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It was a western trib, a WAY west trib in BC wink.png

lucky you :) Western steel are monsters compared to G.L. steel.

 

could you see the need for that much backing for a Ontario trib though? i've fishing both the Geen and the Maitland, and have never needed that much line, even fishing at the mouth were fresh fish bolt for the open water.

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back to the real world......

 

Yes of course you should fill the spool of your reel so that "memory coils" in your fly line are as large and few as possible, and also IF THE NEED ARISES fewer turns of the reel are required to recover your line.

 

Unless you are fishing open water with no snags, if you let a fish get 200 yards away from you the only thing which will get it back is an answered prayer. I've hooked big fish in heavy current where no amount of backing was going to help me land it, and I've caught a couple of 20 lb carp (which everyone seems to worship these days) which never showed me the backing at all. I've had steelhead in Lake Erie take me into the backing, but not too far- 50 or 60 feet maybe, and I've had redfish and even ladyfish in saltwater do the same.

 

Realistically in fresh water, including Great Lakes, we rarely ever see backing go out our guides. If you've got 100 yards of backing in the water, you've got serious issues. If you want to put 600 yards of superline on as backing when 150 yards of dacron will do just fine, go for it. Have fun at the cash register, and have fun winding it all on.

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i could only pray for the day that i don't have enough backing.

 

Art ... I actually use backing just as a filler. I want one rotation of the reel to take in as much line as possible.

 

But, imagine you have a 20 pound carp pick up your bluegill offering. I'd much rather have too much backing on than to lose all my fly line when the fish got to the end of the backing.

once one starts to reel in fly line the spool fills up quickly, hence faster line pick-up. if one gets that far into the backing, line pick-up becomes a moot issue; unless you are using a larger arbor reel.

 

i would be more fearful of my rod blowing up then getting spooled by a large fish. the end solution for me.....straighten the rod out and break off the fly at the tippet. i actually watched a guy get spooled on his 6wt by a Chinook. he just sat there like a deer in the headlights watching his line spool. he didn't move until the end of line went out the top guide.

 

I think the recommendation there would be to NOT USE A 6 WEIGHT on a salmon and steelhead stream.

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Thanks for the advice guys. Just to clarify my thinking in buying this in the first place. I normally just use Dacron. But I have a reel that is my favourite but its a bit small and I just wanted to add a little more than the 20 yards or so of Dacron backing that's on it! I don't recall the last time I actually had a fish take me into the backing. I know I have bigger reels but its my favourite and I love using it. Just to maximise capacity and I wanted to make sure that If I am lucky enough to hit a biggie it would not ruin my rings on my lovely Scott rod! THANKS ALL!

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