Is there any reason not to use 30 lb. backing as filler on a spool, rather than 20 lb.? I have several reels that need to be lined up, and also need backing
to get them filled up to a reasonable level. Any thoughts on where to get a big spool of backing at a cheap price?
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Fly Line Backing???
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 bmwmoa67707 |
Fly Line Backing??? |
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Posts: 30 04/04/2009 07:01 |
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Ben Kann |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 184 04/04/2009 07:56 |
bmwmoa67707 wrote:Sure. It shows a lack of character and the trouts won't give you no respect. BTW, If you find a good source, let me know. Ben |
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Aransas |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 133 04/04/2009 08:14 |
I've always used 12 or 20 lb. backing for species up to bonefish. For larger species, a heavier backing is usually desirable. I don't think it
necessary, but I suppose 30 lb backing could be used on a smaller reel. As you stated, it's just a filler. The best price I've found on standard Dacron
backing is at
Bass Pro Shop. It's $15 for a 500 yd spool of 20 lb and $20 for the 30 lb. Good deals can also be found on the big auction site.
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Chartist1 |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 313 04/04/2009 08:27 |
I've gone to gelspun when I needed to squeeze a line on a reel.....Gelspun is thinner than dacron and is rated at 50lb.
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tim simbari |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 342 04/04/2009 13:33 |
If you use 20-30lb spectra you'll never use dacron again. It's thinner, slick so it won't grab on itself and you can line more on a reel for larger
fish. Just learn how to knot it.
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Arctic Grayling.fiberglassflyro... |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 30 04/05/2009 04:50 |
I use the white Cortland Micron 20 pound backing in the 1200 yard spools. The cheapest place that I have found it is from Hook and Hackle. I wish that they
sold the 2500 yard spools.
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gary3594 |
other backing questions | #6 | ||
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Posts: 39 04/05/2009 07:28 |
Another post also mentions Spiderwire. What is Spiderwire? I can't get a sense of it on their website. With gel spun, I understand you have to wind it on
tighter than regular dacron. Can you do this effectively at home, by hand? Also what kind of knots do you need to tie gel spun to reel (I use the albright for
dacron) and gel spun to fly line (now use nail knot for dacron). Any issues with the tighter way the gel spun is lined on the reel causing any warping issues
on reel spools? Is there any brand of gel spun that is better or are they all basically the same with one main manufacturer?
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Chartist1 |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 317 04/05/2009 09:21 |
My local fly shop applied the gel spun with a machine. The guy commented that he does't sell much gel spun as it's generally used for offshore fishing
where tons of backing is needed. Plus the cost is about twice the price of dacron. A nail knot was used to secure the backing to the Phoenix silk line.
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tim simbari |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 343 04/05/2009 13:47 |
gary3594 wrote: Spiderwire is just a brand name...same stuff. All the machine does is line it faster. Ask you guy what you do if a fish takes you into the backing.... bring it back??? |
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dry side |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 43 04/05/2009 14:36 |
I have always prefered to use 30 pound dacron backing. It just fills a spool faster. Backing is mostly for peace of mind anyway. That said, most of my reels
are larger--for the extra weight--and contain lots of backing It may be a contradiction, but it works for me.
Richard |
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gary3594 |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 40 04/05/2009 15:09 |
Like Dry Side, I usually use larger size reels. However, this time, I am going to use a 7WF or 7.7 9GPX) line on Ted Godfrey's Bighorn DT (rated for 6
weight DT and 100 yards backing) and want at least 100yds of backing on. Did anyone have any difficulties with just winding on gel spun by hand ? I plan on
using either 20 or 30lb test.
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mmorris236 |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 287 04/06/2009 08:35 |
I have always used the 30 pound dacron. I fish mostly bass and trout and have only had a fish take the line as far as the backing a very few times, and this is
trout to 10-12 pounds (Rainbows in New Zealand, we caught 8 fish from 8 to 15 pounds. At the end of the day the Guide apologised, he thought it was an OK day
but nothing to write home about. My avatar was easily the smallest fish of the day.) and bass to a little larger. That being said, I am pretty sure the 40 or
60 yards of backing I put on a reel is more than sufficient and dropping diameter simply makes it more work to put on the reel. I don't really fish the
salt, where you can hook up something that would require more than 300 feet of line, but even albacore don't usually take anywhere near that much. Along
that vein, and purely out of curiosity, what is the longest line anyone has had taken out, what species and what size?
On the subject of Spiderwire, I believe that spiderwire is a braid not a gelspun, one of the first on the market. It is popular because it has absolutely NO stretch, if a Bass so much as thinks about your lure 10 feet out, you feel it. Chunking for Cod you can feel the bait touch bottom 300 feet down, its pretty amazing stuff. And yes I have been known to chunk for cod, it is a most tasty fish that I refuse to pay 8.99 a pound for when I live in Masssachusetts. I would use a giant clam strip fly and a 40 weight rod if picking up 300 feet of line for the backcast wasn't so much like work. That being said I would consider the braids to be poor choices for backing, one of the drawbacks of the zero stretch character is that most knots won't hold, and it has a nasty habit of cutting through softer lines it is tied to. It will cut you like a knife as well if you try to pull on it to tighten knots or loosen snags special cutters are sold just for cutting the braid and they are actually needed, normal clippers and knives have a devil of a time cutting it. |
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Battenkiller |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 3 04/06/2009 14:23 |
I like a lot of backing just to fill the reel. I use either a Hardy Featherweight or a Lightweight and you don't get much line to each crank of the
handle. I'm not working a fish off a small diameter after a long cast or a relatively short run. That's the main reason I use WF lines on them as
well. I'd go to a large arbor, but I'm accustomed to the sweet song a Hardy sings.
30# just goes on faster and I've never been spooled by a trout, so extra length is not needed. With a DT line I would probably go down to 20# just for the mental security. Another thing. I have had an occasion where the backing jammed when a big fish pulled hard and suddenly. Supposedly, the larger diameter line won't jam as readily, so that's another good reason I guess. |
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Marty |
#13 | |||
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Posts: 111 04/06/2009 15:04 |
I lived on the beach when I worked in FL. I made the only graphite rod purchase in last many years when I moved there a winston 9' 8wt and an abel super 8 that holds 300 yds of backing. Lots of snook, sea trout, ladyfish, redfish, an occasional baby tarpon, and seasonal mackrel. Lots of fun but not often much into backing as mmorris noted. But I was out at daylight and saw a long thin dark shape cruising cast my streamer over ...it was a sailfish not big as the species go but he took me all the way down to the spool. I didn't have the sense to put final brakes on with a few turns of backing on reel. In freshwater I have had some salmon go into backing but none 100yds and very few 50yds (of course I try to walk and follow) I caught a striper in with the white bass run on my 7wt granger a few weeks ago good sized but not giant fish and he took me just barely into backing several times but no more than a few yards. All in all I have to agree that backing is seldom a big need as long as you have some. Of course like a life jacket if you need it you need it badly. Even if it never sees the light of day I always use as much backing as will fit.......I guess that by our nature as fly fishers we are optimists and expect to need backing and have our knots tested to the max even if it may be unlikely......... I often catch myself holding my breath even in the brookie streams in the mountains when casting to a deep lie that is likely to hold the "big one" even if he is 14" vs the average 4"-8" optimism (and the attendant preparation for "the big one") is a natural part of our sport. Life is too short for cheap scotch and plastic rods.
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tim simbari |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 346 04/06/2009 20:26 |
Most of the guys I fish with switched over to this stuff a few years back but initially for the salt. After years of Andros bonefish with a Billy Pate, I went
to a Super 8 when they came out. You will get 100-200 feet of backing out with regularity. The stuff is great backing, as stated , as long as your carefull
about your knots. While few trout will test it like a bonefish, jack or cuda I think one of the biggest reasons it's great backing is that it has no
tendancy to catch on itself on the spool and it flows out without any tendency to "snatch" and pop a tippet. Lastly, even though a trout will rarely
get out much backing if you're using something like an Able or Charlton reel, if you are someplace like the Missouri and a decent fish is out in the
current or you add about 5lbs. of weeds then that backing comes in real handy.
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Bud.fiberglassflyro... |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 22 04/08/2009 01:04 |
Bulldog turned me on to Ice fishing tip up line and I have not used anything since.....it fills a reel nicely and is teflon impregnated so it doesn't
absorb water. I use 30 pound to fill the reel faster....just my 2 cents.
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bmwmoa67707 |
#16 | |||
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Posts: 33 04/09/2009 10:01 |
That sounds like a great idea! Where do you get it and what brand have you found to work the best....thank, steve
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cyangler |
20lb Avg Standard Backing | #17 | ||
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Posts: 72 04/29/2009 01:30 |
This seems good whether from Cortland or whomever. It is more than needed in terms of strength, generally speaking for fresh water species but, is thick enough
not to dig into itself and cause a sputter when you are at risk of breaking ones tippet. Far likelier possibility than breaking ones backing. Actually, I use
12lb mostly for species up to Bones, same as earlier post. But, I will put on whatever test is required in whatever amount to get the fly line out to within a
reasonable distance from the lip of the spool.
Frankly, I'm more concerned with jamming the line against the frame when reeling in during the heat of play only to find I have been bundling it in the center of the spool. Spiderwire is thinner for its designated test so one needs to go up to 30lb or even 50lb (about same dia as 20 or 30 Cort) to avoid the problem of it digging into what's spooled beneath it (whether more Spider or another backing) and sputtering. 20lb Spider seems to me, though I haven't taken a mic to it, just a tad thinner than 12lb standard so, may be a good choice for small reels designed for 1, 2, and 3 weight lines, if you think you may have a chance at playing a larger fish where you can't play it with the backbone in your rod. The other thing to remember about it, the thinner test Spider lines are like piano wire, as noted earlier, and one can get a bad slicing with these. Knots in the heavier gauge will hold if snugged tight but, with the heavier test this can be done effectively and without inflicting injury to ones self. I use it sometimes with standard backing in three-color color code if I have run out of the more traditional white, yellow, or orange, as Spider comes in forest green. Occasionally I use the color coded system so that I am aware that I have just gone too far into my backing and am not properly playing my challenger. It tells me, "Hurry up, you're not having tea with this fish." Mostly, I have used the two or three color system on few spools - - - then, primarily, just because I think it looks cool on the reel. Reality check - - - nah, I rarely get into the backing.
Last Edited By: cyangler 04/29/2009 01:42.
Edited 1 time.
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cebfishing |
#18 | |||
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Posts: 509 04/29/2009 22:50 |
I just checked and I have a box of Berkley Braided Dacron. It is 30lb, so must be on some of the reels I have filled my self. Last two reels I bought have
backing added at the store along with the fly line. Dacron was $5.59 for 125 yards at Fleet Farm, but who knows when?
Chuck |
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cyangler |
Back When Backing Was Flyline | #19 | ||
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Posts: 73 05/01/2009 22:37 |
One of my fishin' Buds just won a bid on a lot for (I'll keep it an undisclosed amount). Inside there were all sorts of gems. In great shape. One being an old brass reel in top condition about the diameter of a silver dollar. It got me to thinking. Cy |
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trouting |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 364 05/02/2009 21:42 |
I have had the same experience as LEO, but with the thin gelspun, and hove consequently sworn off it. (If you search you will find at least one post on this
subject). I'd go with 20# dacron.
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- Members Corner
- Forum Announcements
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- Rod making, restoration, repairs and discussion on those related topics concerning bamboo rods.
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