Thread: Backing

Please do post results.

I want to start by saying conditions weren’t the best I’ve ever fished in. The fish were stingie again but I did get a few to make me sit up and take notice. The Leyland rod and the Meister line performed well as expected. Caught a nice 11” crappie on it and my only issue is that my eyes had to search for the line, I’m used to white or hi vis. Casting was good, no disappointment there at all and also satisfied with the durability of the line. Hung up a few times and never broke off. Keep in mind that I’m not gentle with my gear sometimes when I get hung. I’ll go after it if I have to cuz I don’t want to retie a leader. Though I didn’t have one on this rig, the mindset is still there. So I was satisfied with that. Feeling the line after the trip I found no rough spots, and I fish some grabby stuff. One of the fish was a LMB that was under 12 but not by much, and really gave me a tough fight. Controlling both of the good fish today, there was only 2, wasn’t an issue. With the drag set light they got to show off and the rod took most of the surges and the drag spoke just a little.

The browning rod had a braid that I had on another reel and I thought I would give it a try. Very unhappy with it. No matter what I did, with the exception of a 15mph wind in my back, I never got more than about 3/4 of a cast. The bottom guide on this rod is about big enough to drop a 50cent piece through and I hoped that would improve the castability but that wasn’t the case. This rod is a bit softer action than the Leyland and a shorter handle, I really have high expectations for it. Very light and a pleasure in the hand. When I got home I stripped the braid off and after changing the backing to be enough to accommodate the Area Wild hi vis in 2.5lb, added what I think was half of the spool. I was winding away, adding line, and noticed some color change on the spool. There was about a foot of brown line, which I took to be a marker for halfway through the spool. That’s handy if I’m right. Anyway, once I tied on about a 4’ clear 4lb leader and a jig like I used today, I stepped out the back door and made a cast to equal of exceed that of any of the other rods I have. Success!! Now I just need to find a honey hole full of cooperative fish so I can give them both, and their respective lines, a proper workout. Thanks for all the input and help. I’ll post when I find that sweet spot we all seek.