A "First" preliminary line review: Sufix Nanobraid in 2 lbs.

[Brad Reid]

First, my thanks for being accepted here so I can participate in discussions instead of just reading them.

Some of the gear I have ordered has not come in yet though I did buy a Stradic Ci4+ 1000 FA series on sale as I have used and enjoyed a larger 2500 series for fishing LMBs.  And, a rod from St Croix, a 6'9" UL fast panfish model is on back order but I expect to get it within a month . . . I hope.

Among the things I have received to set up for bluegills is Sufix's Nanobraid in 2 lbs. test. My first impression? At .001", it is the thinnest line I have ever seen. The spool on which it is wound looks almost empty even with 150 yds. wound on it. My first concern is I'll need a ton of backer to fill up the reel to a proper depth for optimal performance.

Lesson learned: for really tiny lines, I need to buy a larger spool of line, this excepting line for backing or leaders.

I'll have to ponder this. And, where for finesse bass fishing, I typically use 10 lbs. Sufix 832 Braid with 8 lbs. Seaguar Invizx for a leader (say drop shotting), here I wonder whether any fish could even see a .001" line. I know there has been quite a lot of discussion, pro and con, about line visibility and line shy fish, here and in other fishing forums. I'd be uncomfortable using a junction knot joining something this small to something many times larger, so, I'll have to come up with a plan. My first thought is to tie to the braid directly and give it a go.

I suppose the equipment I have chosen gives away the fishing techniques I am most interested in.  I am more interested in making casts of various distances than, say, using a longer rod to drop vertically over the heads of fish off the side of a boat. Too, I fish from a kayak as much as possible but I still like to bank fish.

That is all, for now, and I look forward to spooling up the reel and reporting back on the Nanobraid.

Cheers! Brad

[Brad Reid]

And, here, the "math" behind line diameters and loading spinning reel spools. A bit pedantic, but I did this for myself and I thought it might be of some value to others. 

To make a calculation of how much line a spool or drum of some sort will hold, and this assumes a rather orderly and optimal laying down of the line, the formula calls for the following inputs (all in inches):

1) the height on the spool the wound line will occupy (not to the lip);

2) the diameter of the spool (a 1" spool diameter will wind on 3.1416" of line on the first wrap);

3) and, the width of the winding area of the spool.

These three metrics all define the dimensions the line will occupy.

For the "problem" I have encountered with the ever-so-tiny .001" 2 lbs. Sufix Nanobraid, I made some estimates regarding these measurements for the spooling, that the spool diameter was 1", that it is .5" wide and that I wanted to wind on line that would occupy a height of .18". If so, this would give me a spool wound to the practical limit where most of us back off a bit from the top edge for best line release and casting.

What did I find? With these variables, I needed 9268 yards of line! My spool has 150 yards.

Could this huge number, 9268 yards, be correct?

A Stradic Ci4+ 1000FA is calibrated to hold 90 meters of .25 mm line so I used this as my "proof" that my general measurements were dialed in pretty close regarding the spool dimensions. .25 mm line is equal to .00984252 inches and my math predicted that a spooling on this would require 87.48 meters. Pretty close especially dealing in such tiny numbers.

Finally, and where I think this might be of value to others, I built a little chart showing how much line this particular spool will of of .001, .002 and on up to .01.

Brad

0.001	1.00	0.18	0.5		9268
0.002	1.00	0.18	0.5		2317
0.003	1.00	0.18	0.5		1030
0.004	1.00	0.18	0.5		579
0.005	1.00	0.18	0.5		371
0.006	1.00	0.18	0.5		257
0.007	1.00	0.18	0.5		189
0.008	1.00	0.18	0.5		145
0.009	1.00	0.18	0.5		114
0.01	1.00	0.18	0.5		92.68

Brad

[Steve C]

Interesting, could you share your formula for this?  I've dabbled with the math, but it never worked satisfactorily.

[Brad Reid]

Steve, yes, and I also built an Excel Spreadsheet so someone could feed me the "particulars" regarding their spinning reel spool dimensions to make a really good calculation of the amount of line needed, this if their reel doesn't give the stats. Even then, it is often given for just one or two line sizes.

The formula is:

((a * (a + b) * c) / ((3.1416/(d * d * 12))) all in fractions of inches

a = the depth you desire of wind on your reel spool (mine I guessed is .18");

b = the diameter of the spool that the line is wound on (mine I guess is 1");

c = the width of the winding area on the spool (mine is about .5");

and, d = the diameter of the fishing line itself (Sufix Nanobraid is .001").

The solution will be calculated in feet so from there I convert it to yards (divide by 3) since this is how spools of line are typically sold.

I could improve the Excel spreadsheet for conditions where we might use a combination of x yards of backer, y yards of main line and z yards of leader.

Why? Most of us have been guilty of spooling up a reel, looking down and seeing that there is just a little more on the line source spool . . . and we hate to waste it and leave an unusable remnant, so we end up cramming it on, then we have a reel spool with too much line on it. For me, this leads to bad outcomes, casting and line issues.

I suppose we should all "learn" our reels so we know how to economize on our line usage, know how much backer to put on to fully utilize a main line, that sort of thing. Leaders are usually, but not always, short so they may or may not deserve attention. For 6' leaders? That would rarely make a difference and certainly not with small lines.

As it is for me with the Nanobraid at .001", I would need over 5 miles of line to fill my tiny spool. Go figure!

Let me know if you miss something using the formula.

Brad

[Brad Reid]

Steve/All,

I should have added that if one buys a 150 yds. spool of line, the economy would occur if one could first calculate the amount of backer to put on first, and how much of the spool capacity to absorb, so that you could then use 75 yds. of main line twice . . . or 50 yds. three times.

The other "key" here is to know the length of the longest cast or the longest amount of line one expects to come off the reel. I and others I guess don't want to cast beyond our main line and ever having backer come off. I want 10 or more yards of excess backer to keep that from ever happening.

Anyway . . .

Brad