Spooling a Spinning Reel with Braid

[Brett's_daddy]

Is it necessary to put a mono backer on a spinning reel when spooling braid? I'm going with 20lb. braid to 8lb. fluorocarbon leader.

[ike8120]

I personally go straight braid.

[TheBasslayer]

It depends on which spinning reel you are using. Some reels have a braid-ready spool, where you don't need to add backing, but for the average spinning reel, I would probably add backing so that it won't slip on the arbor knot or whatever knot you use to attach the line to the spool.

[bulldog1935]

Once again, 

Here is the Best Online Calculator for Stacking Lines of Different Diameter

 

Start with your spool capacity, put in the diameter and length of your braid spool, then you can input backing diameter and it will determine how much you need. 

 

Or after putting in spool capacity, you can put in the backing diameter and length next, tell it your braid diameter, and it will tell you how much will fill the spool.  

____________________________________________________________________

 

If your spool is deeper than this photo, you probably want backing

Otherwise, you're going to need a half-mile of braid.  

This happens to be a braid-specific spool, made to hold 200 m of PE#1.5 (JDM silk thread diameter scale) - 30 lb braid.  

 

[Brett's_daddy]

16 minutes ago, TheBasslayer said:

It depends on which spinning reel you are using.

This is a Lews Mach Smash. Just checked Lew's website and they say it has a braid ready aluminum spool.

[MN Fisher]

28 minutes ago, Brett's_daddy said:

This is a Lews Mach Smash. Just checked Lew's website and they say it has a braid ready aluminum spool.

Even on my braid-ready spinners, I put backing...to save money and prevent possible slippage.

 

Also, I want a bearing in the line-roller, not a bushing...reason I upgraded my Trions to Avocet RZTs.

[5/0]

1 hour ago, bulldog1935 said:

Once again, 

Here is the Best Online Calculator for Stacking Lines of Different Diameter

 

Start with your spool capacity, put in the diameter and length of your braid spool, then you can input backing diameter and it will determine how much you need. 

 

Or after putting in spool capacity, you can put in the backing diameter and length next, tell it your braid diameter, and it will tell you how much will fill the spool.  

____________________________________________________________________

 

If your spool is deeper than this photo, you probably want backing

Otherwise, you're going to need a half-mile of braid.  

This happens to be a braid-specific spool, made to hold 200 m of PE#1.5 (JDM silk thread diameter scale) - 30 lb braid.  

 

I do this too except I fill all reels using backing with cheap mono then use to tool to calculate how much line to strip off and replace with new main line.

As an example: Reel filled with .013 dia. mono and I want 100 yds of .011 dia. main line. I would strip off 70-75 yds on mono and replace with new line.

[TheBasslayer]

2 hours ago, Brett's_daddy said:

This is a Lews Mach Smash. Just checked Lew's website and they say it has a braid ready aluminum spool.

Well then you probably do not need backing for the reel. Although backing would save you money is you aren't fighting fish that use lots of drag. Happy fishing!

[EWREX]

i personally don't, it's probably a waste of braid but i don't feel the need to change it off the spool for 2-3 seasons. i regularly put new leaders on if need be.

[Lead Head]

I use enough backing that a 150 yard spool of braid fills the spool. After about 2 years I'll pull the braid off and flip it around. 

 

After watching my dad lose a nice fish because his braid was slipping on the spool, I always use at least a few feet of mono backing under braid just to be safe.

[Bankbeater]

I put backing on all of my reels.

[Revival]

I always use backing for 2 reasons.  So the braid doesn’t slip and also to save money on braid.
 

How much braid do you have?

 

If I have a spool of 300 yds, that will get me 100 yds on 3 different spinning reels.  I just calculate how much backing is needed for each reel.

 

If I have a spool of 150 yds, that will get me 75 yds on 2 spinning reels.

[inferiorfisherman]

I have never used backing and use braid exclusively.  I have never had an issue with slipping on either braid ready or standard spools.  Scotch tape works extremely well for me. That being said without backing it is relatively easy to spend $35 on braid to fill up a 3000 spool.  I do eventually flip the braid around by swapping the line onto another reel so I feel like I get value out of both ends.  

[Deephaven]

I lost a beast with the line slipping on my reel about 20 years ago.  Have always used backing since

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Tape or backing will work as long as there’s something for the braid to grab and not slip 

[huZZah]

I spool full braid on electrical tape. 

[flat]

I do to save money. I'll go a little heavier on the braid and flip it every year or so, in addition to trimming the worn line I'll add some more mono backer to keep the spool full. With this method starting with braid only would be more economical.