Tenton

[Beachcomber]

I just purchased a Tenton 9-11 reel. The book says it will hold 250 yards of #30 backing, w/10wf line. Does anyone know if that's 250 of Micron backing. Micron is all I've seen locally.
Also, I want to use it with a 10 wt rod for surf/jetty fishing this fall. Is 250 yards of backing enough for the occasional Cow Nosed Ray or Albie ? I know I would be able to pack more backing on if I used the gel stuff, but have read to many horror stories about it and would like to avoid it.
Thanks guys, very informative message board

[mdrew9]

I got the same reel, its 250 yards of Dacron backing.

[Quicksilver]

By the horror stories I assume you mean cut fingers. If that is the case then you are prepared and forewarned. I love the spectra stuff! You will only need 50- 75 yards of it on top of your regular backing.

[Beachcomber]

I was warned about the cut fingers and the backing slicing into the rod's guides. I even heard one guy say that the backing could actually slice it's self if twisted. Don't know how true that is, but it's just one less thing I don't want to have to worry about. Not this season at least, I'll get there though.

So, if the reel can take 250 yards of Dacron backing do you think it would be able to take 300 yards of Cortland Micron ?

[Ray]

This is just my opinion

I don't like any of these gel spum or micron backing. Yes they can cut you like a razor. If you think about when you need all that backing, when a big fish is running, that is when you will likely palm the reel and increase the odds of cutting yourself. It's not worth it.

I use 20# or 30# regular odd dacron backing on all of my spools. Most reel manufacturers publish conservative backing #s. These spools include ones specific to Bonefish, Bonito, and False Albacore, fish know for their ability to run.

If you need 300 yards of backing for a fish running from you....the fish isn't coming back. Go with 250 yards of dacron.

[Quicksilver]

I don't think there is a right or wrong way of looking at this issue. I think a lot of it comes down to what you feel comfortable fishing with. An angler wants to fish with equipment that makes him or her confident in the ability to land a bigger than average fish if the opportunity presents itself. The thing about gel spun/spectra type backing is not to fit 500+ yards of backing on a reel. The idea is that the first 100 yards of backing that a huge fish would take will only decrease your spool diameter a very small fraction of an inch. The spool diameter has a huge effect on your line retrieval rate. The ability to retrieve line quickly makes it much easier to keep pressure on fish. If you get into albies hot and heavy dacron/micron will cut you too. I am a living example. :D My experience was a guided trip,using the guides equipment twenty miles off Naples, FL. One fish after another during a half day trip, (four hours of fishing).