Casting reel line capacity: how are they rated?
I have a 20-year old ABU Garcia Ambassadeur 5500C that is rated to hold 195 yards of 12 lb. test monofilament fishing line. I also have a new Shimano Cardiff 300A that is rated to hold 230 yards of 12 lb. mono. I recently spooled all the line off of the Cardiff (which was filled to capacity) onto the Ambassadeur and was shocked that it only filled the Ambassadeur a little more than 3/4th full. Since the Cardiff is supposed to hold a lot more, I thought I’d even have about 35 yards of line left over. Why the descrepancy? Has monofilament just gotten that much thinner over the 20 years between when these reels were made? I see that the current 5500-size Garcia reels are rated for 205 yards of 12 lb. Perhaps the mono they use in Japan is a lot thinner than the equivalent mono they use in Sweden?
An interesting question- I think you answered it for yourself, though- in the last 20 years there have been a lot of advances in monofilament, and I think its probably true that any given fishing line of a certain test is thinner now than in the past. Florocarbon line is an excellent example of this- in the past, a 3x tippet might have been rated at say, 6 lb test.
But now, with the advances, a much smaller 5x tippit might be 6lb. (Those are just examples I made up off the cuff, not necessarily accurate, but it illustrates the point)
Lines are now stronger at thinner diameters- so yes, its quite possible a current 12 lb test will be thinner than a 20 year old 12 lb test. I’d expect it, in fact.
Also, there are differences from manufacturer to manufacturer, and type of lines as well. Company A’s florocarbon will be thinner than Company B’s copolymer.
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