Feb. Winner--Save money on fishing line! Get P-Line, Vanish, and use backing!

[fishingmarlin]

Ok well if you are like me everytime you pull off a spool of P-line you cringe at the thought of buying more. Even worse if you use braided or flourocarbon which takes that price on up there.

Now let me ask you this: How much of that line did you actually use? Most likely it was less than 1/4 of that line was used.

After getting really into fly fishing this year I learned a lot about joining lines together, backing, and different size tippets. So next time you are about to put all new line on your rods. Go to BPS and get a big spool (1500 yards like $9.99) of excel mono line. If you throw 10-12lb test get 12-14lb the backing needs to be within a few lbs of your leader or they will not join together very well.

Now you spool your reels up 3/4 the way with the cheaper line then add about 25-50yards your favorite line. I have not tried this with spincast but it works great with baitcasters. Just like using backing for braided line you are just filling up the spool with place holder line.

I use a double uni or a blood knot to join the 2 lines together.

Now that 250 spool of flourocarbon you just bought will last you 5-8 times as long!!!

Want the invisibility of flouro but the stretch of mono?? Flip with a 2-3 ft of flouro tied onto mono.

The uses are endless and most of all throwing away a full spool of line won't hurt you like it used to.

Drop shot principles, tired of getting the tag end of the line tangled up and loosing the whole rig? Tie your line to the hook and 2-4lb line from the hook to the sinker!

Are you using 12 lb line with crankbaits and wish you could get your bait just a little deeper? Pull off enough line to make room and add 25-30 yards of 10lb line. You can keep stepping down if you need to.

Things to be careful of:
ON my casting rods I don't fill up the spool too much with backing just a little over 1/4.
On my flipping and pitching rods I will fill them almost 3/4 with backing. Then I can use the best Flourocarbon or braided line.


Modified by fishingmarlin at 6:56 AM 2/17/2006

[00Bassn]

You gut my vote The only thing is I have been doin this for a long time and I wish I had posted it first

Very good way to Save on the cost of respooling as often as we should

[Passion 4 Bassin]

Good Tip Billy!

[Fischermen2]

I never thought it was a great idea until i read your post ..I do that with braided fireline....i get the 125 yd. spool 16 bucks a spool...i split it in half about62 yds wind it up on a reel then fill the rest with backing to the max capasity(cheep stuff like to use mono it doesn't cut in) then i transfeer it to my other reel the same size ....now i have 60 yds of my best line on top ..i like to use 20# fireline...(how often can you cast 60yds ) ..now i tie on a leader of about 8 to 10 ft. depends on what kind of fishing im doing...and like you said, you got the best of everything...and when i fish the weed i remove the leader and just use the braided line...either way the hook set is unbeliveable, and you feel every pebble you run your worm over.... i even use fireline on my spining reel becouse it has some body to it and doesnt fly off like a birds nest.... my son sayes im the chepest guy he ever meet.. .... im glad im not the only one that likes to save a buck here and there

[fishingmarlin]

The idea really came to me while fly fishing where all I do is change the tippet on my leader throughout the year. When you have fly line that costs around $50 for good stuff and leaders that are about $7 for 3. Then you have backing that is behind the fly line which I almost never use so why pay to get more.

Then I started thinking about it when I was putting new line on all my baitcasters. I am throwing away line that I only used about 1/3 of to begin with. 2/3rd's of your line never even sees the water so why spend so much money on it. Not only that if I have mono on I can strip it back and relign with flouro a lot quicker if I need to.

With the money I am saving using cheap backing I can buy the expensive stuff and even change it out more often without breaking the bank. I can also buy more baits with the money I save and with crankbaits running $15-$20 these days I need that money.

[PROCraft man]

I've also been doing this for years with all my lines, mono or Fireline. Now, I'll do ya one better; when I change my Fireline I spool it from one reel to another so that the top is now on the bottom and vice versa. This works great since it has no memory, any knicks or frays are buried deep in the spool, and it doubles the usage again.

Great tips guys!!!

[snowpawn]

why do you need the spool full on a baitcaster? i have a curado that i leave half full, making it much better for lighter baits, and never had a problem with heavier ones. makes the spool lighter, so it takes less to get it moving, and has less inertia so it backlashes less. casts alot farther than it did full.