Lbs of drag?

[bulldog1935]

Only the forgetful or simple-approach forget.  Fish-set-point is the purpose of one-quarter of weakest link, and it's where you have to begin with Every lever-drag reel, or you won't have a functioning drag.  

It becomes just as important when you're going after oversize fish on undersize tackle, or you're overlining your rod with heavy braid.  

 

My buddy Lou one day lost a big fish on the flats - I'm pretty sure it was a toothy sow spec that gulleted his lure and bit through his fluoro.  He assumed he broke it off, lowered his drag and landed a nice 25" red that day - but it hauled him a mile down Traylor Island shore for an hour of drag run.  

 

I have him now using my spring scale on his XUL, at least, and it's the right place to begin hauling in meat, where XUL lures are needed.  

(these are all male schoolies, 17-22")

[DomQ]

51 minutes ago, GTN said:

Ok humor me please 

I really thought I was quite humorous to be honest. I think @MiceNReets had a good one with the chihuahua method. Have you ever tried to take a fluffy chew toy from one of them before, I have scars man... 

 

 

RIP Nina, the chihuahua that could.

[A-Jay]

34 minutes ago, BrianMDTX said:

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! 

This is a little tricky to describe 'accurately' enough to allow another basshead to duplicate it exactly the same.  But my point is, that might not be needed.

My method is by feel. 

@J Francho describes it nicely above. 

Clearly experience plays a role and I do not recommend anyone go by feel, if they do not know what that means.  Breaking gear or parting ones line should not be part of the learning process, but there certainly is one.

In my fishing, unless I am in very heavy cover, where I use very heavy drag, (almost locked, but my gear is capable of dealing with those forces) the most pressure I put on a bass is during the hookset.

So I want to get a good one with whatever gear I'm using, and then I Do Not Ever need to put that much pressure on a fish again.  I've mentioned this before but especially on spinning gear, I will OFTEN, back off my drag on a good bass, during the fight. (usually right after the hookset or when the fish gets close to the boat). Line stretch and a rod that actually bends is part of my system. 

Happens in at least half the videos I post I bet. 

How do I know how much to adjust it, I can't tell you for sure. 

I just know.

Watch my left hand in this clip as the bass gets close to my rig . . 

A-Jay

 

[Team9nine]

28 minutes ago, J Francho said:

 

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

 

Just kicked back and being entertained by everyone’s sorta’ kinda’ detailed “wing it” methodology on this thread. Never had to deal with this as a backreeler ? Trying to learn...lol

[A-Jay]

23 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

 

Just kicked back and being entertained by everyone’s sorta’ kinda’ detailed “wing it” methodology on this thread. Never had to deal with this as a backreeler ? Trying to learn...lol

 But Back reeling is winging it ~ 

?

A-Jay

[jbsoonerfan]

I never set it and forget it and I also do not use any sort of weight system to set what one would deem as a "lb test" to determine drag. I always test my drag when I grab a rod/reel out of the box. There are a lot of factors that go into what I think feels right on a given day and given the situation. If I am slow rolling a spinnerbait over a rock bed with no cover near by then I may set it with a fairly loose drag, but if I am throwing the same rig and burning it through a stump field I may want to tighten it down a bit to try and give me as much leverage as possible. 

 

I would bet a lot of money that more fish have been lost by anglers because of a bad spot in the line as opposed to drag issues.

[Jigfishn10]

Seems like when I set the hook my thumb is clamped down on the spool anyway. I really only adjust the drag when I'm fighting the fish. 

If the drag is too tight for a heavy fish that keeps pulling, then I release the drag a bit. If it's a light fish who wants to be bigger, then tough $**t, it's coming in.

Other than that, I try and lead a simple life. You don't want me thinking too much.

Paralysis by analysis is all it gets me.

 

 

Edited January 12, 2021 by Jigfishn10
Post Edit...Operator Error

[WRB]

The 1/3rd ball park of drag force doesn’t come from fresh water bass anglers it’s a value learned from off shore fishing.

Fish that are stronger then your tackle require a drag that is reliable. 

My suggestion is set the drag as you normally do then test the setting. 1 plastic pint drinking bottle weighs 1 lb. Use a known weight or 1 pint (16oz) n a plastic bag. Use 4 pints for 4 lbs for example, hook or tie to the bag and lift it until the drag slips. 

Caution your rod is the weakest link be careful.

Standard bass rods dead weight or drag weights;

Medium light rod don’t exceed 2 lbs

Medium 3 lbs

Medium heavy 4 lbs

Heavy 5 lbs 

Tom

PS, using a digital or spring scale works but needs 2 people or a rod holder.

[zeth]

Doing all this fancy tying weight using scales etc is too much for me. I change my drag often throughout the day so this wouldn't work.  You can just adjust it to whatever feels best for the bait and conditions at that given moment. You will quickly learn if it was too much or not enough when that fish gets off.  This is the way. IMO. 

[Bankbeater]

I used to use a weight and scale to set my drag.  Now I do it by feel.  One thing I learned was that the line pulling through the guides adds some drag also.

[Team9nine]

8 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 But Back reeling is winging it ~ 

?

A-Jay

 

Laughing along with you @A-Jay, not at you - honest ?

[LCG]

I set all my drags to shut start to give on a really hard hook set. Don't need more than most of time. 

[A-Jay]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

 

Laughing along with you @A-Jay, not at you - honest ?

Me too my friend @Team9nine - Me too.

Between the drag, back reeling & 'where's my order' threads

I'm hoping for a blizzard up here just to give me something to do . . . 

A-Jay

[RoLo]

 

 

Fishing since the 1950s, I’ve had plenty of time to try lots of different stuff.

Done my fair share of 'back-reeling', thanks to "Fishing Facts" magazine in the 1960s, 

and "In-Fisherman" magazine in the 1970s (Lindner fame), To be fair though, the reel drags

of yesteryear released line in fits & starts, compared to today’s velvety-smooth drags

 

For many years (In both fresh & saltwater), I used a fish scale to set my reel drags around 30%

of breaking strength. That practice served me very well, but I eventually grew weary

of resetting the drag every time I tweaked it in the field. Today, I set & reset my drags

by FEEL, with full satisfaction.  Let's face it, if I haven’t developed the appropriate feel

by now, I never will  ? 

 

Roger

 

[WRB]

I agree with Roger and have trained myself to feel drag force fairly accurately from setting drags using a scale. If you never set a drag against known force it’s difficult to know how much force is being applied.

Finding out how much force is appropriate by breaking off a fish of your lifetime isn’t the best learning curve.

We pay a premium price for state of the art drags...use them.

Tom

 

[Team9nine]

Lol - This video just showed up in my feed. It appears he just uploaded it yesterday. Seems appropriate -  maybe the timing is suspicious, but again, maybe he's one of Glenn's anonymous pros who has been reading and laughing at all of us on this thread  

 

 

[J Francho]

You can tell he's a pro by the way he bends his knees when he says, "I'm a professional bass fisherman."