How much line do you really need?
 

I've been checking out new reels and pondering the amount of line that they can hold. Specs like 500 yards of 20lb mono or 700 yards of 30lb braid just sound rediculous. I'm talking about LJ fishing not off shore or gulf coast deep dropping. My kelp cutter reel is a Newell 533 about half full of 65 lb braid. That seams plenty for kelp fishing. I might half fill a reel with heavy mono of even way old school dacron and load braid on to the top half. Why pay for all braid when you'll never even see it come off the reel? Smaller reels are another option. The little lever drags are too pricey for me though. Are there "low capacity" large diameter spools to let you use a bigger reel with larger gears/drags/cranking power with out spooling way too much line? What are you guys doing about line capacity, particularly when it comes to braid? Mike

better to have it available when needed than not.

:luxhello: Great question..... I'm looking forward to reading some answers too.

When I was out fishing on the islander, I would fish for hali and rockfish on the same rig to save space. I was fishing 350' and 400' of water, so yeah being in kept and maybe 200' of water MAX, you will have enough. You have to remember there is always that chance of that HUGE toad swimming by and maxes out your line and your going for a slay ride with around 200'-300' of line out, you will feel a lot more comfortable having atleast an extra 100-200 feet of line to back you up.

unless I'm reading this wrong if you were fishing anything deeper than 360' you were fishing illegally.



Rockfish
The recreational fishery for rockfish (Sebastes sp.) is open to divers² and shore-based anglers year-round. The fishery is open to boat-based anglers from March 1, 2012 through December 31, 2012 (see important NOTE at the end of this section). These species may only be taken or possessed³ in waters less than 360 feet (60 fathoms) deep*. The daily bag and possession limit is 10 fish in combination of all species within the RCG Complex (includes all species of Rockfish, Cabezon and Greenlings) per person, with a sub-limit on bocaccio (2 per person, minimum size limit of 10 inches total length, also included in the 10 fish RCG Complex aggregate limit). Yelloweye rockfish, canary rockfish, bronzespotted rockfish, and cowcod may not be retained (bag limit: zero).

The "thriftyness" comes out in us all, I guess, I was doing the same with my gear, when necessary I would put a backing of Dacron or heavy mono then
splice the top of whatever be it braid or otherwise, but as I got through the different lines, once I got liking braid I just sucked it up and spooled the reels with the line I thought would work best. Braid lasts seemingly forever so I opted to fill the spool with the line of choice.
I don't think putting a backing on first wouldn't harm anything unless you backed up 65 lb with 20 lb test, really on most occasions you will not see the bottom few hundred feet of line on your reel, but like it has been said, there will inevitably be that "sleigh ride" of a life time, that you may have wished that you put on quality line all the way down... having had a few sleigh rides never come to color, I was happy I had a full spool...IMHO

i usually make sure i have 200yds + on my reel. most of my reels are backed with at least 100yd of spectra. my bigger tuna and offshore reels have about 300yd total on them.

You'd do fine with the Diawa 20 sealines for virtually all your yakkin needs!

Oh shit thanks for pointing that out jorge I really didn't know that!!

yaaa George beat me to it...no fishing deeper then 360 in state waters for recreational take of cod.

interesting thought to mike. Like Brett said though, braid lasts forever. You can put 300 yards of PP on for what 30 bucks? Ive heard from multiple people over a couple boards that they've had the same braid on for 5+ years. Depending on your favorite mono you say 5-15 bucks to spool a reel. Multiply by the 5 years you get with the PP and it becomes a pretty cheap investment.

Also like you said you barely ever see the bottom half of the spool. I have also heard of guys flipping their line, respooling their reel by taking the top half thats been exposed to the elements and tying that off to the spool then cranking it on. That way the line on the bottom half that has barely seen sunlight is now the line on the top half that gets put to use.

I guess I am glad I didn't catch anything worth while down there just got hung up

I back most of my reels half full with50 lb braid then fill the rest with mono.

But most of my reels are used with my baits100 yrds away. For the kayak and a 30 lb rig. 150 yrds of 65 lb braid and10 ft of 30 lb mono top shot and your good. Lighter reels might need more because the fish will be fighting your drag instead of just pulling the kayak and only burning drag when it heads straight down.

I put as mich line as possible on the reels. Like it is mentioned before, you never know what is going to hit the bait. I do fish with the smaller reels though. I use a Calcutta 250 with #30 braid, my prefered setup, for bass and halibut, a Calcutta 400 with #40 braid for halibut and heavier or deeper fishing, and a Calcutta 700 with #65 braid for trolling bait or Rapala CD's (mostly for T's). All reels are filled to capacity with line. I'm going to hang onto whatever until the last inch.

That being said, I also carry a Stradic 1000F with #15 braid, it is my favorite for playing around with the bass in the kelp.

oh, another thing to take into account... and i learned this the hard way.

you could spool your reel with mono.. or spool 3x as much braid on it and feel safe. but remember.. braid is VERY THIN AND STRONG AND CAN CUT THROUGH YOUR THUMB. i tried to spool 300yd of 40# spectra on my reel with only 50' of mono as a mini shock absorbant on my avet... and fish for rockfish in 200' of water. well.. reeling up the very first drop started to cut into my thumb. i had to wrap my thumb in a cut piece of cloth to prevent any more damage to it.

My oldest spectra was 6years old, I lost it during a small yard sale at LJ the same day that this same line landed a 43lb wsb. I love spectra, all but two of my seven reels are spooled with 150yds of PowePro, not a yard more but possibly a few yards less.

Another thing to consider is your drag. No sense to run50 lb top shot on a reel with12 lbs max drag. And no sense in running only15 lb on a reel that has22lbs of drag.button that down and your fish is gone. I think its funny when guys put40 lb top shot on a Calcutta200. It only has9 lbs of maxed out drag. Run20 or 25.

I just go to tackle store and tell them to put some spectra on it, and fill it to the top.

They say " you don't need that much"

How much do i need?

"About to here?"

and i go ok lets do it


then they go "how many lbs. "

I go what ever you think.


No problem since. LOL