How much Braid should i put on my spinning reel?

[breakthelines]

I know that you use a little mono to back up your brand (just enough to cover the spool metal i have been told?), but how much braid should put on?

Cheers, Jay

[reidy]

Stop a few mls short of the spools lip.Most leave around a 2mm for mono but leave braid a tad shorter than that at 5mm or so.The theory is that there is less resistance on the braid from the spools lip if the line is short of the lip,it tends to roll (loop) off the spool better with limited contact on the rim so giving better casting distances as well as less wind loops.
Chers
Reidy

[breakthelines]

So if the spool says 4lb/120 yards...i should/can put that much on?

[PNG1M]

Umm...yeh, good question and one that should have a simple answer - but doesn't, due to the inevitable variables.

Firstly I usually put more mono backing on that just enough to cover the spool metal as the braid will need enough layers of mono to 'bed down' on as necessary. I generally put on about 20 metres or so of around 12-15lb mono - depending on the size of the reel etc.

Variables:

1. Size and line capacity of the reel and the intended breaking strain of line

2. Whether the reel is a standard, conventional type or if it has 'braid friendly' features built in (hence, designed more specifically for braid). If the reel is designed for braid then the recommended capacity should be fairly accurate.

3. Personal preference / your own beliefs & knowledge you have that convinces you that you want things a certain way.

A starting point is to look at the reel specifications and the recommended line capacity - but don't look at the lbs, look at the line diameter. Then look at your braid and see if it is close to one of the suggested line diameter capacities and that will give you a ball park figure on how much to out on.

Some people like to fill their spools up to the max so it can't hold any more. Others only fill up to half way or two third or three quarters so that is personal choice. I'm usually an 85-90% man.

Anyway, that's a starting point. I could carry on further but other ausfishers will have opinions too. I might add a few more tips later as just recently I spooled three of my own reels up with braid (two spinning reels and one baitcast). Plus in the past few years I've spooled up loads of others.

[DigitalSI]

If using the braid to target species that don't need to go for a run, just buy 150yards and use mono as a backer. I have a spare reel at home so if I don't get the backing right the first time, i simply use the backup reel to take it off and do it again until I get it right.

[BarraBandit]

Braid is thinner than your normal mono...

Dont worry about distance of the line you are putting on... just spool it till its about 1-2mm away from the inside of the lip... if you start thinking too much about it (I understand all of it but it takes awhile to explain) you will end up giving up on it and just using mono...

Just spool it till its full, and remember that 4lb braid is the diameter of 1lb mono (in most cases).


Good luck!

[Cheech]

I use only a couple of metres of mono backing at a heavier rating to my braid, and then fill the spool. Even on a 2500, you will find you can fit an awful lot of braid on it. I buy 300m lengths, and depending on the thickness, manage to get at least 2/3 of it on. 4lb, I would think you can get most of it on, depending on the reel of course.

I always load it to almost full. Use a ruler or something flat against the spool to see how much you are below the lip. 1 - 2 mm first up as you will loose some, and I find that after a few sessions it starts sitting lower as well.

I was actually taken to the backing on an unstopable earlier this year, and with max drag and hand on the spool, luckily during that last second or so before I was about to loose the lot, I was bitten off. Would have lost it iff teh backing was not stronger than the braid. So load as much as you can as you never know when you will need it.

[Jurkyjj]

Realistically, you don't need to have a full spool of braid if you are fishing for species that don't run for 100 metres.
If you are just flicking for flathead or bream, I would fill the spool with slightly more mono and less braid. Mono is cheaper and the fish won't take that much off.
For my smaller reels that I use for bream and flathead, I only have 75-100metres of braid. I fill the backing up with a cheaper mono.
With my overhead reels, the same. I don't fill the reel with large amounts of braid as it is expensive.
Don't misunderstand, with certain reels you do need to have plenty on there as the species that you will target requires it, but, generally speaking, you won't need to fill it up.
As stated above, around 2mm below the lip is suffice.

Cheers, Jason.