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I've been trying to sell my Ross Evolution and Rhythm, and failling that, am going to use them. Trouble is, they are both 2-4 wt reels and I intend to spool up a 5 wt line on one of them, so am wondering what the smallest diameter backing there is, as I wouldn't be able to get much on the large arbor anyway and the larger line means less backing.
You may get some suggestions to use microbraid lines like Fire Wire or Pro, but I would caution you about those. There have been occasions where people used these products as backing and spooled them on a bit too tightly. With the flyline on, the mocrobraid relaxes and expands and can actually warp the spool with the pressure it puts on it. I would stick with 15 lb regular backing and not put too much on the reel. From there, I'd hope to see the backing sometime when I have a fish on:)
Jim Smith
I suggest cutting back on the running line of a WF line or cutting a Dt line in half. To explain how this would work, check out the charts of the Orvis Fly line below
Orvis Fly Lines
The 5 WF Wonderline is 90 ft long of which 546" or 45.5' is the running line. So 534" or 44.5' is the front taper and the shooting part of the line.
Cut off a portion of the running line that you probably will never cast. Say your maximum cast will be about 70 feet. You can cut off the back 40 feet of running line. That gives you the a leader of 9 ft and a fly rod length of 9 ft added to the 50 ft of fly line so you can cast about 68 feet before the backing goes out the fly rod tip.
You can cut a DT line in line for less backing and have two front sections of fly line.
how much backing do you need on a reel designed to hold a 2-4 wt line? Even if you're fishing a 5 wt on it, what do you expect to do with it as far as fish-fighting.... On a reel that small, if you let a fish get far enough away to worry about how much backing you have, I would bet my next paycheck you're going to lose that fish--UNLESS you happen to be in completely open water and following it in a boat. We all want to cover the "what if" bases, but if a fish gets that far away in most freshwater situations, it's grace and good luck if you ever land it. Most freshwater fish just don't run that long, except maybe steelhead and salmon in big rivers and Great Lakes, and i don't imagine you're going after those with a small reel..
BTW I used to live in Las Cruces, 99-03, I loved it there, burritos from Santa Fe Express were awesome and I really miss eating at La Posta.
Anyone want to do the math on what Silver Creek suggests....how many feet of backing that can be added vs the number of feet of running line removed?
Santa Fe Express is still the place for Burritos, and you're probably right about not obsessing about how much backing I can get on - I'm more worried about losing my fly than the fish.
I'm probably going to put a DT on it anyway, cutting it in two sounds like a good idea.
Glad I didn't try the Microbraid.
I've cut lines in half before for light rods but I would never do it on a 5-wt. On my 2-wt I rarely cast more than 30-35 feet so having only 40-45 ft of line on the reel is perfect but I regularly cast farther than that on my 5 weight and don't like to cast backing. Gel-spun backing may be an alternative. It is much smaller in diameter than dacron but is also pretty pricey. A WF line should take up less space on the reel than a DT as well allowing for more backing. Whoever said you really don't need much backing is probably right, depending on your fishing. The best bet is to just sell one of your reels like you are trying to do and buy a larger reel.
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Originally Posted by ducksterman
Actually, you don't need to cut the line to get a pretty good idea. Just put the WF line on it backward and wind it on the spool until you get to the point you would cut it. Then see how much "head space" is left on the spool for backing.
My guess is that he has a Ross size 1 reel; and for a 5 wt line, a size 2 reel is needed. Ross makes a size 1.5 reel between the size 1 and size 2, so the size 1 is actually 2 sizes smaller than the correct reel for a 5 wt line.
Doing a reverse wind of a 5 wt line should reveal whether you can even use a 5 wt line on a Ross size 1 reel.