For wire, I would send the reels up to Tuna Tom and have the drag upgrades put in. When you do that, he will install a line pin on the spool. No real advantage to putting less than 1000' on them.
There are a few guys here that fish deep(200+fow) for big fish. I think it would be great to hear from them on, what they look for when going after the deep, king size fish. Do you start shallow, and work your way out? or just start deep. Is U.V an important factor? Glow? Flasher Fly? I have never really done very well out in the deep water, and would like to expand my knowledge base. Lets hear what your technics are. Thanks.
Site sponsor Big Weenie has extended glow bead that are top notch. I have a few and tested there holding power. They glow much longer than standard glow.
Get a bulk spool of 40 pound Power Pro, or Cabelas Rip Cord. 750-1000' is plenty for backing or divers. You will love the difference you get with braid verses mono for the divers.
Rick, I just spooled two 30d convectors up with 750' of 40# power pro, and 150' of 32 pound Blood Run copper. I checked and I can get 50 more feet of copper on them. That 150' 32# will go down 30+-feet. (the extra 50' would gain 10' of depth) The 30d convector would hold the similar amount of core. 150' of core will get you down 20+- feet. 200' of core will get you 26+-feet.
Most local hardware's should have the tamper proof bolts. They will be in the little boxes. If not, call Rapid Hardware in Grand Rapids. They sell the bathroom partitions that use them.