Spooling up an abu garcia 7000i?

[mainbutter]

I have a brand spankin new 7000i I won in a raffle this past fall, and I'm planning on making a trip to Cabelas to spend some gift certificates. I'm thinking I might as well buy some line so I can use the reel next season.

I've got some 80lb spiderwire braid, I think 150 yards, but that won't come close to filling up the spool.

Should I just put a bunch of cheap backing on the reel and put the braid on top? I don't do a TON of musky fishing so I might be able to get away with less top line that some.

What would you suggest? What kind of backing should I use?

[muskydeceiver]

Mono in the same diameter as the braid.

[brad coin]

take it to Thorne bros and have them put backing on only,,,they will do this without you buying main line, you can use your own when you get home,,,they are the muskie people they will know exactly how much backing to put on a 7000 they do it all the time,and once its on it will last for years,,and backing is pretty cheap from them.You want to make sure you have the a 7000 spooled right if theres not enough backing you defeat part of the advantage of a 7000- the large spool diameter that will give you a higher retrive ratio,,

[scsavre]

Yep, get some backing on there and you will not have to waste your expensive line, or be underspooled and make the reel any slower than it needs.

[MUSKY18]

80lb Spiderwire will have the same diameter as about 15lb mono. I spool up with 100lb Spider and use 20lb mono backing on my 7000. I fill the spool up to to between 1/2 and 3/4. Then I tie off the mono to the hitch on my truck and walk the line out to the line. Then reel the line back onto the spool. This will get the mono to spool smoothly and tightly. Once done, I tie the Spiderwire on and fill up the rest of the spool. Tie the Spiderwire to the hitch, and walk it out a little ways past the knot of mono and Spiderwire, then literally "pull" myself back in. Line goes on really smoth and tight and you won't have any problems.

Don't worry about what brand of mono, it is only backing. I picked up a 300 yard spool from Walmart for 3 bucks and it works fine!

[Musky Buck]

Why mono guys for backing ? I use braid from left over spools as backing with zero issues? Is it a price thing or ?

[dudeness]

Mono has a lot of stretch to it and won't slip on the spool. If you use braided it would be a good idea to use electrical tape or even some rubber bands down first to keep from slipping.

If you keep tension on the mono when you are putting it on you would be surprised how much it will stretch, thus keeping it tight on the spool.

[brmuskie]

I would use mono since the mono won't shrink or expand if it gets wet. It won't hold water and won't cause the line in the middle of the spool to rot.

Each time I get e new reel here is my process.

I use a line counter and reel on 100 yards of the braid that I use, for me it is 80 pound tuf-line. Then I reel on what I will use for backing until my reel is perfectly full. Then I peel all of the mono off, then peel all of the braid off, then reel the mono back on, then reel the braid back on. This is way too much work for some but it is perfect for me. My reel always uses 100 yards of braid to fill it when I replace the line. If I buy a spool of 300 yards of braid I can fill 3 reels with it. Some guys buy 300 yard spools, fill 2 reels, and throw away 50 yards of braid because it isn't enough for a full spool. And remember - you only have to do it once.

[mainbutter]

Thanks guys!

[propster]

brmuskie, I do essentially the same process in order to get enough mono backing on the reel to insure the braid fills the spool. But have you found a good way to "peel off" and respool, without getting loops and knots in the line? I suppose a guy could reel the mono off onto an empty reel, then reel the braid off onto another empty reel, or hand wind it off onto an empty spool, but I was just wondering 'cause pooling it up on the floor is asking for trouble!

[scsavre]

Yep, mono stays in better condition under the braid.

To get the line off to use again. I hooked my empty spool up to my drill gun. MIght have looked kind of funny, but it only took a minute or so, and i had no worry of knots

[RK]

Hiya -

I buy spools of the cheapest, crappiest mill-end mono I can find for backing, and it doesn't really matter what size it is. I also fill the thing dang near full with backing.

Really, I barely put any braid on - maybe 60 or 70 yards. If I really bomb a cast I can see the backing on some of my reels. Unless it's a trolling reel there's no reason at all to put much line on a muskie reel. They aren't king salmon that take 100yd runs - they aren't going to spool you. Anything more than about 20 yards beyond your longest cast is pretty pointless... When you have a lot of spools to fill, braid $ adds up in a hurry...

My $.02.

Cheers,

Rob Kimm

[Scoot]

I agree with RK, but I still add more line than it sounds like he does. I'm really anal about frayed or nicked line- if I see it, it's cut out immediately. I'll cut my line and retie several times when I'm on the water. I end up going through line fairly quickly that way and it's nice to have enough line so I don't have to respool too soon. I basically end up putting enough backing on so that I can make a spool of PP cover me for two reels.