How much line on the casting reel?

Hello every one I was wondering if there is a way to tell if I have enough line on the reel supra 8000 HI made by marine sports and I have the power pro 300 M 33 lb microfilament line and it is very thin compare to others the reel say 0.37 mm 110m thanks for any tips

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

How full is your spool, it should be about 1/8" below the top for best casting distance and even drag pressure.

Did you dump a spool of spectra on the reel and it didn't fill the reel? If so you need to add some backing line underneath your spectra.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

The spool is about 1/4" below the top what is the average yards for this type off reels?and what is a backing line?

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

When using Spectra line you should load about 50 yards of a good mono before you start the superline. That mono is the backing. It provides some cushioning for the spool so that it won't be crushed by the no-stretch line, and it prevents slippage of the line on the spool. Splice it to the superline with a very strong knot. I use a double Uniknot.

Ideally, your spool should be about 1/8" from full when fully loaded, as fisherdan said. That provides the optimum leverage for casting and for initial drag.

How many yards is that? Well that depends on the line capacity of your spool.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

It was a few month back when I started using mono line for the backing. It does make a difference in casting. As said leave it about 1/8" from full, you don't want to overload it. My best rod and reels are a Abu Garcia 5000 and a Abu 4500both have 20lb spider wire, I use stren mono for the backing.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

Happy new year every one.
can I use Fluorocarbon line for the backing? or it has to be mono line.
and do you do the same thing for the spinning reel? thanks

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

YIKES, fluoro for backing,,, that's some pretty expensive backing material

If you think you are going to get to the backing while on a fish, use some fresh 30# mono, if not, just use some old mono off another reel to build up the diameter of the spool.

On my heavy FW trolling reels I put on 10' of 40#mono, 65 and 50# spectra on top of that and then another topshot of 40# mono since I do stand the chance of getting into the backing,,, been spooled before

I use a 20-25 turn albright knot for all spectra/mono terminations as it is a strong low profile knot, never had one of these come un-buttoned. Look up PowerPro's website and they will show you how to tie a modified albright with a lock knot on the spectra tag end. Once the spectra is cinched down tight, I leave a 1/4" tag end and melt that with a lighter to make a ball on the end of the spectra, keeps the spectra from loosening. (FYI, the spectra should wrap around the doubled over mono,,, I think PowerPro's website shows the mono wrapping around the spectra which makes for a bulky albright knot.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

kandil said:

do you do the same thing for the spinning reel? thanks

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For spinners (or conventional reels that I'm tying spectra directly the spool) I tightly wrap the spool's arbor with a layer or electrical tape. The spectra will grip the electrical tape and keep it from spinning on the spool. With this method you don't have to use a mono backing.

Either way you go, make sure your spectra is tightly wound on to the reel. If not, it can dig into itself and make a real nasty mess or break off the line.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

Hi fishrdan thank you very much for sharing your technique The price a side is OK to use the fluorocarbon?and why is the tape trick is not good for the castting reel?

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

I'm not sure about flouro as backing as it's not as stretchy as mono and might not grip the spool as tight. Honestly I don't know as I've never heard of it used as backing. Is this 100% pure flourocarbon as in expensive leader material ($20/50 yards) or just flouro coated mono ($20/500 yards)? If it's the flouro covered mono,,, go for it.

The electrical tape method can be used for any type of reel (spinning, baitcaster, conventional) since it just forms a grippy surface for the spectra to dig into. I've pulled the old tape off my reels and it was thoroughly imprinted with the fiber pattern of the spectra line, really dug in... When I use the tape method, I tape the spool (1-2 layers) tie the spectra to the arbor and then put a 1x2 piece of tape over the spectra knot to give it an initial bite. This is a common method the tuna guys use while loading massive amounts of spectra onto offshore reels, I think they use the electrical tape because #1 it works and #2 the reel can hold more spectra.

But, in your case where you need to add line to the underneath the spectra I would just do the mono backing. I wouldn't try to wrap 10-15 layers of electrical tape to bulk up the spool up as the spectra could cut into this thick soft layer and cause a mess.

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

I found out that adding 50 yard first is not a good idea it fells up the spool 10 yard is perfect and that fluorocarbon as backing is not good nether it is to stiff so 10 yard of mono line seems to be the best way with a double Uniknot again thank you all for the advice can not wait to go fishing

Re: How much line on the casting reel?

JB said:

When using Spectra line you should load about 50 yards of a good mono before you start the superline. That mono is the backing. It provides some cushioning for the spool so that it won't be crushed by the no-stretch line,

Your kidding right? Well maybe if your fishing for Marlin,, but only maybe.

We tested a rod using 150 pound test power pro line on a Abu Garcia Ambassadeur. Hung weights on it in increments of 10 pounds. The rod snapped at 100 pounds, the waffle spool on the reel was in perfect shape, the gears did not fare as well.

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