Drag setting: shouldn't be locked down?

[Bankc]

You can also lose fish by having the drag set too loose.  I've done this many times.  I'll relube a reel and not set the drag tight enough before using it again, and hook a big fish.  I go to set the hook, and my drag slips, so the hook doesn't penetrate properly.  Then the fish takes off and throws the lure because I can't control her.  That's equally frustrating, so it's smart to check your drag before each outing.  

 

I usually set my drag to about 1/2 line strength for mono and 1/3 for fluoro.  Fluoro doesn't reset after being stretched out as well as mono does.  It can get frayed and cracked in the middle, and you can wind up losing a lot of line, even without having the line snap, if you're not careful.  For braid, I'll usually set it quite a bit lower, as I don't want to break my rod or cause the line to dig into the spool too much.  Also, I get snagged quite often, and with the Oklahoma wind, I don't want to lose or break my rod while I'm trying to navigate over to the spot to free my lure.  So I might have my 30# braid set to around 8lbs of drag.  You can always slow the drag down with your thumb on the spool, or tighten or loosen the drag while fighting the fish.  

[Team9nine]

Agree with the few saying the problem was not the drag, per se, but your inexperience with it along with your use of 8# fluoro leader line with that bait. We’ve rehashed this topic to death on here, but as @Captain Phil mentioned, if you know what you’re doing, thumb-barring and backreeling works great for the few of us that still run our drags at “over the recommended settings.” 
 

On the leader line, change to 12-15# test mono for the Spook Jr. It’s a hefty enough bait to handle it, along with the extra hook-setting pressure from using braid.

[redmeansdistortion]

1 hour ago, JS8588 said:

Brian Latimer just did a video on 3 baits you should never fish with (straight) braid. As far as the crankbaits section, he was right. Spinnerbaits and chatterbaits, though...you can absolutely fish straight braid, just don't lock down your drag.

 

I had a good fish on 2 weeks ago. Pulled the hook. I was using 4lb mono. My drag wasn't "locked down", but it should have been set looser. Watch some ultralight anglers like I_Fish & TroutMagnetMan. They land some truly impressive fish on what most bass anglers would basically consider sewing thread. They know how to set their drag.

The heaviest tackle I normally fish is medium light, have landed many big smallies, sheephead, and 30"+ pike on that stuff.  If one lets the drag do its job, things are fine.  The heaviest mono I use is 6lb, which is usually used for a leader on a 6lb to 10lb braided main line.

[Big-Bass]

Drag is critical.  As a guy who started with push button reels and went to bait casting by 10, I was always one to horse them to the boat as fast as I could.  I used spinning tackle on occasion but most of what I threw was baitcasting gear with the drag not locked, but pretty darn tight.  Now, I fish alot of smallmouth (here in PA but for giants in NY).  We just got back last week from our trip to the 1000 Islands and throwing a 1/16-3/16oz. maribou hair jig at 4,5,6+ pound smallmouth on 6lb. braid with an 8lb. flouro leader, one learns quickly how important drag is.  I use 4000CXH reels on my smallmouth rods for the bigger spool (longer cast) and better drag displacement set to each specific technique I am doing.  I can't say that I don't lose fish, but with the proper drag and the proper rod, you put yourself at much greater odds of catching a big fish and working it to the boat.

[Boomstick]

If you lock your drag down all the way, it doesn't serve it's purpose.

 

I generally set my drag no higher than 30% of the strength off my line and 25% the strength of the maximum line rating on the rod, whichever is lower.

[evilcatfish]

Only time I keep my drag locked down, or close to it, is when fishing with big soft plastic swimbaits or fishing a heavy jig/big worm deep. Usually using straight mono for the swimbaits or fc for the jigs/worms.  After hooking up, I’ll back it off a bit during the fight 

[geo g]

In south Florida, and Okeechobee you are always fishing in thick grass, and shallow waters.  If you don’t get a bass head up and out of the junk quickly you will get wrapped quickly.  We use sturdy line like 20 pound floro, or even up to 65 pound braid.  A lose drag is a path to failure.  Your environment will often tell you what you need to do, and have the right equipment to get the job done.  
 

Don’t take a knife to a gun fight!  

[Mobasser]

When I started years ago, backreeling with spinning gear was popular. Some well known fisherman did this. I did it for years, and sometimes still do. But modern reels have such good drags that there's no need for this anymore. With a spinning reel, you could set your drag light, and apply extra pressure with your finger on the spool.

[redmeansdistortion]

14 minutes ago, geo g said:

In south Florida, and Okeechobee you are always fishing in thick grass, and shallow waters.  If you don’t get a bass head up and out of the junk quickly you will get wrapped quickly.  We use sturdy line like 20 pound floro, or even up to 65 pound braid.  A lose drag is a path to failure.  Your environment will often tell you what you need to do, and have the right equipment to get the job done.  
 

Don’t take a knife to a gun fight!  

I use 65lb braid fishing for Lake Sturgeon on the St Clair River, they make long blistering runs and later in the summer the river has a lot of vegetation among the sharp rocks that are always around.  The vegetation gets so thick it will float in mats on the river.  Never once have I had to lock the drag down.  I actually run 8lb of drag with them and have no issue other than a 30 to 60 minute fight hooking one above the slot limit.  

 

 

[flyfisher]

Why have a drag if you lock it down?  Drag is designed to help cushion lighter line against the pulling power of the fish and the rod itself.  Gotta let it do it's job.  As far as breaking off in the middle, I would bet a paycheck there was a nick there and that is why it broke.  I never use a leader on any of my setups, especially topwater and haven't had any issues.  Braid is great for topwater as long as you aren't getting it fouled up on the front treble.

[dodgeguy]

1 hour ago, Team9nine said:

Agree with the few saying the problem was not the drag, per se, but your inexperience with it along with your use of 8# fluoro leader line with that bait. We’ve rehashed this topic to death on here, but as @Captain Phil mentioned, if you know what you’re doing, thumb-barring and backreeling works great for the few of us that still run our drags at “over the recommended settings.” 
 

On the leader line, change to 12-15# test mono for the Spook Jr. It’s a hefty enough bait to handle it, along with the extra hook-setting pressure from using braid.

100 percent agree even though I use straight 50 lb braid.

1 hour ago, Big-Bass said:

Drag is critical.  As a guy who started with push button reels and went to bait casting by 10, I was always one to horse them to the boat as fast as I could.  I used spinning tackle on occasion but most of what I threw was baitcasting gear with the drag not locked, but pretty darn tight.  Now, I fish alot of smallmouth (here in PA but for giants in NY).  We just got back last week from our trip to the 1000 Islands and throwing a 1/16-3/16oz. maribou hair jig at 4,5,6+ pound smallmouth on 6lb. braid with an 8lb. flouro leader, one learns quickly how important drag is.  I use 4000CXH reels on my smallmouth rods for the bigger spool (longer cast) and better drag displacement set to each specific technique I am doing.  I can't say that I don't lose fish, but with the proper drag and the proper rod, you put yourself at much greater odds of catching a big fish and working it to the boat.

As you said that would be proper for the style of fishing you were doing. This guys doing topwaters on 8 lb fluoro. The line is to light and the wrong type. When I use 50 lb braid with my 20 lb drag at about 15 lbs the big girls can still pull line . Not very long but they do pull it.

[Big-Bass]

25 minutes ago, redmeansdistortion said:

I use 65lb braid fishing for Lake Sturgeon on the St Clair River, they make long blistering runs and later in the summer the river has a lot of vegetation among the sharp rocks that are always around.  The vegetation gets so thick it will float in mats on the river.  Never once have I had to lock the drag down.  I actually run 8lb of drag with them and have no issue other than a 30 to 60 minute fight hooking one above the slot limit.  

 

 

That's a great fish!

[redmeansdistortion]

8 minutes ago, Big-Bass said:

That's a great fish!

That's two great fish.  Funny thing is, the St Clair River is very fast in the stretch I fish, and a lot of the time I have lead on the line heavier than the bass many here are catching to keep the bait from blowing down stream lol

[fishhugger]

3 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

Nope - doesn't take doing something stupid. Too much bending force on a rod will break it...which is why I cringe every time I see someone flip a big fish into their boat. While a rod might be rated to 50# test line - that's for linear (in line) force along the length of the rod. If you tried to dead-lift even 10# with the rod like it was a crane... SNAP.

i haven't figured out the # line ratings for rods, but i assumed a rod w a heavier # rating --- basically has a lot more backbone, meaning uh - bending strength against more weight. could you elaborate on your quote... and i don't understand why an in line force along the length of a rod matters. i must be misunderstanding something.... ty

[MN Fisher]

6 minutes ago, fishhugger said:

and i don't understand why an in line force along the length of a rod matters. i must be misunderstanding something.

Basically - you don't want to bend it TOO far. Linear strength is good so long as the bend doesn't exceed a certain point.

This graphic is a good 'show and tell' about rods.

[gim]

1 hour ago, Big-Bass said:

That's a great fish!

X2 nice sturgeon

[Mike L]

1 hour ago, geo g said:

In south Florida, and Okeechobee you are always fishing in thick grass, and shallow waters.  If you don’t get a bass head up and out of the junk quickly you will get wrapped quickly.  We use sturdy line like 20 pound floro, or even up to 65 pound braid.  A lose drag is a path to failure.  Your environment will often tell you what you need to do, and have the right equipment to get the job done.  
 

Don’t take a knife to a gun fight!  

Exactly right!

Fishing down here you learn quick what it takes if your goal is to land a PB with each presentation. 

I use 80# braid on my punch setup that I only make flip’s or moderate pitches with. 
Even with a locked drag my thumb is ready for any slip that may occur. 
 

Everything must work together in unison, and I’m not just talking about the rod and reel. 

 

 

Mike

[WRB]

4 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

Tom, are you saying with the drag maxed out, I run the risk of breaking the rod with a large fish?

 

This was a MH St. Croix Premiere, but I'm sure your advice still holds. I always thought you had to be doing something extreme to break a rod: smacking it against something, snagged on a tree, etc.

Basically the maximum lifting power with rod held at 45 degrees upward bottoms out (see chart/posted earlier). 

Bass rod power, excluding swimbait bait rods.

Power

1 or light = 1 pound

2 or medium light = 2 lbs.

3 or medium = 3 lbs.

4 or Medium heavy = 4 lbs.

5 or medium heavy+ = 5 lbs.

6 or heavy heavy = 6 lbs.

Exceeding lifting power can break the rod with a dead weight.

Setting the drag at max lifting power prevents breakage. Lifting maximum weight beyond 45 degrees usually ends with a broken rod.

High sticking is a term approaching 90 degree rod lift.

Watching MLF you will see the pros breaking rods, sometimes more then 1? The reason is lifting bass using the rod and trying to catch the fish by the line and missing. The fish out of water is dead weight, in the water the fish weight is reduced greatly. You don’t see pro’s breaking rods fighting bass, they use the reel drag.

Tom

 

 

[dodgeguy]

Which is why I use a net. Why don't they let pros use nets ? 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, dodgeguy said:

Which is why I use a net.

Unless it's a small panfish, I always use a net

 

Just now, dodgeguy said:

Why don't they let pros use nets ? 

Showmanship - gotta do something to make it exciting.

[Captain Phil]

5 hours ago, Capriceragtop said:

Tom, are you saying with the drag maxed out, I run the risk of breaking the rod with a large fish?

 

My PB was just shy of 12 pounds.  I was flipping with 25 pound Big Game and a locked down drag.   That fish ran under the boat and broke an 8' flipping stick in half on the side of the boat,  The locked down drag cost me a rod.  I bought a new rod.  I may not ever see another bass like that.  

 

 

[Catt]

45 minutes ago, Mike L said:

Everything must work together in unison, and I’m not just talking about the rod and reel.

 

Interesting ?

 

[soflabasser]

On 6/29/2022 at 11:13 PM, Ppennin986 said:

I caught this 35# catfish on 10# mono gotta let those fish have line play em out

Nice flathead @Ppennin986 I bet it gave a good fight! I have noticed that catfishermen, saltwater fishermen, and others that have caught lots of big fish are much better at using the drag on a reel than those who just fish for black bass. Bass fishing becomes much easier once you know how to use the drag correctly.

[The Baron]

Running spooks, I use 30# braid and a 12# mono leader - mono floats and the bit of stretch is welcome when a good one hits, so a better choice than fluoro IHMO.  Drag setting depends a little bit on where I'm fishing.  If I'm enticing smallmouth in deep water or on a rocky bottom, I like to let any good one take drag to keep the trebles from pulling.  If I'm working a clear surface but over thick weeds for largemouth, I'll tighten up a little more, as they will head into the weeds and I like to get them out before they either find a log or before any exposed trebles get wrapped up in the weeds (a frog or buzz bait would be better after the bite in those spots, but I just love spook fishing).  I was glad to have 12# mono when my PB largemouth did just that this year - beautiful hit on the spook then I had to really horse her out of the coontail below.

[the reel ess]

My general rule is for trebles, set the drag loose, like no more than 35%. I set mine even lower with baits like the lipless crank in open water and play the fish out, especially if you're using braid. I'm back to using mono for those baits due to having lost so many good fish on the braid. For single hooks like a general T rig, I'll set it tighter, maybe 50%. It's a "feel" thing. I don't get a scale and measure the drag. On my frog and jig rods, I cinch it down to near the max. Now, I'm talking about a reel with 14 lbs. max carbon drag and that's enough. The biggest bass I've caught on it didn't take any drag. You can't give an inch to a bass that you've hooked in heavy cover unless it gets wrapped on something. Those two rods are made for this abuse. I've been using the frog rod that way for about 10 years.

 

But in your case, you had an 8 lb leader and well more than 8 lbs of drag.