Carbontex Drag - Dry or Greased?

[buzzed bait]

I know you can operate the Carbontex either dry or greased.  I'm wondering what the opinions are for either way and why?

Thanks!

[OnthePotomac]

You can use them either way, but I put a light wipe of drag grease on mine.

[Preytorien]

If I pretty much NEVER catch a fish big enough to engage my drag will Carbontex drags even do me any good / are they even needed?

I literally can't remember a time I engaged the drag on any of my casting reels and only occasionally on my spinning reels.

[rippin-lips]

1 hour ago, buzzed bait said:

I know you can operate the Carbontex either dry or greased.  I'm wondering what the opinions are for either way and why?

Thanks!

I run them dry. The drag grease is mainly for heat dissipation and in bass fishing they don't make long enough runs to worry about that. If I do anything at all... I'll dab my finger in Cal's and rub it in to my fingers. Then when I touch the metal drag washers it'll get a very light coating. 

[webertime]

27 minutes ago, rippin-lips said:

I run them dry. The drag grease is mainly for heat dissipation and in bass fishing they don't make long enough runs to worry about that. If I do anything at all... I'll dab my finger in Cal's and rub it in to my fingers. Then when I touch the metal drag washers it'll get a very light coating. 

Ditto

[Cgrinder]

Very light Cal's on crankbait reels, dry on the frog punch reel.

[Yudo1]

I run mine dry.

[Jeff H]

2 minutes ago, Yudo1 said:

I run mine dry.

Same here.  Just a tad more power and the static friction is almost non existent with these even when dry so I don't bother with grease.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

3 hours ago, rippin-lips said:

I run them dry. The drag grease is mainly for heat dissipation and in bass fishing they don't make long enough runs to worry about that. If I do anything at all... I'll dab my finger in Cal's and rub it in to my fingers. Then when I touch the metal drag washers it'll get a very light coating. 

X2. Even dry They're consistently smooth right from start up 

5 hours ago, Preytorien said:

If I pretty much NEVER catch a fish big enough to engage my drag will Carbontex drags even do me any good / are they even needed?

I literally can't remember a time I engaged the drag on any of my casting reels and only occasionally on my spinning reels.

Lighten up on the drag and your reels will thank you. Personally I enjoy playing the fish a little. In the grand scheme bass don't fight all that hard and just horsing them in takes from the moment 

 

[onenutinthewater]

Question for you bass guys-  I have been using my chronarch mgl for steelhead and hooked into a very nice fish recently that was testing the drag- The thing definitely was not smooth and was herky-jerky. The fish ran straight down river but i was finally able to stop it and get it headed back my way.

I have just ordered carbontex washers for it but is this the problem or something with the reel itself? 

 

Oh ya after fighting the fish for several minutes and getting it close to me the hook suddenly popped out and i was left standing in the river cursing .............

[papajoe222]

On 7/27/2016 at 2:35 PM, Preytorien said:

If I pretty much NEVER catch a fish big enough to engage my drag will Carbontex drags even do me any good / are they even needed?

I literally can't remember a time I engaged the drag on any of my casting reels and only occasionally on my spinning reels.

I use a number of techniques where using 10lb. test or less not only gives the presentation more action, but helps reduce the possibility of line detection. A 4 lb. bass can break 10lb. mono if there isn’t some give somewhere. Ergo, the need for a rod with some flex and a reel with a smooth drag. 

As for greasing carbontex drag washers, I do for reels with mono, or fluoro, not for ones with straight braid. 

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

2 hours ago, onenutinthewater said:

Question for you bass guys-  I have been using my chronarch mgl for steelhead and hooked into a very nice fish recently that was testing the drag- The thing definitely was not smooth and was herky-jerky. The fish ran straight down river but i was finally able to stop it and get it headed back my way.

I have just ordered carbontex washers for it but is this the problem or something with the reel itself? 

 

Oh ya after fighting the fish for several minutes and getting it close to me the hook suddenly popped out and i was left standing in the river cursing .............

If you do much steel head fishing this is a common scenario. Not an indication of a problem of any kind with the reel. If anything the drag may have been set too tight. I'm a believer in the carbontex drag. 

[Angry John]

I grease for bfs and lite line applications.  In these cases the smoth is more important than power.  Maybe it's just in my head but my alphas all get a small touch and full sized reels are dry.

[MassYak85]

What I do is just take the metal drag washers and squish some grease between my fingers, and then just grab the washer to leave some "grease fingerprints" all the way around. It's a small amount but I'd rather the drag be a little smoother than have more pure strength. 

[WRB]

On July 27, 2016 at 5:54 PM, Delaware Valley Tackle said:

X2. Even dry They're consistently smooth right from start up 

Lighten up on the drag and your reels will thank you. Personally I enjoy playing the fish a little. In the grand scheme bass don't fight all that hard and just horsing them in takes from the moment 

 

^^^this^^^

No reason to grease a bass reel Carbontex drag disk, you should always back off the drag tension at the end of each outing.

Tom

[J Francho]

I go dry.  Easier to maintain, and most consistent, though not as smooth feeling as greased.