Lbs of drag?

[GTN-NY]

I hear around here to set your drag to certain lbs of drag. 
How/with what are you setting this with?

 

Thanks!

[roadwarrior]

Free weights

 

Put your desired weight (3lbs to start with)) in a plastic grocery bag. Tie your line to the bag

and raise it with your rod GENTLY.  Adjust your drag so it releases as you BARELY lift the bag.

I think you will be surprised how strong 3 lbs of drag is and the pressure on your rod tip. If that

is not enough for you, add another pound.

 

[MN Fisher]

I tie a small loop at the end of my line, hook my scale to it and pull.

[bulldog1935]

I set to no more than one-quarter of my weakest link - leader, line, or rod max line rating.  (making sure this thing is on)

I use a spring balance and measure it at the first line guide from the reel.  

Keep in mind shock loading can be more than that four-times factor.  

(of course it's an antique, but no reason for the Salter spring rate to change as long as its stored relaxed)

[jimmyjoe]

   I use a milk jug, putting as much water as I want into it for 2/3/4 lbs. of drag.

   BTW .... 4 lbs of drag is the MAXIMUM I will pre-set on my rigs. It has gotten me lots of fish, including 3 of my 4 musky. I only increase drag when I absolutely have to, such as the flathead 3 years ago (that was a fight!) and an occasional good-sized wiper that gets into current.      jj

[DomQ]

I wing it

[Backroad Angler]

14 minutes ago, DomQ said:

I wing it

I do pretty much the same, but I've got the point where I pull out a certain amount of line and if it feels right, I just fly with it.

[GTN-NY]

14 hours ago, DomQ said:

I wing it

How about that. That’s what I do right now

[MiceNReets]

I just tie a dog bone to the end of the line and let the chihuahua grab it and pull.  He ain’t too strong so I use that as my method to set my drag before I leave the house for a good fishing sesh. 

[FishTank]

I have tried using weights but I like to do it by hand.  I just have a feel for where it should be depending on the line, rod and lure.  If I had to guess, I am about 40% - 50% of the breaking strength.  So 12lb line would be about 5 - 6lbs of drag. 

[Catt]

2 hours ago, roadwarrior said:

Free weights

 

Put your desired weight (3lbs to start with)) in a plastic grocery bag. Tie your line to the bag

and raise it with your rod GENTLY.  Adjust your drag so it releases as you BARELY lift the bag.

I think you will be surprised how strong 3 lbs of drag is and the pressure on your rod tip. If that

is not enough for you, add another pound.

 

 

Easy, simplest, way ?

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, DomQ said:

I wing it

Yep

[fishwizzard]

1 hour ago, DomQ said:

I wing it

 Same, I set the drag so that when it's wrapped around my finger joint, it doesn't hurt to pull.  The result being that thicker lines get more drag.  

[DomQ]

If the fishy starts to pull drag i just thumb the spool a bit, thats really all it takes to slow them down sometimes. Works for me! 

[roadwarrior]

10 hours ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yep

Well, when you have that 12 lb smallmouth jumping twenty yards from the boat,

you will wish you had spent a little more time properly adjusting your drag.

[TnRiver46]

44 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, when you have that 12 lb smallmouth jumping twenty yards from the boat,

you will wish you had spent a little more time properly adjusting your drag.

If I thought it would make a difference, I still wouldn’t ! Haha. I’m fishing for fun not baking a cake 

[DomQ]

31 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, when you have that 12 lb smallmouth jumping twenty yards from the boat,

you will wish you had spent a little more time properly adjusting your drag.

To be fair, it would only have been a 12lb small mouth if I lost the fish, if I landed it then it would have only been a 3lber.

[GTN-NY]

Ok humor me please since I’m new to this style of setting the drag. What poundage would you set it at for these setups?

 

Spinning

Wacky Worms 8lb mono. 
Ned Rig 8lb braid

Dropshot 8lb braid

 

Baitcasting

Spinnerbaits 15lb mono. 
Topwater 12lb mono

Punching Jigs 20lb mono. 
Bubba Shot 15lb mono or 30lb braid. 
 

thanks for your help with this?
 

[roadwarrior]

The answer is simple for me: 3 lbs for baitcasters (heavier line).  I fish #4 and

#6 on spinning tackle. My suggestion is 2lbs for light line.  Once you have an

actual measurement, pull the line to get "the feel". You don't have to do it again,

but I like showing this method to other guys. It's fun for me! 

[BrianMDTX]

I really want to research this from the standpoint of physics. In other words, does tying off 3 lbs of weight to the end of your line, lifting it as dead weight and then setting the drag to start to let line out equate to 3 lbs of force pulling on the line? It might, but something tells me there’s more to it than meets the eye. 
 

Whether it makes a dime’s worth of difference on the water fighting a fish is another story. 

[the reel ess]

For me, drag setting depends on the lure and technique. It's a matter of feel. But you can put more drag on a single hook lure like a T rig (maybe 50% of tensile strength, assuming mono or fluoro) than you can on treble lures (1/3 or less of tensile strength). If you yank a fish in on heavy drag with a treble lure, you'll likely rip the hooks out. Then there's the frog and jig, which I set very heavy. I'm using 50# braid and not worried about it breaking or bending hooks. I set the hook and winch the fish in as quickly as possible.

[diehardbassfishing]

Guess I sorta wing it - carefully.

 

I pull the line and feel for the beginning of line stretch.

Never had a break-off.

 

 

Karl

[A-Jay]

51 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

I really want to research this from the standpoint of physics. In other words, does tying off 3 lbs of weight to the end of your line, lifting it as dead weight and then setting the drag to start to let line out equate to 3 lbs of force pulling on the line? It might, but something tells me there’s more to it than meets the eye. 
 

Whether it makes a dime’s worth of difference on the water fighting a fish is another story. 

 

Perhaps also consider that unless one is fishing from a dock or the bank, 

any & all forces applied to one's gear might not be the same a when fishing from a boat.

The waves and vessel movement might have something to say about all of this.

And when in a smaller craft (canoe, kayak) which often moves toward the fish on both the hookset and while fighting a bass, is less or more drag an advantage ?

 

I do not back reel on spinning gear, and of course that's not an option on casting gear, so I rely on my reels drag to do it's job.  Which is help me land bass - whatever that takes. 

Can't say what percentage of my line's test I use each time, but I rarely have line failure;  do pull a few hooks now & then.  But I HATE breaking my line.  There's nothing more final and I always feel that it's on me.  I do not use a scale - too many variables IMO to have a 'set it & forget it' approach.

Sort of like swinging a ball bat on the same plane every time.

One might hit a few but being adaptable to the conditions, could be the way to go. 

YMMV

A-Jay

 

[BrianMDTX]

7 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 I do not use a scale - to many variables IMO to have a 'set it & forget it' approach.

Ok, I’m intrigued. What’s your method?

 

I usually set my drag by pulling line and setting it where it feels like I’m just starting to have resistance and it starts to let line out. I’d say it’s relatively light as I’ve had a few fish (4.5-5 lbs) that I had to increase the drag on after the hookset. 
 

But I’m always up for the latest and greatest! 

[J Francho]

It sort of depends on what the drag slip is for.  That could be protecting the gears in the reel, the rod, the line, the fish's face, etc.  setting the drag to 1/3 of the weakest aspect (the fish's face doesn't fit here) of the system will never be wrong, and usually is enough to tire a frisky fish.  We're talking bass here, so it's not exactly making a ton of really long runs where weird things can happen.  Anyone ever do any salmon or steelhead fishing in a tributary will relate.  At any rate, I have spent some time measuring how much drag resistance I use (set by winging it) and the math sort of works out.  So, I don't think it's totally wrong to wing it, but if you have no idea what you're doing, then maybe measure it with a spring scale as @MN Fisher or @roadwarrior describe. 

 

Now, cue the back-reeling vultures I see circling this thread.....