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[EN] Two years ago, I was doing the setup of my very first gear dedicated to Great Lakes migratory fish, a z-axis 7110 switch rod paired with a 4280 reel. I went to see fly fishing expert and friend Roland Morin at a favorite local store north of Montreal. I intended to go for a RIO Steelhead/Salmon line with 200 yards of 30 lb Dacron backing. Roland kindly suggested that I would substitute Dacron backing with a new backing material, he referred to me as gel spun. He explained to me that, for the same volume of backing in my reel, I could increase strength up to 50 lb thanks to the significantly thinner diameter of Polyethylene used in gel spun. I would not only get a higher strength but also a significantly higher abrasion resistance. Gel spun would also get less damaged by water and UV than Dacron hence its better durability.
All these points were very convincing but the price tag of 50 lbs gel spun was prohibitive. I decided to stick with the less pricey 30 lbs Dacron....
This setup did extremely well during subsequent trips to the Great Lakes. Although the line and backing had been taken by salmon and steelheads around rocks several times, I continued to be 100% confident with my 30 lb Dacron....
This remained true until a recent snowy mid-November day....
It was mid-afternoon. I was high stick nymphing a riffle area in the Salmon River Upper Fly Zone. The day had been hit and miss until then with sporadic success on a dead-drifted #12 three-loop pink lady fly.
At the end of my leader was the largest steelhead of the day. After a few minutes of fight, this fish was following me towards the bank. When I thought I was closing the deal this nice steelie started a strong rush downstream and made it to some heavy current. Within seconds I had 60-70 yards of backing out....HOLY S*@$# !
The first photo of this post was taken a few minutes later....the line was gone with 1/3 of my backing....
These steelheads were already driving me crazy! It will be even worse from now on....
HEHE...I can say I got a good lesson! I am just back from Roland's store with 500 yards of 50 lb gel spun....
Tight lines! Bonne pêche hivernale à tous! - Bruno.
Première neige de l'année – First snow of the year!
Paradise pool
Dernière prise de la journée sur ma soie #8 – Last catch of the day before I lost my line
Nouvelle ligne de réserve – New backing
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