How do you set your drag?

[BanditMan]

Just wondering, do you pull on the line in front of the reel. Do you pull on the line at the end of the rod. And do you back off the drag when not in use to take the pressure off the internal components.

[Tyme2fish]

Just wondering, do you pull on the line in front of the reel. Do you pull on the line at the end of the rod. And do you back off the drag when not in use to take the pressure off the internal components.

I'm lazy and just "judge" the tension be pulling the line from the front of the reel. I try to remember to loosen the drag at the days end so as not to "set" the drag .

[MrSplitshot]

I pull at the reel...

I don't loosen my drag after fishing for two reasons:

(1) I'd forget to set it back and get spooled by a bluegill the next time out, cussing the whole time.

and,

(B) It sounds too much like prevantative maintenence to me.

[DJD]

I pull in front of the reel myself and have never had a problem.
I don't mess with my drag when not in use because of what Splitshot said.
I do check my drag often throughout the day as i'm fishing by pulling the line at the reel.
I have heard that you should back the drag off but you can't prove that it matters to me!

[trentonc2000]

I don't loosen my drag when I get home unless I'm not fishing for at least a month.

Well, sometimes I loosen the drag on my partner's reels just to mess with him before we hit the water.

[Cobra190]

Pull at the reel to check and never back off at days end or at any time really.

[stockcars6]

i never loosen my drag until i respool my line, then i reset it with a spring scale, off the end of the rod...

here's the idea, the rod multiplies the force and if you are using 12lb line and want your drag set at 10-11lbs, then pulling it straight off the reel at 10-11 lbs gets multiplied into 18-20 lbs over your rod and your 12 lb line breaks

i have a spring scale, i put the scale in my vice, then take a larger worm hook and hook it around the scale loop, with the line through the pole, i begin to pull up, just as if it were a fish, and start to tighten my drag until the scale reads 10-11 lbs, that is a safe number for 12 lb line, once you get a feel for it, it never hurts to check (hand in front of reel) while on the water

you can experiment and determine what you line actually breaks at, but be sure to completely respool in order to get the stretched line out, then turn the drag back to about 10% less than your break weight

like i said, i have never turned my drag down between fishing trips, but if any of you all know that it makes a significant difference, i would sure try it

[MrSplitshot]

here's the idea, the rod multiplies the force and if you are using 12lb line and want your drag set at 10-11lbs, then pulling it straight off the reel at 10-11 lbs gets multiplied into 18-20 lbs over your rod and your 12 lb line breaks

i have a spring scale, i put the scale in my vice, then take a larger worm hook and hook it around the scale loop, with the line through the pole, i begin to pull up, just as if it were a fish, and start to tighten my drag until the scale reads 10-11 lbs, that is a safe number for 12 lb line, once you get a feel for it, it never hurts to check (hand in front of reel) while on the water

you can experiment and determine what you line actually breaks at, but be sure to completely respool in order to get the stretched line out, then turn the drag back to about 10% less than your break weight

like i said, i have never turned my drag down between fishing trips, but if any of you all know that it makes a significant difference, i would sure try it

Dang #6...that's too high tech for me! I promised my 6th grade Math teacher that I'd never use that crap in the real world. I'll be danged if I'm going to prove her wrong now.

Unless there's a way to take the angle of the dangle and multiply it by the motion of the ocean without needing something in my tackle bag that's made by Texas Instruments, I'm just going to pull it with my hand off the reel until it feels "bout right." If I break off, I might ought to "backer off a cinch." LOL

OR multiply by pi and divide by the square root of infinity squared.

Just giving you a hard time, of course.

[stockcars6]

lol... i figured someone would say that! "bout right" sounds pretty close to me

[apb]

I mostly do it by pulling line off the front of the reel. A couple times a year I'll put a rod in a rod holder, attach my boga grip and set the drag that way. Most reels I do not loosen the drag at the end of the day. Only one that I do that on is a surf rod that I use at the Hydros or in the surf. Usually have the drag pretty tight on that, so back it off at the end of the day. I check the drag before fishing anyway. Well, most of the time

As for how much drag, gotta consider the fish and the conditions along with the line (keep in mind the breaking strength of the knot is less than the breaking strength of the line). Pulling LM or SM out of heavy cover, 12# line, probably set the drag 8-10# so I could pull one out of the cover quickly. Striper fishing, plugs/jigs, 15# line, I set the drag around 6-7#. Average Cumberland Striper is 8-12# and can break that line if the drag is tight. They tend to make hard, fast runs, so you want the drag set light. They head to open water when hooked anyway. If I need more pressure, thumb on the spool.

Andrew

[JoeB]

I set the drag by feel most of the time, but check myself with a scale at the end of a bent rod occasionally to check myself. 8 - 11 lb drag on a 12 lb line, as mentioned in other threads, is a tremendous amount of drag. I use twenty lb line live bait fishing for stripers and set the drag at 4 - 5 lbs. Any more, and you'll bust off a lot of fish on the strike. I've caught tarpon well over 100 lbs and never had the drag above 6 lbs.

[House]

Everything I have seen seems to agree with the advice here. The pros all say you should use something that measures the pound of pull on the line of a bent rod. That way the angler takes into account the effect of the rod.

However, me... I take the easy way about it, I just pull it from the front of the reel.