How much line capacity do you like to have on your bait caster reels when fishing for salmon and steelhead, and what reel have you chosen to do the job? Thanks for the input Jack

Quantum Tour Edition PT 150yards of 12 lb Ultragreen

Revo Toro51 HS almost 200yards of 15# Andes

100 yards or mono goes quick when you break off a few times.
I change my line about every month fresh line is a must for me.

Revo STX with 145 yards of 12lb Ultragreen

For saltwater, I like the 6000 series Ambassduers or the Toro 60 series. Both will hold about 160 yd of 20#. The spool spindle has started to show a couple of times (that's always exciting) but we've lucked out.

Steelhead=Curado 100-120 yds.12# ultra green.
Salmon=Calcutta 401 120-150 yds. 30# ultra green.
Good luck,
SZ

I put some heavy line on first then fill it up. It's easier to cast with a full spool. And like said above you don't have to replace the whole spool...Rod

Curado 300e with roughly 200 yards of 15# CXX.
I like a fair amount of line in case you break off during an all dayer on the water. Rarely do I loose line but if I do I dont want to be any more handicapped than I already am

Low-profile reel capacities are more than adequate when running lines such as 12-15LB UG and up to 30lb braided lines. My arsenal seems to include 200 series Curados, Revo STX and the Daiwa Zillionaire and the Viento.

I honestly can't find a valid reason to use a larger reel for the most part when fishing Washington rivers. Spoons, spinners, drift fishing, float fishing really doesn't require a lot of line.....

Might bump up the reel size a notch for kings so there's plenty of capacity for heavier monos and braids. Consider a Curado 300, or Revo 50 if you really want to go big, or fish bigger water (Columbia, etc). I like the Toro 50 with 50-65 braid on it for things like divers, plugs, herring, fish-flash type crap, etc. Plenty of capacity for that.

Revo Toro 50's, 200 yards of 15# Maxima...it's not always about line capacity, so much as spool diameter...if you lose 20 yards over a couple of days off of a reel that only holds 125 yards of line, and then making a moderate cast and hooking up, and find yourself 40 yards away from a hot fish, your spool will be about as big around as your pinky.

This causes two problems...one, it greatly changes the drag setting as the spool diameter gets smaller (drag effectively gets much tighter), and it affects your line pickup speed consderably, too...6:1 on a spool the size of your pinky versus 6:1 on a spool an inch and a half across is a significant difference in the amount of line you take up with each crank.

Plus, the drags seem to be much stronger on the larger capacity reels.

Fish on...

Todd

Heard someone once say "anything over 100 yards is just backing." Has rung true for me. Seriously...if you have more than 100 yards of line out on a fish, it ain't coming in anyway.

I keep a spool of fresh line in the car or in my bag if I am hiking in a ways...that way if I lose some line and I worry it may impact my reel performance or I don't have enough to play a fish, I can re-spool right then. It only takes a few minutes and the benefits of not having to lug around a big old reel are much greater.

I fish a Curado 200 size for both Steelies and Kings. 8 lb Maxima UG for Steelies and 12 -15 for Kings. Never felt undergunned in terms of drag on the newer Curados (D and e series). On the old school "greenie" Curados I used to have to add drag pressure with my thumb at times, but not these days.

zebco 11-Mtsb
50# maxima mono for steelhead, 55# for salmon (same reel)

Reason why I asked is I have been looking for a new reel and was torn between the smaller Curado and the 300 because of the line capacity differnetial & obviously the (doh!, insert Homer's voice) of the sticker price. I went with the 301 E and alot of the feedback I hear matches with the few types of fishing I do. Thanks, Jack

I've taken to only replacing the top 100 yards or so when I refill my reels...like I said, it's not so much about capacity as it is about spool diameter, drag consistency, and line takeup.

Fish on...

Todd

Switching from 15 lb mono to 15 or 20 lb braid doubles your line capacity. I've gotten into the practice of replacing or reversing the last 180 feet of Fireline from time to time. I do a uni to uni to my backing line. 180 feet is approx 1/2 of a 125 yard spool of Fireline, so I get 4 "uses" out of a spool. Just have to be careful to measure it accurately.

If I'm out for a half day or more, I take either spare line or a spare rod and reel.

MONEY!

I shake my head everytime I see a guy fishing a half radius of braid and he tells me "I don't need a full spool of braid... this reel holds plenty." Well yeah, he may be right about how much line he's got.... but he's working that line on the most inefficient portion of the spool.

That dude is way better off spooling up 3/4 of the spool's radius with old crappy Danielson mono then topping off the last 1/4 of the spool with the same amount of braid he started with.

I'd take a full spool with multiple splices anyday, esp in any application where casting is not a requirement.

Just remember not to get carried away with the drag or your thumb anytime the splice has left the reel.

I am routinely into the dacron backing while trolling for estuary salmon. Have landed a number of BIG Kenai kings over the years after being nearly spooled of multi-spliced mainline.

Newbies tend to freak when they see all the moss green superline leave the reel and that fluorescent dacron is just peeling away. Knee-jerk reaction is to clamp down with their thumb to stem the outflow of line.

ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

Precisely!!

Keith

Every low profile reel ihave holds between 120 and 150 yards 12# test for 3 reasons:
I have had a fish in the Chehalis run me across the river and brought it back.
I thumb the spool so a nice full spool even when I have 50 yards out is a must.
If I lose 20 yards from a couple break off I can still fish without worry of being spooled.

I can't help with larger line, only time I go with heavier line is for sturgeon and Ling cod and then I am using high capacity round Penn reels.

If I could afford a larger capacity reel and I liked it I would get it. Salt water fishing eats line fast and respooling on the jetty is not fun. Not to mention hooking a nice skate or ling cod on light gear and having them run for the deepest hole they can find. Someday i will get me some 200 yard 12# capacity reels and never have to worry about it.