Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[YY]

I am setting up my new 8wt setup. I got a Pflueger Trion 1978 reel and Rio Versitip. In terms of backing what should I look for? 20lb, 30lb Dacron? Some spool the reel with braided lines, such as Tuff or Power Pro. Any experience and recommendation?

[newsman]

I prefer 30lb but 20 is good too. Can't say much about braided because I have never tried it, but I can say my freinds who use it are quite happy with it. My advice is don't get sucked into spending more money on the colored or designer stuff (it is all the same product). The reel conserns are your knot between your fly line and backing. Check it often! Also that your backing is strong enough, fly line has allot of drag. Combine that drag with currents and you put allot of stress on your backing. Over the years, I have personally lost one fly line due to using backing that was not strong enough and two more line due to knot failure.

[Spudcote]

Go for braid, but like newsman said, don't get sucked into designer stuff.  Go into any tackle store and they should have bulk spools of line to use as backing. It has a larger diameter than plain braid (tuffline, fireline, etc) to fill up the often wide diameter spools. The knot is very important connecting the backing to the fly line.

[Steelhead King]

i say go for gel spund or bradied line, tinner diameter and stronger speically for saltwater game.  As for knot goes, i will use a "Albright" knot and leave a longer tag end, and put 2 nail knot at the end for safty.

[mojoman]

hmmmm...2 shops here will add backing free when u purchase fly lines from their store...)


mojo cheap bastard

[Steelhead King]

i usually do, if the guy come and buy a rod, reel and line combo....

[YY]

Is there a difference in putting on TUF or fireline? I notice that the fireline is quite a bit more $$$ per yard than TUF. IF there's no difference, then I would simply go with TUF.

[Steelhead King]

I say fireline is too stiff to use as a backing.. i would go for Tuff line...

[RalphH]

If your reel will hold 150 yards of 30lb braided dacron plus the line- that's what you should use. One hundred yards of backing is sufficient for most salmon and steelhead. The extra 50 yards is insurance. Gel spun lines are recommended when you need to get extra backing on the reel and the reel will not accomodate a sufficient amount of dacron for the intended prupose. Locally the best reason is for suffcient backing behind a speyline or some large arbor designs.

 Use a heavy # gelspun, no lighter than 50lbs preferably 65lb. Go for the teflon coated gelspun like Powerpro or Tuffline XP. These are less likely to cut your hands.

Gel spuns shouldn't be attached to the back of the line via a knot. Either use a loop to loop system (bimini twist in the braid and a kevlar connection on the fly line) or a braided sleeve connections. Most other knots (ie the nail knot) will simply bite straight through the fly line. Good bye line and good bye fish.

I hope you find these comments useful.

[Steelhead King]

Ralph, it actually recommanded by the factory to use a Albright knot to attach fly line when using gelspun backing.  It is great to use bimmini to loop on to the fly line when using dacron because it is thinker in diameter so it would not cut the line as easy but on the other hand, gelspun's diameter is too thin, and it will dig into the loop when tension applied and end up cutting it.  By using Albright knot, it gives the line an extra layer of cusion becuase you actually double the fly line. Plus, if too much tension applied to the fly line the end result will only cut/ stripe the coating but not cutting the core.   As you also mention about using kevlar loop, those thing are so big and stiff, if the fish is running fast to the backing like a tarpon, you can actually bust the guide insert even on some of the new fly line that came with a pre formed loop.

one other thing,the reason to use gelspun is to use the same breaking stregth backing but thinner diameter so you can store more backing. If you use 50 or 65 lb gelspun, its almost the same diameter as the 30lb dacron then why bother to use gelspun. Unless you want a heavier backing thats a different story but still, most fly line core is about 35lb and most class tippet is 20lb. In other word, your rod will snap first before the line. And if the fish is running that fast, that going to cut your hand, that whats the drag on the reels for.  goodluck fishing

[DionJL]

<<<<<<<Buy a reel and line here and you'll get free backing. As for a knot i use a Bimini Twist for 7wt+. For sure wont break or come loose and if you need to change lines you can do it without a nail knot tool, Just a loop to loop connection.

[RalphH]

well I don't want to get into an argument. My recommendatoins are based on experience and the advice of a couple of shop owners I know well. I don't use an allbright knot, only loop to loop. Some folks I know tie a biminin in the gel spun and then tie a albright using the doubled backing produced by the bimini. They do not trust the albright alone. I have never had a problem with a braided loop connection. I use Power pro 50# for backing on a couple of reels. It is significantly thinner than  20# dacron let alone 30#. On a spey outfit I got over 200 yards behind a DT10 vs about 130 yards for 30# dacron.

As the saying goes your miles may vary. Take care.