Fishing line capacity math…

[Darth-Baiter]

I typically avoid the math by letting my local shop spool my reels.  I don’t save money.  
 

but with the constant shortage of available lines (at my shop) I elected to buy a spool.  I almost bought a 200 yard roll.  But say you take 110 yards,  that leftover 90 yards is a short load the next time right?  
 

I bought a 660 yarder. I should get it tomorrow.  Figured what the heck. I can afford an epic backlash now.   
 

how do you track line capacity?

[J Francho]

With a line counter. 

[QED]

In your example, you can use the leftover 90 yards to refill the spool when it runs low by using a double uni-knot (or whatever knot you prefer for joining similar lines).  Treat the remainder of the original line load as backing.

[Darth-Baiter]

It’s a calculus 3 math problem if you wanted to count turns of the handle.   Haha. 

[Kenny Yi]

I use braid backing, leaving maybe 70-80 yards for any fluoro/mono.  Braid lasts longer, helps cast a little farther since it's lighter, and is much more cost effective.  With this method, and your 260 yard spool example, I could get three respools worth of fluorocarbon out of one spool.  Once i get the right amount of braid on a reel, it never leaves.

 

If i have a decent amount left on the spool, but still too little for a reel, then that line is dedicated to leader material.

[Deleted account]

45 minutes ago, Darth-Baiter said:

It’s a calculus 3 math problem if you wanted to count turns of the handle.   Haha. 

And then some.

[WRB]

Tackle shops use a line counter like mentioned earlier. The counter measures how many feet/yards of line is coming off the filler spool. You pay for the footage/yardage used...simple. 

Tom

 

[jimmyjoe]

   If you don't do it with a line counter like @J Francho said, then you need to drop line a known distance. Once you find out the true yardage your spool holds, write it down somewhere. Change lines? That's OK ..... do it over again.  It's valuable knowledge, because the yardage ratings for most reels has no relationship to the capacities of the particular lines fishermen use.        jj

[QED]

3 hours ago, BassWhole! said:

And then some.

 

Rectangle Area = (8 + 4*sqrt(3)) * r^2 assuming  the circles are congruent.  The proof is left as an exercise for the reader.

[ike8120]

Maybe this will help you https://www.pattayafishing.net/fishing-reel-line-capacity-estimator/

[Revival]

1 hour ago, ike8120 said:

Maybe this will help you https://www.pattayafishing.net/fishing-reel-line-capacity-estimator/

I use that website along with a line counter.

 

I recently purchased 300 yards of 10lb braid.  After the calculations, I spooled up 75yds of braid on 4 spinning reels (with 10lb mono backing) and everything came out perfect.

[redmeansdistortion]

Which line counter does everybody use?  I've been thinking of getting one for spooling reels but it seems like many don't work with thin braid? 

[J Francho]

Pretty sure mine is a cheap BPS house brand counter. It's got to be at least 20 years old. 

[MN Fisher]

33 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

Which line counter does everybody use?  I've been thinking of getting one for spooling reels but it seems like many don't work with thin braid? 

I have the Berkley clip-on - worked fine with 10# braid.

https://www.cabelas.com/shop/en/berkley-line-counter

[Boomstick]

One thing that I will note is that when you see a spool holds 110 yards of 14 lb line, it is likely using the diameter of fluorocarbon. For example, my Steez SV uses .310mm as 14lb and .330 as 16lb. So if you are using monofilament, that 110 yards of 14lb fluorocarbon translates to 85 yards of 14lb mono and that's using Trilene XL, Sufix Siege or Big game would be around 78.

 

If I know the reel that I am spooling holds 110 yards of the line I am adding, I would put enough backing line to solidly cover the spool before tying on the mainline. I haven't got a line counter yet, but in this case I will argue you don't need it since you can make do with anywhere from 10 to 30 yards of backing line.

[QED]

On 6/14/2021 at 9:25 PM, QED said:

 

Rectangle Area = (8 + 4*sqrt(3)) * r^2 assuming  the circles are congruent.  The proof is left as an exercise for the reader.

 

So @BassWhole!, is this the correct solution to the problem you posed?

[bulldog1935]

hmmm

[J Francho]

That'll hold a couple arm lengths

 

Just kidding.  I have a spool with similar capacity.  It made laugh a little considering that the spool lip is about what I leave showing on normal, higher capacity spools.  

 

Nice example!

[bulldog1935]

there are at least a few reels that counting handle cranks works.  

If you're fishing PE#0.5 finesse braid on this spool, you actually need a backing calculation to fill it.  

Advanced fishing reel line capacity estimator - Pattaya Fishing

 

 

and for BFS, that Roro-X spool held 90 m of PE#0.8 - didn't have to count, though, because the line changed colors every 10 m.  

[flat]

If I had to use a short spool I'd lay out the old line in the yard, then wind on the short spool, connect to the old line and top it off, then lay it out in the yard and reverse it.

[J Francho]

Or use another reel with the same capacity. 

[Deleted account]

36 minutes ago, J Francho said:

Or use another reel with the same capacity. 

Like the fly guys.