Hi Guys

Im waiting for my new Hardy Flyweight reel to arrive and my new wildfish forum #3 Heron grey floating line to arrive

Just wonder what you guys do for backing on these tiny reels ?

Yes i know often you wont see your backing ............but im a "what if" kind of guy Id like to get as much on as i can ............just in case i need it one day ..................

Ive been given a big spool of 15lb olive green braided carp line which is really thin, should be able to get loads on plus the floating line, what do you think ??

__________________
Englander

"Barbless since 2008"

Vision GT Four catapult 9' 6#
Vision GT Four SW 9' 9#
Vision 3 Zone 9' 5#
Vision Cult 9' 3#
Shakespeare Trion 9' 5/6#
Cortland Endurance 9' 6#
Shakespeare Expedition float tube
Vosseler DC3 reel
Okuma Helios 8/9 reel
Greys G series 3/4 reel
Snowbee Geo 3/4 reel

hello is it a d/t or w/f, you wont need much and unlikely to play a fish to the backing so its just to fill up spool, i think thin backing cannot make a nice even over spool, if you have an old w/f use some of the running line and get a nice even load.

will be fine i use braid myself,otherwise gel spun backing is very thin

__________________
WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

I agree with BRUCE on this one - I use both. If you're only fishing small streams then you should be fine but if you fish the larger rivers as well then you should try and cram as much as you can on. On more than one occasion I have been caught out on the Usk where I have been fishing light and when i've hooked big fish they have emptied the reel very quickly and the leader has pinged when they hit the knot at the reel. Lesson learned but it's the fine line between fishing light and getting takes and fishing too heavy and spooking fish.

Rob

Usually use spiderwire or similar but don't over tension it when you put it on otherwise it can compress the spool.

__________________
Just My Tuppenceworth!!

Cheers Bendino , Englander if its a DT why not chop it in half you dont need a full line on small streams ?? no problem for backing then ??
if its a WF take some of the running line off ???

__________________
WHEN YOU LEAVE THE RIVER, TAKE NOTHING, AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINT'S!!!

THA CAN TELL A YORKSHIREMAN ,BUT THA CAN'T TELL HIM MUCH !!

You're right when you say you probably won't see your backing knot disappear through the tip ring whilst fishing small streams, but if you want a fair amount of backing on your reel then i would consider going down the Gel spun route.
Hardy's are well known for producing reels which will only hold a miniscule amount of backing so Gelspun could be what you need.

Last time I loaded my smallest reel (BBS1) it was with with half a DT #2 and a fair amount of fine stuff from Orvis (12lb is mail order only I think, £5 for 100 metres, so you'll use it more than once).

__________________

Help fund the WTT study of the Softmouth

There's also 12lb Cortland micron which is good for small reels as it's fine and doesn't need to be any stronger, and not as expensive as gelspun.

I find this thread very interesting. Being a recent convert to light tackle I also have the backing problem. I've got short lengths on both my small reels and don't like it .

Checked out cortland micron and can only find 20lb. Is that to thick? Also looked at gel spun which seems to come with a few probs and carp braid is very expensive.

Chris.