Home Forums Fishing Flyfishing Am I Flirting With Maddness?

So, for my...ahem...recent birthday - which officially puts me approaching, if not actually into "old-fart" territory, my children bought me a custom made 5 weight fly rod to replace my 20 year old WalMart buggy whip. This thing is a lovely work of art and feels very responsive. I've ordered a nice reel, line and leaders from Bass Pro and am waiting for the shipment to arrive.

When looking on the internet...I see something called "backing," and am wondering why I need it, what it's for and have I entered into a hobby that will consume me and if maybe I should just take up heroin?

You will need backing only for long running big fish in big water.

If you start catching bluegills and bass on that thing, you will have wished you went with heroin....

The backing is more of a reel filler than insurance against a long running fish. I can't remember the last time I was into the backing on a trout.

You want the spool filled with enough backing to have your fly line fill the reel to the end. This helps keep your fly line to the largest coil possible on the reel and eliminates the small coils that will kink up your fly line and make it annoying when you strip line off the reel...

Thanks to both of you. Now, Shrapnel, what weight line do I need for Antelope?

It isn't the line weight that matters, it is the tippet and I never use less than 00X for antelope. You will need plenty of backing though...

Hmmm. Catch-and-release?

For a 5wt set up for antelope I would recommend a wt forward line to punch through the prairie wind and at least a 20lb backing.

Seriously though. For backing on a 5wt I run 12 lb. Fills the reel nicely. Anything heavier and you run the risk of over filling the reel, esp if you use a double taper fly line. The double taper line has a thick belly whereas the wt forward has the thicker part of the line at the front with a thin running line section.

Well, as soon as the damn reel arrives from the factory, I'll set it up and see if it can catch a fish.

Yes. Backing is only needed if there's a chance one will encounter a big fish. We had a series of years long ago with about twice normal precip. Small ponds turned into lakes and our trout near doubled in size. Twenty five+ inch trout can show one his backing on a regular basis.

Go to Walmart and pick up 60 or 70 yds of braided dacron/nylon with about a 20 lb break point. It is fun to watch backing stream off a reel until we're looking at the last few turns. Then it's panic time.

Most fly reels designed for trout hold too much backing. With 35 yards of fly line and 50 yards of backing you can handle most any trout situation, including steelhead. Why manufacturers make reels that hold 100 or 150 yards of 20 lb. backing is something I don't understand.

I either purchase a smaller reel, say a 3 wt reel for a 5wt line, so I only have 50 or so yards of backing and the resulting lighter weight reel, or I use 30 lb. backing on a full size reel.

In the past few years I have only used 30 lb. backing since it does not tend to dig into itself when under pressure from a fish. I have a lot of 7wt thru 11 wt rods and reels and stocking only one size backing makes since. I purchase it in 3000 yard spools.

I use a Hardy Perfect 2 7/8" for most of my work with 4-5-6 weight rods, and a little old Orvis Flyweight (made by Hardy) from the mid-60's for 2-3 weight stuff-- for the same reasons espoused by Vahunter. Minimal need for backing.

Don't overlook too the knot you use to join the backing to the line. Tie it neatly, you don't want a big booger of a knot catching/stuttering in each guide as it shoots through in the event you do latch onto something that runs you into the backing.

Normally a Nail Knot for attaching backing to line is used. A plastic tube like those that comes with WD 40 spray cans cut to 2" works well for tying that it. A guide for various knots can be found at fly fishing stores.

Just when I was thinking, that for my fishing needs I'd not need anything heavy, the builder of my rod told me of a time he was fishing bass and bluegill in a nearby lake, and a 12# catfish decided it was time to eat a surface bait! I've caught one 33" blue cat on a spinning rod from a kayak, and it was fun. I can't imagine it on a #5 fly rod.

If you manage to land it, it'll take you a while.

Sorry, but I see a lot of mistakes happening here all at once.

The fly reel needs to balance with the weight of the rod to a significant degree and that means a smaller reel loaded with less backing weight will not balance well with the rod.

Double taper lines have longer tapers, generally, than weight forward lines, but double tapers have the same shape head at each end. That way the line can be turned around when the forward end starts getting a bit worn. They were more common in more frugal times and when it was much harder to toss an entire fly line while casting.

I see backing quite a bit, but salmon by the hundred are typical here over the course of a year. I have already caught quite a few rainbows over 10# this year on flies.

Loop to loop connections are by far the best way to go these days to connect fly line to backing. Most better shops should be able to weld a loop in the back end of your line if it did not come with one. I was slow to embrace the loops, but over the past number of years it has shown itself a far superior plan.

Well, I went loop to loop between the line and the leader, but I made my own weld with superglue and really small heat shrink tubing. I know...sacrilege! Fly fishing is a hobby, it's not a religion to me. I don't suppose the fish will be too offended by the rig.

Now for the important part, the Orvis reel arrived yesterday, I backed it, strung it, leadered it, made up a practice fly and went out into the back yard and started casting.

The difference between a $40 WalMart fly rod, and one that is hand made is phenomenal. Before, I had to work to get that line to play to and the fly to fall to the end of the leader at the end of the cast. I could do it, but it took more effort than I felt it should. I thought it was my form - and may still be, but last night the line was doing things that I'd only seen on "A River Ran Through It." It seemed to "want" to stay suspended just above the water until the fly had made it to my target and then everything just settled down and lay there in a relatively straight line (pardon the pun.) Before, I had trouble with the line taking up all the slack I had near the reel. Last night, all the slack came out as the line and fly finished its whip action.

The #5 weight rod felt like an extension of my arm, rather than a tool to be used. It was quite fun.

Sunday, will be the true test. I'll either do some shore casting or take it out in my Kayak for some blue gill and bass. The rod builder has a little private lake he's inviting me to. I'll get some much needed lessons.

Thanks for all the input guys.

Out of curiosity, whose blank did the rodmaker use? (Or is a split bamboo? Cane rod building is the next frontier I mean to conquer.)

A nice rod that responds well to one's casting technique is wonderful thing and a joy forever.

I learned to cast with an Orvis split bamboo 5 foot for a five weight- the old "Mighty Mite". Talk about a handicap for a beginner. It instilled casting habits that dog me to this day.

Fly rods today are significantly lighter than they were just a few years ago, and with the tapers used now the swing weight is even less in the hand. Those of us that fish a lot in various conditions for various fish species find that smaller reels than rated line capacity balance fine when the type of fishing does not need large amounts of backing.

As light as trout rods are today, and we are talking about trout rods in this thread where large amounts of backing are not needed, a smaller reel balances and fishes fine. Now if you are talking salmon, steelhead in big rivers, bonefish, albacore, etc. where large amounts of backing are needed this is not an option, plus the larger reels balance best with the larger heavier rods used.

Lots of things determine rod balance including grip type, hand size, and the type of reel seat. I have never found lighter reels to hurt a trout rods balance.

This is my experience with many years of fishing rods from a 6'-0" 3 wt. to an 9'-0" 11 wt rod.

I have no idea. I didn't commission the build. My kids did. I'll be seeing the builder this weekend. I'll ask him.

Get out as soon as you can. Whole new experience with a good rod/reel. You will be *hooked*.