Teaching tricks & props / ANSWERS TO QUIZ ON BACKING

One small, inexpensive item that I have used for teaching accuracy to a moving target is a remote controlled vehicle; a boat for the water and a car for grass. These can be purchased at most stores, for under $20. You can also vary the speed, to make it easier or more difficult.

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WOW ! What a great idea. When teaching salt water fly fishing one of the most difficult things to get across is the idea and skill to properly "lead" fish moving at various speeds. Some of them are never still for a moment. Others, such as permit are much more unpredictable .... sometimes still while "laid up" and often moving with great sudden directional changes as they go across a flat.

I imagine the remote control vehicles are a lot more expensive (?????) .... I'll sure look into that.

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Gordy,

Yes, they make versions that run on grass, sand, pavement, etc. I just buy one that is on sale. John

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Tony Loader wasted no time in coming in with his answers to our little quiz on fly line backing. My comments in his answer text in red italics. Gordy :-

Hi Gordy,

I hope there will be an Australian Council in due course.

Here's an attempt at the backing quiz.

Regards,

Tony.

LIST THE ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF THE FOLLOWING FLY LINE BACKING MATERIALS:

BRIEF ANSWERS ! Follow each answer with a more detailed one only if needed for clarity.

1.) Nylon monofilament, standard cylindrical cross section.

Knots well, absorbs water, easy on hands, has memory, tangles easily, relatively weak vs cross-section, stretches, shoots well, durable, cheap, weakened by UV radiation

Agree. (With any of these, shootability is something I wouldn't consider as a property of backing ..... unless you are a MUCH better caster than I am.) Some brands resist abrasion better than others. G.

2.) Nylon monofilament, flat or oval.

Knots hold well, absorbs water, easy on hands, less memory, less prone to tangle, relatively weak vs cross-section, stretches, shoots well, durable, relatively cheap, weakened by UV radiation.

Yes. Frankly, I don't kow of tensile strength tests which have been done to compare flat and oval mono's with standard ones. G.

3.) Braided nylon multifilament.

Knots hold well, absorbs water, easy on hands, limp - little memory, not prone to tangle, large cross-section, stretches, shoots less well, strong, vulnerable to damage to individual fibres, weakened by UV radiation.

Also, not very expensive. Moderately good abrasion resistance. G.

4.) Braided nylon monofilament.

Knots hold well, absorbs water, easy on hands, stiffer- more memory, more prone to tangle, large cross-section, stretches, shoots better, more abrasion resistant, strong, weakened by UV radiation.

By "large cross section" I think you mean less tensile strength than braided nylon multifilament for the same diameter. If so, then I agree. G.

5.) Braided Dacron.

Knots hold well, does not absorb water, low stretch, smaller cross-section, prone to tangle, very limp, shoots poorly, strong, not very abrasion resistant, relatively cheap.

Yes. We used it for years in the salt...... OK unless fishing where large fish can run under weed patches or weed lines or along flats "stubble". Under those conditions, its poor abrasion resistance is a real problem. G.

6.) Braided Kevlar.

Susceptible to knot slippage, does not absorb water, no stretch, small cross-section, prone to tangle, stiffer, shoots well, hard on hands, strong, abrasion resistant, expensive.

Yes. it tends to bury itself under other turns of backing on the reel, too ... especially if not wound on tightly and evenly

Another disadvantage is that when attached to a fly line by a loop-to-loop connection, it will cut through the fly line loop when used repeatedly on large fish.

7.) Braided Spectra.

Susceptible to knot slippage, does not absorb water, low stretch, small cross-section, prone to tangle, stiffer, shoots well, hard on hands, strong, abrasion resistant, expensive.

This would include several brands of gel-spun material. As you noted, it is very hard on hands .... nasty cuts when not handled carefully, especially if the smaller diameter materials are chosen. The older gel-spun backing materials were almost all round in cross section making this an even greater problem . Those would bury into the spool, too .... as with Kevlar.

Now, several brands are made with slightly oval cross section. This helps solve both problems.

Many of us have gone to greater diameter Spectra ..... not for the tensile strength, but to aid in solving both those problems.

Even with the slightly oval diameter material in greater diameter, it can cut through the loop on the back end of the fly line. Other connections to the fly line such as the nail knot tend to loosen.

There is an environmental disadvantgage to the gel-spun materials: They don't degrade for a long long time when and if discarded.

8.) Combined sections of braided Spectra and Nylon monofilament.

Gains the advantages of Spectra for the first and most used section of backing, while providing a cheaper alternative material to fill the reel to capacity. A disadvantage is that Spectra will tend to pack into the mono under pressure.

NOT a good idea to use mono beneath the gel-spun backing to fill up the spool ! The mono can build up pressure as it is wound on and spread the spool.... the spool then binds in the reel housing. The tippet breaks ..... and the reel is bacly damaged.

Many of us use the mono on the forward end of the gel-spun backing in various lengths depending upon the amount of stretch we wish to introduce into the system, if any. Never long enough to cause pressure to spread and ruin the reel spool.

However, the principal reason I use it is to provide a more reliable coupling betwen the gel-spun backing and the fly line with the mono having a small loop at either end. This mono is much less likely to damage the fly line loop and is more resistant to the gel-spun material at the other end thus markedly diminishing the likelihood that the gel-spun backing loop will cut through. G.

Notes:

Absorbed water reduces tensile strength, potential to tangle and shootability of the material.

I didn't know that absorbed water would reduce tensile strength. Perhaps it does. Did you perform those tests ? Or can you cite a rerference to someone who did ? If proven, I stand to learn ! G.

Material of large cross-section is easier on the hands but has increased drag in the water and less of it will fill the reel.

Yes. The increased resistance to the water becomes an important factor when fishing for very large salt water fish such as tuna and billfish, The fish can make a very long run, then turn. The bow in the line/backing combo can offer so much resistance that the tippet breaks even if the angler backs almost all the way off on the drag. G.

Stiffer material sags less in the rod guides so shoots better, is more prone to memory thus tangles, and functions better in warmer temperatures. True.

Specialty round and flat monofilaments e.g. Amnesia, Slickshooter, have little or no memory. Yes.

One might include under "specialty backing materiels" those which are dyed with the purpose in mind to make the backing easier to see .... especially by skiff guides. These are sometimes labeled, "HI VIZ". One small disadvantage of these, I've found, is that the dye is not made fully "fast" to the gel-spun materials, so it bleeds out and secondarily dyes the fly line. Some anglers object to that.

Tony ...

For teaching purposes ... or if you were writing a textbook on this subject, I think it might be more effective for us to label each backing material and then separately list the ADVANTAGES and then the DISADVANTAGES for each. We could come up with a neat spread sheet with columns headed by titles such as: BACKING MATERIAL USES ADVANTAGES DISADVANTAGES. I'm not criticizing you for not doing it, because I didn't ask for that.

Perhaps someone in the Group could take the time and effort to make that spread sheet using the excellant information you have provided . That would be worth archiving.

Congratulations on a job well done !!!!!! Gordy

Tony

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