how much line do you like on your spool?

[slowride]

I know they reccomend filling your spool to within an eighth of an inch from the top, however why exactly is this? I've been using baitcasters for years and sometimes i cast better with less line. If its a 6.3 to 1 reel u still get 6 turns to 1 rotation of the handle. Is the main reason it is suppose to cast further with more line?? I always put a backer on all my reels too with some cheap line so i can change out often and with the price of line you have to. It sounds like a dumb question, but I know somw guys who almost overfil and some who barely put any line on at all??? .............what do you like to do?

[slobslayer]

It would depend on personal preference and the type of fishing your doing. Without getting into the science of it very much the diameter of your spool including the amount of line on it directly influences your retreive speed, amount of drag, casting distance, amount of line on the spool (consider line diameter too) and the power available to fight a fish. Example; if slower retreive speeds and/or more power is desired use less line on the spool. You can get slower retreive speeds and more power on a high speed reel simply by not filling up the spool. You could easily turn a 7.3:1 reel into a 6.3:1. It is a lot easier to do that than having to constantly remind yourself to slow down. I would do whatever I was comfortable with and had confidence in doing.

[kygorski]

what you fish for , and how you fish means a lot. For stripers, 150yds is the minimum for me. A huge striper will peel off line, they run like all salt water species. Bass fight it out close and everywhere, deep. airborne, what ever. Musky the same they will make one short run, and then fight you close and under the boat.The champ in freshwater is the king salmon, long runs will spool a lot of reels.I use braid, so 20/8 will give me plenty of line, and a lot of stopping power.Bass fishing, 50 to 75 yds should do you as long as you stay near the spool recomdations. I like to troll a lot so I have a lot of line out sometimes, but species should be considered.

[slobslayer]

I go saltwater fishing a few times a year myself. I once had a Penn ss850 spooled. It had about 300 yards of 20# mono on it with a mh 12' surf rod and I could not even turn that fish. Best fighting fish I've ever caught was 25# bull dolphin aka mahi mahi. Fast, strong and they never quit. Anytime I saltwater fish I'll have all the line I can get on the spool.

[walkeraviator]

I made the mistake of not putting enough line on an old Abu 321 baitcaster this season, and have been annoyed with it ever since. Brake all teh way off with a 3/4 ounce jig...I can just about throw myself into the lake trying to cast, and i get 30 yrds if im lucky.... so at least on that reel, having enough line is paramount...

[Shimano4Life]

Here's my 2 cents, and it depends on the kind of line you're fishing.

Fill your spools all the way with mono since it is soft and more manageable than other lines. When I mean all the way don't overfill them. Mono is much easier to cast (for me) than fluoro, although I use fluoro on more of my setups than mono.

Regarding fluoro and braid, since they are more stiff, definitely leave the 1/8" -- maybe even more. It all depends on what works for you. If you experience problems and have too much on, you can always take it off. This helps to control line jumping off the spool, especially with spinning reels. Seems like if I fill a baitcaster completely with fluoro it is more prone to backlash and tangle. If you fill a spinning reel to capacity with fluoro, you will have some major problems.

These tips work for me, and I'm sure they'll work for you regardless of whether or not you're using a baitcaster or a spinning reel.
Mono = full spool
Fluoro = 1/8"+ less capacity

Hope this helps you out!

[Bassin' Buck]

Here's my 2 cents, and it depends on the kind of line you're fishing.

Fill your spools all the way with mono since it is soft and more manageable than other lines. When I mean all the way don't overfill them. Mono is much easier to cast (for me) than fluoro, although I use fluoro on more of my setups than mono.

Regarding fluoro and braid, since they are more stiff, definitely leave the 1/8" -- maybe even more. It all depends on what works for you. If you experience problems and have too much on, you can always take it off. This helps to control line jumping off the spool, especially with spinning reels. Seems like if I fill a baitcaster completely with fluoro it is more prone to backlash and tangle. If you fill a spinning reel to capacity with fluoro, you will have some major problems.

These tips work for me, and I'm sure they'll work for you regardless of whether or not you're using a baitcaster or a spinning reel.
Mono = full spool
Fluoro = 1/8"+ less capacity

Hope this helps you out!

I have also found this to be correct... Well said

[slowride]

I have also found this to be correct... Well said

sweet thnx for the input, just curous..