Backing

[jbomb]

Maybe this is a question for the beginners forum, but I just set up my first reel, and I felt like I put on a lot of backing, but then when I put the fly line on it looked like I had room for more. I believe the line I purchased as 30 yards, the reel holds up to 70. After adding some backing an attaching the fly line it looks like I could have added some more. The reel has what I'd characterize as a medium arbor, I've never got into the backing before, and don't imagine I will with this setup (it's a 3wt I built for fishing Valley), however I have an extra spool, that I'll either set up with 4wt line for my other two rods, or possibly put together a 5wt setup.

I cannot imagine a scenario where I'd have 70 yards of line out, perhaps I'm not thinking big enough, but I'm fishing small streams in SE/C/NE PA. Is there any reason to clip my nail knot off add more backing and reattach the fly line?

 

[riz]

clip the knot and put the 5wt line on that spool. it will fill the space. then put more backing on the the other spool for the 3wt line.

 

[jbomb]

Hadn't even thought of that. Good advice!

 

[ryguyfi]

A trick of the trade when first lining up a rod is to put everything on backwards first so you know exactly how much space it takes up. The main reason for backing on smaller weight rods is to take up space so that you can retrieve more line in. Some manufacturers give suggestions on backing capacity but backing can vary in thickness, so use the trick above.