Top vs Bottom Drag spinning reels?

[AManWearingAHat]

Just curious what the membership's thoughts are on bottom drag reels? In most shops I'd say top drag (traditional) spinning reels probably outnumber bottom drags by 10 to 1 or more. I unknowingly bought a bottom drag reel on sale from Midway for my drop shot set up and ended up loving it. It was my most used combo in 2021. Any idea as to why this configuration isn't more popular? I don't lack dexterity by any means but in the few instances I had to adjust my drag a bit with a fish on I preferred the big dial to the spool screw on top.

Just my .02, curious about other opinions. 

 

[garroyo130]

Top drag stacks have bigger disks which in theory should make for a better drag with more surface area. It's also likely easier/cheaper to manufacture as from taking baitrunners apart, there seems to be more to bottom drags than to top drags.

[Deleted account]

I didn't know what a top or a bottom drag was, so I googled it. I had no Idea Rue Paul likes fishing...

Now I'm really confused, but I think one is more versatile and the other more flexible and can be made tighter somehow? Maybe...

Either way, I'm sticking to bait casting.

[Team9nine]

2 hours ago, garroyo130 said:

Top drag stacks have bigger disks which in theory should make for a better drag with more surface area. It's also likely easier/cheaper to manufacture as from taking baitrunners apart, there seems to be more to bottom drags than to top drags.

 

I believe this ^^ is at the heart of the matter. I seem to recall that around the late 1980s or into the 1990s, a lot of marketing effort was put into the front drag advantage by companies, primarily that bigger space on the front of the spool allowed for larger washers with increased surface area, and hence better drags. A lot of bass fishing media (articles, etc.) at the time also supported this. That kind of led to rear drags falling out of favor, but like you, my favorite spinning reels at the time were rear drag models that had clickers built in, often a numbering system so you could repeat settings easily, as well as the convenience of "on-the-fly" adjustments without getting your fingers in the way of the line while fighting a fish. Eventually, most everything went front drag style, and I morphed into a back-reeler whereby I could lock down the drag and still maintain total control of everything, albeit in a different way - lol.

[MN Fisher]

42 minutes ago, Team9nine said:

but like you, my favorite spinning reels at the time were rear drag models that had clickers built in, often a numbering system so you could repeat settings easily, as well as the convenience of "on-the-fly" adjustments without getting your fingers in the way of the line while fighting a fish.

Like this bad boy - I could put this on a rod and fish it today even though I originally bought it in the 70s.

[Team9nine]

5 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Like this bad boy - I could put this on a rod and fish it today even though I originally bought it in the 70s.

 

Those Cardinals were my favorite, too, though mine were all black versions as I recall. They were good reels, though 

[AManWearingAHat]

Ive got a pair of the Shimano Sienna 1000 RE's that I love. They got me hooked on rear drags.

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, MN Fisher said:

Like this bad boy - I could put this on a rod and fish it today even though I originally bought it in the 70s.

 

We just sold one NOS in the box at our fund raising fishing flea market for $15. It had been in storage since before covid. Have a Silver Calcutta in great shape for like $100. I am not allowed to buy stuff (by the wife) but I "donate" $, and get some freebies, so no quid pro quo...  

Sold a bunch of Shimano BC combos for a song too. 

 

[Jig Man]

I’ve had several of both types.  I found the rear drag reels  harder to service so I replaced them with front drags.

[cyclops2]

Both of my 62 year ? old Mitchell and a couple of Diawa front of the spool drags.  have never needed anything done. I remove ALL tension before storing them all winter.

[papajoe222]

I had a Shimano Sienna back when and got rid of it because the rear drag sucked. I could dial it to Max and a 3lb bass could easily pull line off. I have never looked at another rear drag.

[ironbjorn]

Rear drag is a hard pass/no for me.

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

It’s actually front or rear drag not top and bottom, aside from semantics the rear drag is far more difficult to service and possess no other redeeming qualities imo. 

[AManWearingAHat]

Reading a bit about it, it seems my experience may be colored by the fact I've mostly fought smaller fish with my rear drag reels.

[WRB]

The “Cardinal” rear drag spinning reel was made by Abu in Sweden for Zebco. Garcia bought Abu and the Zeco Cardinal reels. The Cardinal 4 “Green reel” was a very popular rear drag reel for several reasons. The drag force doesn’t change with line spool level. The start up force is very consistent. Adjusting on the fly is very easy with a rear drag. No drag washers to deal with.

Unfortunately a design of the past.

Tom

[AManWearingAHat]

Just now, WRB said:

The “Cardinal” rear drag spinning reel was made by Abu in Sweden for Zebco. Garcia bought Abu and the Zeco Cardinal reels. The Cardinal 4 was a very popular rear drag reel for several reasons. The drag force doesn’t change with line spool level. The start up force is very consistent. Adjusting on the fly is very easy with a rear drag. No drag washers to deal with.

Unfortunately a design of the past.

Tom

Probably why my Shimanos were so cheap 

[cyclops2]

I do not think I ever change the drag setting on any reel after a spring day setup with a scale.