be able to cast out farther than I would with my last rod (while I was casting out farther than I would without a bait caster it wasn't going out far enough to get any good fish). But now with this Berkeley rod I can't even cast the same distance that I could get with my last rod without the reel bird nesting. I've been side casting with a roll before I start the cast (which is what I've done before) but I can't get the same distance with this rod as the one I had before. Any tips to help out??