Backing Line for Musky Reel

Hey guys,

Setting up my Musky reel for the first time. What pound test do you use for backing? Does it really matter much, since it’s more used to reduce/eliminate the slippage from braid?

Thanks!

Lower weight will stack nicer and higher weight will take less time to spool up. I use 20 lb backing since it’s about the same diameter as 80 lb braid.

To spool up start with a bare reel and spool on exactly half of a 150 yard spool of braid. Then fill the spool plump full with backing and reverse the line so the braid is on top. Your first time on the water, take a high resistance bait like a crank or bucktail and let out all the line while trolling at idle and reel it in so the entire spool is stacked nice and tight.

tswoboda wrote:

Lower weight will stack nicer and higher weight will take less time to spool up. I use 20 lb backing since it’s about the same diameter as 80 lb braid.

To spool up start with a bare reel and spool on exactly half of a 150 yard spool of braid. Then fill the spool plump full with backing and reverse the line so the braid is on top. Your first time on the water, take a high resistance bait like a crank or bucktail and let out all the line while trolling at idle and reel it in so the entire spool is stacked nice and tight.

Thanks tswoboda! Sounds easy enough.

Best knot to tie the braid an mono together?

tswoboda wrote:

Lower weight will stack nicer and higher weight will take less time to spool up. I use 20 lb backing since it’s about the same diameter as 80 lb braid.
To spool up start with a bare reel and spool on exactly half of a 150 yard spool of braid. Then fill the spool plump full with backing and reverse the line so the braid is on top. Your first time on the water, take a high resistance bait like a crank or bucktail and let out all the line while trolling at idle and reel it in so the entire spool is stacked nice and tight.

I do almost the exact same thing except I just eye ball it instead of reversing it. I do think it is important to fill the reel as full as possible and to get the line nice and tight. The more line you have on your spool, the better the gear ratio.

A little electrical tape then fill the spool with braid. No backing.
Reverse line after a year.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

A little electrical tape then fill the spool with braid. No backing.
Reverse line after a year.

This also works great.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Reverse line after a year.

How do you do this exactly?

blank wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
Reverse line after a year.

How do you do this exactly?

Blank, I think what they mean is you unspool the braid, and respool is, except you tie on the more used end to the reel spool and then you have the fresher line on the business end of it.

Correct me if I am wrong guys.

Thanks for all the help!

Headed to North Star, by Marcel this weekend. If anyone has any recent updates about the lake, I’ll take those too.

blank wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
Reverse line after a year.

How do you do this exactly?

Go find a tree, deck post, basketball hoop, etc. Reel in 1 hand and the end of the line in the other. With the line wrapped around the tree just walk away from it until you’re down to the backing or tape. Then tie the used end of the line to the backing/tape and respool. I use the same method to get exactly half of a spool on each reel, otherwise I always end up with 30-40 yards left on a spool of new line which is basically worthless.

Kyle Wills wrote:

Best knot to tie the braid an mono together?

Whichever knot you can tie the easiest. It’s a non issue since you’ll never see that knot. For braid to backing I think I probably tie a double uni.

In any braid to mono/fluoro leader I’m tying an FG knot but that’s irrelevant here.

blank wrote:

<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:</div>
Reverse line after a year.

How do you do this exactly?

Since I have eight or more combos…
Throw away line from one reel (empty spool) then spool it up from an existing reel.
Then grab the next reel and fill up the one you just emptied. Etc etc

It helps to keep track of the line on all your reels. I.e. that line is on year 1 or 2.

I might do the backing thing if I wasn’t always using 80-100# test. You can put a lot of 50# or less on a reel compared to 80#+

I use 20 lb backing since it’s about the same diameter as 80 lb braid.

Best knot to tie the braid an mono together?

I agree, 17-20lb mono is just about right for backing since it’s typically close to the same diameter as the 80-100lb braid I’m using. It’s MUCH easier to tie to lines together if they’re close in diameter.

I like the double uni knot for this. It’s a bit of a bother to learn, but once you’ve got it down it’s secure and lays flat in your spool.

A little electrical tape then fill the spool with braid. No backing.
Reverse line after a year.

This is what I do for smaller reels like the Curado 300 or Tranx 400 as it only takes ~150yds of braid to fill those up. But when spooling up a Tranx 500 or any of my trolling reels with 200-300+ yds of capacity? I fill it half-way with cheap mono and save my expensive braid for the business portion of the spool!

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blank wrote:

Reverse line after a year.

How do you do this exactly?

I have more than one reel so I remove the line on one reel and wind the line from the other ones. Then I put new line on the last empty reel.
When using backing I always try to match the dia of the two lines as close together as I can.
Edit: Fish blood did a better job explaining it^^^

Thanks for the clarifications guys. I had thought about using an empty reel like you’ve described. I’ll have to do that sometime.

I agree with the uni-uni knot. Pretty quick and easy when you get your fingers right.

Side note, I tied 20# fireline onto my leadcore with a uni knot. I sinched it down onto a good section of leadcore. Then just snipped the leadcore. No knot.
I’ll be darned if that isn’t working a few weeks later. Couldn’t strip the Braid back when it broke on the water and figured I’d try the uni connection. Might see how long that lasts! Way easier!!