[Gunner]

Last year I purchased a Ross BG-6 to put with a 9 wt speyrod. I went with the BG6 because I thought I needed to step up in spool capacity to put a long belly spey line on the reel. When I put a long belly Orvis spey Wonderline on the spool, it took up the entire spool -- in order to get any backing line on the spool, I had to cut off some of the running line, and even then could only get a small amount of gel-spun backing.
I'm now thinking about a new Danielsson reel for my Meiser 10'6" 9/10 wt rod but don't want to spend big bucks on a reel that winds up being small.

So, my questions are: 1) how far up do you step from the manufacturer's statement about line capacity to put a spey line on a reel? 2) any recommendations regarding Danielsson or any other reel? It will mostly be used in the saltwater for stripers.

Thanks.
Joe

 

[Matt the Knife]

LW 6nine

My only experience with a Danielsson is with a LW 6nine. I think the website lists the capacity of that reel as WF9 + 240 yards 20#. I doubt that it would hold half of that. I currently have it on a 10'6" 5/6 switch rod. I had to go to Gelspun to reach a suitable capacity with any line. Here's the lines I have had on it:

Windcutter 6/7/8 Full Floater + 200yards Gelspun

25' Shooting Head (from 12wt floater) + 100' Rio 20# Powerflex + 175 yards Gelspun

Windcutter 8/9/10 Body + 5' Cheater + 10' Tip + 150 yards Gelspun

Wulff TT10F (27' Head) + 200 yards Gelspun

When I first recieved it I could not fit 100 yards of 20# dacron with the 6/7/8 Windcutter. My assumption is that the listed capacity should probably read WF6 + 240 20#, but I have my doubts that it would even hold that much. Not sure if this will help, but I would certainly try to talk to someone who owns the reel you're targeting, as this model held considerably less than advertised. Great reel though, no operational complaints.

Matt

 

[Speyducer]

Danielsson/Loop 6Nine

I had exactly the same problem with this reel.

To check how much backing I could add, I spooled on the Cortland WF9 floating line, and there was NO space for backing at all!

I had to put on a #7 wt WF floating line (a Michael Evans line) in order to get 110 m of 30lb dacron backing.

I have subsequently used gelspun backing with the #7 wt line, and managed about 175-180 m of backing.

Somewhere along the line, some reel manufacturers seem just to pick line weight and backing size/length recommendations out of la-la land!

Perhaps they have actually missed out on the fact there are now so many new line configurations - tapers, heads, short belly etc - that they are still spouting the figures for lines that were available for the estimated reel capacity whilst that reel was still on the drawing board!

Mike

 

[Speyducer]

Danielsson...

... 2) any recommendations regarding Danielsson or any other reel? It will mostly be used in the saltwater for stripers.

Thanks.
Joe

IMHO the Danielsson reels (not the new Loop) are TDB's as far as build quality, seal & drag.

For your set-up, I would go for the LW 8Twelve

M

 

[sinktip]

Remember that unless specified otherwise, the capacities stated by reel manufactures are not for spey lines but rather AFTMA rated single handed lines.

I also have the LW 6nine and agree it won't hold a 9 weight spey but would be surprised to hear the stated capacity isn't fairly close using a #9 weight forward single hand line. If I remember right, I had 125 yds of 30# dacron on mine and a 5/6 WC.

 

[Undertaker]

Check out the spey reel section on the Nautilus website. They give capacity for all their spey-sized reels with various popular lines, from shooting heads to long bellies. You can compare this with the standard fly line capacities, and then go a step further and compare those to reels by other manufacturers. Should get you in the ballpark.

 

[salmo]

On my LW 6-9 I have Rio Steelhead ( single-hand) line which has 65' head and
110 yards of #20 dacron.
When loaded with WF wt.8 ( 45' head) it takes ca. 190 yards of #20 dacron and there is still room.
Cortland colored backing, compare to dacron, reduces capacity by 10-15%.

As far as LW 8-12 , it takes Rio 8/9 MidSpey and 180 yards of #30lb dacron.

Salmo

 

[Terry]

reel sizes

Reel capacity is a problem we all have. My dream is to have the manufactures list the reel capacities by volume. Then we can ask the line makers to do the same, for each size of line or backing. Is this too simple or am I missing something?

 

[Gunner]

common problem

It seems we all share this common problem -- reels do not take as much backing with a spey line. I like the suggestion that the reel and line manufacturers list their product with an additional notation: volume.

speyducer -- I am unfamiliar with "TDB" -- good or bad?

undertaker -- thanks for your suggestion -- a good place to start.

Thanks all of you for your suggestions/comments.
Joe

 

[SSPey]

I use these reels w/ 30 lb dacron as follows:

LW6/9 for single hand lines on 6/7 wt rods

LW8/12 (or HD9/13) for single hand rods 9/10 wt, DH salt overhead, or 13-14' speys with short/mid lines

HD11/14 for 15-16' speys, any line (though it could get tight on the heaviest and longest of longbellies)

as above, I'd guess that the LW8/12 will suit that rod, assuming you don't intend to put a long belly on it

 

[Speyducer]

Not on Simon's list of terminologies...

speyducer -- I am unfamiliar with "TDB" -- good or bad?

Thanks all of you for your suggestions/comments.
Joe

"TDB's" translates to The Dogs B*****'s, (or mutts nutts) - ie. top notch or Very Good!:Eyecrazy:

M

 

[Gardener]

Reel capacity is a problem we all have. My dream is to have the manufactures list the reel capacities by volume. Then we can ask the line makers to do the same, for each size of line or backing. Is this too simple or am I missing something?

I started a thread on this subject a few years ago. A few people seemed to think it would be useful, but nothing came of it.

http://www.speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=7890

If the line and reel manufacturers can't be bothered to provide us with this simple information, perhaps the suggestion made in the old thread, that this information could be assembled and made available by forum members, is the way to go.

 

[spey machine]

...............Gunner,the 6/9 is more of a reel for single-hand rods,the 8/12 is more of a spey reel. I find that if the stated capacity is a WF12 with 350 yds. of 30 lb. backing,you have the room for most 8 wt. and up spey lines.

 

[Sage Thumb]

8/12 Capacity

"TDB's" translates to The Dogs B*****'s, (or mutts nutts) - ie. top notch or Very Good!:Eyecrazy:

"T.D.B" - I second that.

Mine's a "pre-divorce" Loop/Evotec 8/12; can't get them now.

I use the same reel with the same backing (about 250yd of 50 lb GSP) permanently in place.

Just tie on to a 30 gm Scandi head + running line for my Spey rod; or full #9 WF line for my trusty RPLXi.

My question is: Would there be room for a Skagit set up; or would I have to chop back the backing?
Living in Wales, despite having the Airflo factory almost on my dorstep; it seems that they don't sell them here.
I've never, ever seen one. Perhaps I've led a sheltered life?

 

[silver61]

Mine's a "pre-divorce" Loop/Evotec 8/12; can't get them now.

Yes you can, from Danielsson. There only difference is instead Loop you will find Danielsson name. Even your pre-divorce reel is engraved with Danielsson name.

Robert
[/I]

 

[sinktip]

Sage Thumb,

I think the 8/12 would be fine with a Skagit line and the backing type/amount you listed. I've got 150 yds of 30# dacron and a Rio 650 Skagit on the Loop Classic 8-11 and I think the capacity similar to your pre-divorce evotec. I also loaded up a buddies 8twelve with around 175 yds of 30# dacron and a 10/11 75' Jetstream and it had some room to spare. The Skagit lines are capacity hogs but should fit. Worse case scenario, you can trim off a bit of running line.

'tip

 

[spey machine]

Sage Thumb...........

...........sink tip is right,the 8/12 can hold either a larger line,or another 30 to 40 yards of backing. It's a great reel for a light spey rod.