Been working with hollow Spectra recently to eliminate bulky knots in solid Spectra like PowerPro. Splice a loop in one end of the hollow Spectra, pull a doubled 5’ section of solid Spectra into the other end of the hollow Spectra, serve with thread and finish with SuperGlue and Softex. Very slick. Would use the Sato crimps, but I can’t afford the kit. The special needles make it easy, but for loop splicing you can get away with a doubled piece of 32lb test solid wire (or smaller).

Been doing wind-on leaders as well. 25lb mono seems to be a good fit in 65lb hollow Spectra, 40lb mono with 80lb hollow, 60lb mono in 130lb hollow. You definitley need the specialized needles for this, though.

Floyd Sparks (Tuna Kahuna) has also been using all hollow Spectra as backing on his fly reels. You can run the fly line directly into the hollow Spectra, then use a Sato crimp or serve it with thread & glue. No need for loops. You could also use a spliced loop in the other end to help connect the backing to the spool.

Check it out! Jerry Brown hollow Spectra seems to be the de facto standard, but Blackwater, Berkley and (I think) a couple of other companies also make it.

I’ve been looking into this as well but can find hoolw spectra in 65# test only. A little large for most fly reels spectra capacity advantage, maybe except for my big fly reels. Looks like the bomb for the spectra to leader connection on the conventional side. Ok I re-read your post- That’s interesting. When you say serve do you mean whip finish with thread?

Randy

randy - 06 December 2009 02:17 PM

I’ve been looking into this as well but can find hoolw spectra in 65# test only. A little large for most fly reels spectra capacity advantage, maybe except for my big fly reels. Looks like the bomb for the spectra to leader connection on the conventional side. Ok I re-read your post- That’s interesting. When you say serve do you mean whip finish with thread?

Randy

Sorry it took so long to reply, seems like every time I tried to post something, I got distracted.

Yeah, serve = whip finish. Sato recommends using 50lb solid Spectra instead of thread, but I’ve been using Kevlar thread, will keep an eye on it to see how it takes the stress.

Check out the PDF files at the bottom of this page: http://satocrimpandwinder.com/procrimpkit.htm espec,ially the files “Solid to Hollow Connector” and “Fluorocarbon to Hollow Spectra Crimp Guide”.

The solid-to-hollow Spectra connection looks like a great way to put loops in Spectra, without bulky Biminis and Surgeon’s loops, or even Albrights for that matter.

The other sizes of Jerry Brown hollow Spectra can be bought at on-line stores like Charkbait.com. They sell both bulk and 25 yard spools.

I know 60- or 65lb Spectra sounds too heavy for fly reel backing, but it wasn’t that long ago that 50lb solid Spectra seemed that way to me, at least compared to the 30lb Micron I used for so many years. Now, it’s almost a given. And I think 65lb Spectra is still a bit thinner than 30lb Micron, although I wouldn’t swear to that.

If you try it, let me know how it works for you.

Thanks, I’m definetly going to change over to the 65# spectra in my big gun “TFO HD and Hayden IV”. It’s time o change out the dacron anyway. The connection to solid 50# makes sense. I think I’ll just use some Mako wire to pull the solid spectra through. I’ll tell you how it works whenI get it done.

R

Hey, I forgot to give credit where credit is due - I was turned on to hollow Spectra by Floyd (Tuna Kahuna), who has been working with it for a while, not just as backing on fly reels with the Sato crimps, but also for all his Spectra uses.