TyeeTanic

Depends on how well you put the wire on .... it should be tight as heck, otherwise you will have problems with misalignment of your wire guide and where it sits on the reel afterwards. Some guys put on the backing line and wire .... then go out with a big board on the line (no lure/hooks), let it all out, then reel it back in. Gets rid of line twist and also gets that wire back on tight. When I filled up a size 30 reel (or Oukuma 600) ... we had some braid backing, kind of enough to cover the entire base of the spool (maybe 1/8" deep), and after that, wire went on and filled it perfectly to the top.

I wish I had the money to buy the right stuff at the beginning, instead of the wrong stuff 3 x over, before I spend the money anyhow and buy the right stuff.

Sorry for your loss. No one can take away your good memories.

I put some electrical tape. Basically tie the braid around the spool once, make a knot, then apply one turn of electrical tape. You don't need many revolutions after that for the braid to bite down on itself and prevent spinning.

I used mono once to back ... led to creep ... basically the mono stretches with enough wire out, then the wire position and guide end up not aligned, and you saw a hole through the line guide, plus puts a lot of stress on everything, sometimes it just stops coming out, if it gets bad enough. For this reason, I would suggest using braid backing ... it doesn't stretch, this way the way (position) it went on the reel, always stays aligned with the line guide. I don't recall having to put that much on though ... maybe 200' of braid ... I normally just made sure there was a good bed of braid on the spool, to cover the base completely. With that much on a size 30 reel, the spool was definitely full with 1000' on ... in some cases, too full (but that I might blame on not putting the wire on tight enough ... which is another problem you need to deal with ... keep that wire tight when spooling!),

Nothing more to be said. I think overall fluoro is the better choice, and I try and keep it simple and stick with that.

Don't get Magda ... they are crap ... too much plastic. You will regret it, throw them away, and buy something a little better that will last, and in the end it will just cost you MORE money ... you won't save anything with magda reels. I'd much sooner spend a few more $ and get Okuma Convector Reels.

Wooden poles? Or have they changed that? I snapped 2 Eagle Claws after 1 year of use, one on a laker, another on a big king. Snapped right above the first eyelet. I swore I'd never buy Eagle Claws again after that.

Wire cuts through fleas that show up in drobes in July. Braid will become a mess if you go through the fleas. That's really the main reason people choose wire over braid. Some also say wire has a better sink rate because of its density, which I do buy the argument on.

Twillie tips are great, but don't you guys saw through your other eyelets below the tip as well, if you are using the regular rods, especially the one closest to the reel, where side to side action will put wire pressure on sides of eyelets?