Leland on 30lb Dacron Fly Line Backing
You should always have Backing on your fly reel. Fly Line
Backing is a relatively thin braided line that connects the plastic
coated fly line to the fly reel spool. Since most fly lines average
only about 90 feet in overall length, backing is required when a larger
fish takes out all of this line. In saltwater, even smaller fish species are capable of pulling much
harder and faster than their freshwater counterparts, so bonefish fly
reel rigs are often equipped with 200 yards of backing, and the largest
species, such as giant tarpon, tuna, shark and billfish may require up
to 600 yards of extra line! Your reel will be rigged, free of
charge, to the highest
Leland Rigging Standard, so if trophy fish are on your horizon, you'll be ready!
Leland on Specifications
20 lb. Dacron is used on saltwater reels up to
about 8 weight, or so, for smaller stripers, bonefish, and reds where
the fish are typically less than 12 to 15 pounds in weight. When fish
get bigger, and leaders get stronger, usually on
9 weight systems and
above,
30 lb. Dacron becomes the backing of choice. Your backing should
always be significantly stronger than your leader, which makes sense;
break the leader and you lose the fish. But break the backing and you
lose the fish, the fly line, and some or all of the backing. Ouch! Then
your fishing day may be over. Make sure you have enough backing for those big bruisers and the task at hand!
Specifications:
- Great handling properties for most saltwater applications
- Round cross section
- Low stretch
- Good abrasion resistance
- Low water absorption and retention
- Mildew resistant
- Relatively low cost
- Breaking strength: 30lb.
Leland on Fly Line Backing
“Whoa!!” you plead, as the beefy steelhead on the end of your line
jumps and turns the bend over 100 yards below you. With your fly reel
singing soprano, you’ve just stumbled downstream about as fast as you
could, but, of course, the steelhead in this strong current was faster.
You’ve still got a chance with this fish, though, so you quickly catch
your breath and continue your pursuit.
This scenario is just one of the reasons why you should always have
Backing on your fly reel. Fly Line Backing, by definition, is a
relatively thin braided line that connects the plastic coated fly line
to the fly reel spool. Since most fly lines average only about 90 feet
in overall length, backing is required when a larger fish takes out all
of this line. Without the extra backing, you would quickly part company.
Many trout anglers that fish smaller streams may never or rarely ever
see their backing, yet we still usually recommend a minimum of 40
yards, just in case. Trout anglers on larger rivers should feel
comfortable with about 80 to100 yards on their reels, yet fishing for
powerful steelhead and salmon usually requires 125 to 200 yards of
backing. Admittedly, once a river fish gets over 100 yards away from
you, your chances of landing it can get slim, but there’s always hope,
and a bit of luck.
In saltwater, even smaller fish species are capable of pulling much
harder and faster than their freshwater counterparts, so bonefish fly
reel rigs are often equipped with 200 yards of backing, and the largest
species, such as giant tarpon, tuna, shark and billfish may require up
to 600 yards of extra line! With fewer objects to wrap around in the
open ocean, big saltwater fish are often landed that have taken out a
lot of line. With this in mind, you should purchase your fly reels with
an adequate line capacity to hold BOTH your intended fly line AND the
amount and type of the backing necessary for the angling task at hand.
The Backing on your fly reel also serves other less obvious, yet
important functions. The proper amount of backing should fill your reel
spool to near-capacity, so that it reels more efficiently by taking
line up faster. A half empty reel reels slower. By the same token,
when a fish takes out line, a near capacity spool will have better drag
continuity throughout the battle because drag resistance increases
progressively as the line level approaches the spindle. You may notice
we use the term “near-capacity”. A common mistake is to try and cram on
as much backing as possible, but when the line is reeled in unevenly
(very common during the excitement of fighting a fish) the fly line
ends up jamming in the reel frame as the fish draws near. The result is
a damaged fly line, lost fish, or both. Make sure you have enough
distance between the reel frame and your fully filled spool so this
doesn’t happen, even if you reel the line in a bit sloppily.
The most popular Fly Line Backing, by far, is braided Dacron. Dacron,
constructed of Polyester fiber, has been around since the early 1950’s,
and its round cross section, superior handling properties, low stretch,
low water absorption, abrasion and mildew resistance, and relatively
low cost make it the it the ideal choice for most freshwater and
saltwater fly anglers. Braided Dacron Backing is available in 12 lb.,
20 lb., and 30 lb. breaking strengths. The 12 lb. is a little too light
and thin for good handling properties, and would only be recommended
for tinier small stream fly reels where heavier backing simply wouldn’t
fit. Dacron in 20 lb. test is the benchmark for almost all freshwater
fly fishing applications, and all trout-type reels we know of are rated
for this standard. 20 lb. Dacron is also used on saltwater reels up to
about 8 weight, or so, for smaller stripers, bonefish, and reds where
the fish are typically less than 12 to 15 pounds in weight. When fish
get bigger, and leaders get stronger, usually on 9 weight systems and
above, 30 lb. Dacron becomes the backing of choice. Your backing should
always be significantly stronger than your leader, which makes sense;
break the leader and you lose the fish. But break the backing and you
lose the fish, the fly line, and some or all of the backing. Ouch! Then
your fishing day may be over.
A new type of fly line backing constructed from polyethylene gel,
called Dyneema by its Holland manufacturer, emerged in the 1990’s and
has gained ground in recent years, particularly in the arena of big
game saltwater fishing. The U.S licensee, Allied Signal, markets the
same material as Spectra, but it’s collectively called “Gel Spun”
backing. Gel Spun is very thin, very strong, and slicker than Dacron.
Its smaller diameter can almost double the backing capacity of a
specific reel and the thinner profile reduces drag in the water when
fighting a fish. For these reasons, many tournament tarpon anglers and
those that pursue billfish have replaced Dacron with Gel Spun backing.
In fact, Abel, one of the world’s premier manufacturer of big game fly
reels, now makes a Tarpon reel specifically designed for Gel Spun
backing.
Why not use this high-tech backing on all fly reels? While Gel Spun has
greater tensile strength, the individual fibers are more brittle than
Dacron. Gel Spun knots do not have the same relative strength and they
wear much quicker, hence, most big game anglers use 50 to 65 lb. test
Gel Spun to accommodate the weaker knot strength. Gel Spun has the
ability to cut through fingers more readily than Dacron, so care must
be exercised when fighting fish. Since Gel has almost no stretch,
special knots must be employed to effectively grip the reel spool
arbor, and this backing must be wound on very, very tight in a cross
wrapped manner to prevent it from “digging in” on itself when pressure
is applied. Lastly, Gel Spun typically costs 3 to 4 times more than its
Dacron counterpart.
Our general advice is to stick with dependable Dacron backing for
almost all freshwater and most saltwater applications. The exceptions
would be when your reel simply won’t be able to fit the requisite
amount of Dacron, which is often a problem with Spey reels and Spey fly
lines for salmon and steelhead, and, again, for experienced big game
saltwater folks who have need for backing in the 300+ yards category.
Please call our knowledgeable Leland shop staff if you need advice for a particular line/ reel/ backing combo.
NOTE: Always use one of the braided lines described above for fly line backing. NEVER substitute
any type of monofilament fishing line as backing. Mono can stretch up
to 30%, or more, when wet and if allowed to dry on the reel, its
powerful contraction can warp or break your fly reel spool.
Leland on the Leland Rigging Standard
FLY FISHING THE RIGHT WAY
At Leland, we take our fly fishing seriously, and we assume that
you do too. That’s why, when you leave our shop, or receive your gear
in a shipment, your Fly Reels and Fly Lines will be professionally
rigged to go out and fish for world records, right out of the box.
In some fly shops, your reel, backing, fly line, and leader butt
connections are assembled by different employees with varying degrees
of experience and knowledge. Your reel and lines may all be rigged
differently, depending on who did them that particular day.
Unfortunately, the guy with the greater skill may not always be behind
the counter putting your stuff together. A trout shop may not have a
lot of familiarity with heavy-duty rigging for big saltwater fish. You
don’t want to go half-way around the world and lose a fish of a
lifetime due to an inappropriate or poorly constructed knot. That
doesn’t happen at Leland.
THE LELAND RIGGING STANDARD
What’s special about the Leland Rigging Standard? Here are a few things
that we do to keep our customers coming back for more. They even bring
in their relatively new tackle to have it re-rigged by us.
• Every connection type is specifically selected for maximum strength
and ease of use based on line weight, line type and density, and
intended purpose of the outfit.
• All fly lines are clearly hand marked with a bar code at the backing
connection indicating line weight, sink tip grain weight, and dual
markings for sink rate, where appropriate. You’ll never have to guess
again about which lines you have on your reels, particularly when a
couple of years have gone by!
• All fly lines four weight and above are securely attached to the
backing with our custom, hand-made braided loops and Bimini Twist
connections that approach 100% of each line's unique breaking strength.
This juncture also allows you to quickly and easily switch fly lines on
a spool without having to retie knots.
• Monofilament butt sections attached to the front of your fly line are
diameter specific to exactly match the relative stiffness of that
particular line, so that you can enjoy the full advantage of your high
performance fly line with the smoothest turnover of your casting loop.
A perfection loop on the front of the butt section offers the option of
looping different leaders on and off without tying knots.
• Only the highest quality Dacron backing is selected, based on fly
line weight, reel spool capacity and intended purpose, to maximize
breaking strength, versus a fish's room to run. Let us know if you want
to substitute Gel-spun backing to increase the amount of backing that
we can fit on your reel. As you might guess, we have a special way of
rigging that, too.
