# Question?



## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

The thought occurred to me today, is there any specific reason that we use braided Dacron for fly line backing when 20lb braided Dacron is significantly thicker than 20lb super-braid (power pro, spider wire, etc.)? It seems to me that since the purpose of backing is to increase line capacity, it would make more sense to use the thinner line.....just a thought, I may be completely out in left field on this tho. Does anyone have any insight on this?


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## 621Clay (Aug 9, 2011)

Not a bad idea, Only thing i can think is contact with the other line while wet handed it may slice into your hand easier.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

True, but that's an issue I deal with on a fairly regular basis with braid on my bait casters and spinning rigs, as long as your careful it doesn't really cause many problems


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## h_soape (Apr 9, 2006)

I can't remember where but I saw some guys talking about doing this. Powerpro or others is basically the same as using a gel spun backing. 

Correct sized reels for saltwater will hold alot of line. Ie. 200 yds 20lb backing and 100 ft of 8wt line. Thats 700 feet of line. 

What I understand (have no experience in this department) where gel spun becomes very important is in the blue water. Not as much because of added capacity as lower drag in the water.


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## HillCountryBasser (Aug 26, 2008)

I use braided line as backing on all my fly reels...more specifically the Suffix braid in blaze orange. I would use PowerPro because I could save a couple bucks, but I prefer the orange color.


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## Meadowlark (Jul 19, 2008)

PowerPro works great for me... but my use is mostly inshore and the flats in the salt and the usual freshwater fishing.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

The reason I ask is I have a large arbor reel with a great drag, and very smooth retrieve, it's just that the capacity is a little below what I prefer, so I was thinking that using braid to increase the capacity by reducing line diameter might be something worth my wile


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm only going to be using it for inshore/flats, and freshwater as well


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## h_soape (Apr 9, 2006)

what kind of reel do you have?


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

Almost all offshore flyfishermen use braid for the reasons already stated- more capacity, and less drag in the water. When a king peels off 200 yards of line, that's a lot of line drag in the water.

You have to be careful that you pack it very tight on the reel so that it doesn't "dig in" and snag on a strong run. Also many knots which inshore fishermen are used to will just not work with braid. 

I have an Abel super 16 with fly line, backed by 100 yards of mono (for a shock absorber), and then I think somewhere in the neighborhood of 700 yards of 50# braid. It's for that yellowfin tuna I hope one day to catch.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

The reel I'm referring to is one of the bass pro house brand large arbor reels, I'm friends with the fly shop manager and he recomended it.....as far as knots go, I should be ok, I can tie a Bimini twist, spider hitch, yucatan, among others, if I can't manage with those I may be in trouble


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## h_soape (Apr 9, 2006)

Sounds like the Osprey reel. You should be able to get 150+ yards of 20lb dacron on it. There isn't any reason really to put power pro on it unless you just want to. Those are good reels for the price point.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

It's a little smaller than the Osprey reels, but it's still a great reel for the price, I really like it


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## IXP Rods (Jul 13, 2010)

What weight reel are we talking about here?


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

I'm not entirely sure what you mean by weight, it's made for use with an 8wt rod if that helps


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## PL (Sep 28, 2011)

I've got 65 power pro on my big reels (12 wt and up), and either 30 gelspun or 20 or 30 dacron on everything else. The power pro is overkill and on the smaller reels and will *bleed* the color of the PP onto the fly line over time. Especially watch out for the red PP, it seems to bleed more for whatever reason. The 65 on offshore and tarpon setups can be deadly for big fish fighting, but its important to have some sort of mono buffer between the line and PP because it has zero stretch.


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## IXP Rods (Jul 13, 2010)

Anything more than 150 yards for an 8wt is going to be overkill IMO. Your typical baitcaster/spinning reel for inshore fishing is only going to hold 150/180 yards max. If you need more backing than that, you need to move a weight or two up to more efficiently recover bigger fish. PL's right; the color will bleed onto your flyline, case, etc. There are other dacron products like Micron which will help with a higher capacity. Even with 200 yards of 20lb PP, you've kinda ruined the point of a large arbor and that's line recovery. Smaller diameter = smaller circumference and less line recovery per revolution.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

It's still a much higher retrieval rate than a standard arbor reel.....the question was more just a general over all question, I'm not really looking to fit more than 100 yards of backing on my reel, it was just something that came to mind


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

But thanks for the heads up on the color bleeding on the PP, I was looking at the hi vis yellow myself, makes it a little easier to see


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## Coconut Groves (Nov 2, 2011)

There are pro and cons for sure, the main con being that if not put on correctly, braid can slice through the line beneath it and bind up. That's the last thing you want to happen while you are fighting a fish. I had borrowed a reel once and had this happen while fighting a permit - the guide was yelling at me to quit f'in around or I'd lose the permit, but it was the braid binding up. Luckily I just kept feeding the fish line when it happened and ended up landing it, but I got rid of that backing when I got home.

I agree that anything 150 yards on an 8 is not needed most of the time, but it does come in handy. I've caught permit on the 8 where it felt good having that extra line. I've also caught false albacore on an 8 where I definitely needed it. It's better to have too much than too little.

On my 12 weight, I always run piece of mono in my leader as a shock absorber for tarpon. The butt and class are nearly always mono with flouro on the tippet. Since braid is not forgiving, the mono gives the fish a little wiggle room that is needed. I'm going to start using mono butts for permit this year as well.


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## robdog (May 10, 2006)

I use yellow FINS on my fly reels. 50 lbs on my 10-11 surf rod and 30 on my 7-8.


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## THE JAMMER (Aug 1, 2005)

_I agree that anything 150 yards on an 8 is not needed most of the time, but it does come in handy. I've caught permit on the 8 where it felt good having that extra line. I've also caught false albacore on an 8 where I definitely needed it. It's better to have too much than too little._

_On my 12 weight, I always run piece of mono in my leader as a shock absorber for tarpon. The butt and class are nearly always mono with flouro on the tippet. Since braid is not forgiving, the mono gives the fish a little wiggle room that is needed. I'm going to start using mono butts for permit this year as well. _


Agree agree. That 150 yards being enough all depends upon what you are fishing for. If you happen to hook that 10# 30" bone fish one day, which I did about 4 years ago, trust me you will want more than 150 yards. Almost any kingfish over 10# will test your 150 yards almost every time. So again the amount of backing all needs to be tempered with what you are fishing for, and an 8 weight is just fine for most of the permit, big bones, kings, etc. (Although my go to rod for kings and permit is usually a 10).

It's kinda like the guy who buys a $5000 shotgun, and goes on a $3000 bird hunt, and uses Walmart dove and quail loads. C'mon. How Pi_ _ ed would you be to watch that 150 yds of backing run out on that fish of a lifetime??? Most of the time I like to prepare for the largest possible fish I might catch that day. Although sometimes it's definitely fun to pull out a 6 or even a 5 for chicken dolphin, but I know the time I do pull out those smaller rods, that's when that 35 pounder will probably hit my fly. Murphy's home town is about 50 miles offshore.


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## Teamgafftop13 (Mar 6, 2011)

Agreed on that, I'm really only going to be targeting reds, trout and maybe snook if I find any in the area, but it's nice to have that extra assurance when your on the water.....if there's one thing I've learned about fishing the TX coast, it's that you never know when or what is gonna bite next!


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