size Fly line backing

[feathers5 0]

What pound backing should you buy for fly lines up to 6 wt.? I notice there are different sizes and I actually never purchased any before. I'm thinking that the 30-pound backing would be what I want. Does color or brand make much of a difference?

[Brian Brown75 0]

color or brand i dont think makes much of a difference but 20 or 30 pound backing will do the trick

[Futzer 0]

20 pound is plenty for a six and gives you more total line if you happened to hook Moby D. I like Gelspun on anything but Salmon/Steelhead/Saltwater. It can slice fingers pretty easily. I like bright green so you can follow it in the water.

 

Cheers, Futzer.

[JSzymczyk 0]

you know it all depends on what you will be doing with it. Yeah it is important, to a point. Face it, the vast majority of fish are caught in freshwater without ever "going into the backing"... Use 20 or 30 lb, it will make almost no difference. Yes, you can pile on 600 yards of gel-spun in the same space you can fit 100 yards of 30lb braided, but WHY? If you ever need more than a hundred feet or so of backing on a 6wt, you have a lot of other things to worry about. If you are going to be doing any inshore salt fishing with it, you might need 125 feet. IMO if you spool up 100yds of 20 lb (standard way to buy backing) you will be able to do anything you ever will need to do with a 6wt. If a fish ever gets close to 100yds away from you, the chance of landing it is tiny.

[jared sartini 0]

and btw, I've noticed scientific anglers is a bit smaller diameter than other brands of backing. i have two spools/lines for one of my reels and one has WF-5 while the other has WF-4 on it. they both have 100 yds. of 20lb. backing on them and the 5 wt. has scientific anglers while the other has cabelas prestige backing on it. the 4 wt. fills the spool about full while i could probably still put 20 or 30 more yds. of backing on the 5 wt. spool. just thought i'd let you know so you can fill the spool all the way if you end up getting scientific anglers backing.

[skyphix 0]

Im using 20lb on my 3/4, 5/6 and 8wt's. Braided Dacron.

[Futzer 0]

you know it all depends on what you will be doing with it. Yeah it is important, to a point. Face it, the vast majority of fish are caught in freshwater without ever "going into the backing"... Use 20 or 30 lb, it will make almost no difference. Yes, you can pile on 600 yards of gel-spun in the same space you can fit 100 yards of 30lb braided, but WHY? If you ever need more than a hundred feet or so of backing on a 6wt, you have a lot of other things to worry about. If you are going to be doing any inshore salt fishing with it, you might need 125 feet. IMO if you spool up 100yds of 20 lb (standard way to buy backing) you will be able to do anything you ever will need to do with a 6wt. If a fish ever gets close to 100yds away from you, the chance of landing it is tiny.

 

Hi JSzymczyk, I agree, and personally I like the thinner backing to make an flatter base for the line. I forgot to say that. Thx, Futzer.

 

PS. I have also fowl hooked things like drift boat anchors that took me to the backing, and I have yet to lose a flyline.

[Satchmo 0]

I see your in Pennsylvannia so I'll assume you may use your 6wt for steelhead or maybe even large mouth. I use a 7 Wt for steelhead in and around Lake Erie. On my reel I can put 200 yards of 20# dacron, typically I color the backing. After the fly line I'll put 100 yards of one color then nail knot 50-75 more yards of another color backing. Ive only seen the second backing once and I never saw the fish after he got into the orange line. If you do get a fish run you that far into your backing your probably never going to land him on standard tippet for steelhead. With that amount of line in the water it creates a ton of drag and once you tighten back up on him if he runs again the weight of the line in the water plus the fishes second effort will usually cause something up near the fly to fail. Not to say you can't retreive a fish that far out but the probability drops significantly.

[Papasequoia 0]

One tip, if you are worried about fitting it all and aren't sure, you can first wind on the new fly line, then wind on the backing. If it fits fine and doesn't bind on the reel, you are all set and can take them off, then put on backing followed by fly line. Is that time consuming? Yes. Is it faster than putting on the backing then the line and then finding out that you have too much backing and the line won't fit on your reel and you need to cut knots and remove backing and retie knots? Um, yes. If you've never done this before (changed out the backing and line) you might want to do that and make sure it is all going to fit on your reel. Kind of sucks putting on new backing and line only to find that it doesn't fit (been there, done that). Of course you should first check any docs you got with your reel that say how much line and backing you should use. Jon