dacron and gellspun

[tailingloop]

I'm sure there will be someone who chimes in with a formula you can use to get a close estimate. That being said, you might want to be careful using Gel-Spun for backing. There have been cases where it was wound onto the spool under pressure (i.e. fighting a large fish) and when it "relaxed" it expanded enough to warp the spool. I'd stick with standard backing, especially since the likelihood of you ever losing a fish becasue you run out of backing is fairly remote; at least in my experience.

Jim Smith

Specta stretches much less than dacron or any other line so is unlikely to burst a spool by relaxing. You can burst a spool by winding on too tight. Hard to do by hand with a quality machined aluminum reel even when cranking a big fish but certainly possible with a powered winding machine. I have caught many fish, including beasts like yellowfin tuna with nary an issue.

I use spectra for two reasons. One is to reduce line drag when fishing for big fast moving fish. The other is to increase backing capacity on some large arbor reels that I use for saltwater fish. I'm talking about getting 150yards on the reel instead of 100. I also get then benefit of reduced line drag there also. I can't think of any other reason to use spectra.