Fly line backing

Jim Penrod asks this question on fly line backing. (He fishes both fresh and salty waters) This starts a discussion on backing including a little quiz following my answer to him :-

Gordy,
I mentioned thinking about going to Spectra with my fly fishing buddy here (he grew up in Jersey fishing with Bob Popovics) and he said that he would not do that as with the thin backing it is too easy to get cut when a fish runs. That seemed contrary to all that you said. I was curious about your experience.
The mundane part is that I wanted to get the Spectra but am 150 miles from the nearest fly shop. What is the best way to line it on the reel? Can it be done adequately by hand? Is there a hand run tool that will suffice? If using Dacron when would you want to use 30 lb rather than 20 lb. Since Spectra is thinner how much more of it does one need to put on the reel to fill the same space?
Jim

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I have been using Spectra backing and Kevlar backing ("thin stuff) for over 10 years, starting with material sent to me for field testing before the stuff was ever marketed for fishing lines.

We heard, over the years, of terrible things which could happen when used on big fish ...... nasty cuts, grooved rod guides and tip tops, backing burying itself and locking down so that the tippet would break, tangles which are impossible to straighten, knots which won't hold, material all over the place in the sea because it won't biologically degrade, poor visibility so the guide can't see it as his angler fights a fish, cutting right through fly lines to which it is attached by various means, Super expensive, etc., etc.

1.) Most of us (when fishing the salt, here in the Keys) now go to using 50 lb. test Spectra. You can get plenty of it on the reel, yet it is thick enough that we can handle it just fine.

2.) None of the anglers in my fishing club (who all use it) have ever suffered a nasty cut. (A few minor ones until they learned how to handle it.) When a big fish runs, by the time the fly line is out of the guides he should be, "on the reel". At that point, we simply don't touch the backing.

3.) The new stuff does not bury itself on the reel and get caught. (I suppose this could happen if it is spooled on in an incompetent manner.)

4.) Our rod guides and tip tops didn't suffer, even when catching tuna and other fish which make blistering runs. One reason is that grit won't collect on it because its so slippery. (It was this grit from volcanic waters in the Pacific Islands and in glacial run-offs in Alaska which would collect on woven nylon multifilament leaders which quickly wore grooves in our tip tops. )

8.) The material is hydrophobic ...... repels water, so salt water doesn't remain in the material ..... that means there is less likelihood the reel spool will corrode as long as the tackle is rinsed well with fresh water after use.

10.) When we use finer material, we've learned to lessen the likelihood of the Spectra cutting through the fly line by interposing a short segment of hard Nylon monofilament between the two using loop-to-loop connections.

11.) Now that modern brands of Spectra are just a tiny bit oval rather than round in cross section when compacted on a spool, there is no need to machine load the stuff on our fly reels. We do it by hand winding it on with moderate pressure.

I purchase the stuff from catalogs (such as Cabela's or Bass Pro Shops) and wind it on myself. I fasten it to the reel arbor after making a long-loop 30X Bimini Twist, then passing the loop around the arbor 5X before using a slide-down arbor knot followed by a 6X half-hitch finish knot. I run it through the rod guides first so that it is passing through the rod as I wind it on. I place the spool behind a large book and pass the line between the pages of the book and place a 10 lb. wt. on the book for resistance. Then I have a buddy hold the spool with a pencil through the center hole to help control it as I wind.

On the other end, I make a 12" 30X Bimini Twist with a 6X finish knot. To this I fasten 10' of hard mono with 1/2" Duncan loops at either end. This is loop-to-looped to the Ron Hyde loop I make at the back end of my fly line. (A Lefty Kreh whipped loop in the end of the fly line is fine, too.)

12.) Since the stuff may well outlast the reel (and you and me, to boot) very little of it is discarded into the environment. Most fly anglers who use it are aware of this potential problem, anyway, and discard it properly ...... not in the water or in the woods. When one gets, "spooled" as a large fish runs you out to the arbor, it is the tippet which breaks every time .... not the backing-to-spool connection.

13.) Re expense: I look for good prices from the catalogs and wind it on myself. I buy it in bulk.... 1200 yd.+ spools. Enough for two or three reels.

14.) We used to use larger reels to hold enough bulky nylon multifilament backing. With smaller diameter Dacron, we could go to lighter, smaller reels. With Gel-spun fiber material including Spectra, we can use even lighter reels ... especially now that we have ultra large arbor options. (Except when Spey casting with two handed rods where physical balance is an issue, the lighter the reel the easier it is to cast and the less our fatigue after a day of fishing.)

All of the message, above, applies to fishing circumstances requiring lots of backing for fish which make long powerful runs. We'll try to address the whole spectrum of fly fishing with respect to various backing materials in a subsequent message.

1.) Your student is about to purchase an outfit to fish mountain streams for trout. You and he have settled on a recommended 4 wt. rod and floating wt. forward fly line. You have taught him what he needs to know about leaders. Now he asks you about backing for his fly line. What do you teach him ?

2.) I've planned a trip to fish large mouth bass the Sawgrass Preserve in the Florida Everglades. What backing would be best for my reel ?

3.) My grandfather says that the only backing he ever used for fly fishing was silk. Are there any disadvantages to using this ?

4.) My Uncle Charlie said that he used to use Cuttyhunk backing when fishing for striped bass on Cape Cod prior to WWII.

5.) This student wants to use 15 lb. test nylon monofilament line for his backing. Are there any disadvantages to his using it ?

7.) Are there any disadvantages to the use of Dacron backing for my trout reel ?

8.) Your student says that she can buy nylon multifilament line for backing for less money than Dacron or Spectra. She is a trout fisher, fishing lakes. Any disadvantage to her choice ?

9.) Can you list some differences between Dacron and Nylon multifilament backing materials ?

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