Backing?

[Guest Jeremie]

Now that its winter, creativity has struck me. Could braided spinning line be used as backing for a fly reel? Just curious and bored of the usual orange/white backing. Does anyone do this? And i would assume i should be looking to diamater similar to 20lb backing.

 

 

[Toirtis]

Probably. I have backings on my reels in more than just orange and white...I have chartreuse and yellow, too. Funny that you should post on backing...I recently bought some white 10lb specifically for using in tying articulated streamers,too.

[Guest Jeremie]

I've got some yellow and some older chartreuse. Just looking for something kind of unique and i've seen some cool colored braided lines!

[DonAndersen]

http://www.thefishinhole.com/index.cfm?ima...ECIALSPRODUCTS=

 

I use this stuff.

 

 

Don

[fishpro]

I see nothing wrong with it, just keep in mind that the colour can sometimes leak from the backing and get onto your reel and rod handle.

[EliteFisherman]

i have tried it and it slips alot and is alot more money to fill. when you spool it on make sure its on there tight or you will have problems.

[fishpro]

i have tried it and it slips alot and is alot more money to fill. when you spool it on make sure its on there tight or you will have problems.

 

Also be careful because it can slip no matter how tightly you spool it on. What you need to do is tie the braid onto the spool and then put down a layer or duct tape or electrical tape. The reason is that the braid doesn't stretch and therefore can't cling to the spool.

[monger]

Or tie on 2 ft of regular backing to spool. Then attach backing to braid and fill her up

[KnotLikely]

Using braids/gel spun as backing is quite common, especially for salt water fishing where you tend to need more backing. Gell spun has the advantage of having a smaller diameter for an equivalent strength when compared to typical dacron backing so they're great when you need to cram a ton of backing on a reel that doesn't have much line capacity.

 

Gel spun has the disadvantage of being hard to knot because it's so slick, it will cut through the coating of your fly line, and your fingers. Typically a doubled line like a Bimini twist with twice the number of twists works better when connecting gel spun to a different type of line. Gel spun is also hard to cut; you'll most likely need scissors, as your clippers usually will just flatten the line instead of cutting it. If you don't spool it on tight and evenly it also has a bad habit of burying underneath itself not to mentions it's more expensive.

 

Unless you're having a hard time spooling enough backing onto your reel, it's probably not worth it, especially for trout fishing.