comparing drag specs of a spinning reel vs baitcasting.

[Darth-Baiter]

i am planning and shopping for an exotic fishing vacation hunting giants.  i typically dont deep-dive much into reel specs.  not the minutia stuff.

 

i do know my 2500 Vanford has a 20 lb drag at max, and my Curado 150 has 13  (i think).  what does this mean in the real world?  a person can control a bigger fish sprint/run with a spinning?  maybe i need more coffee at the moment.  i think a fish is easier to manhandle with a BC reel.  (boiling some more water now)

 

 

[garroyo130]

Determine what youre after and then go from there. Youre currently looking at a 2500 Vanford but you can go up to 12000 sized spinners. Similarly,  you can go up to 400+ sized casting reels. Start with what youll be throwing/targeting. When in doubt, use what the locals recommend. 

[Darth-Baiter]

5 minutes ago, garroyo130 said:

Determine what youre after and then go from there. Youre currently looking at a 2500 Vanford but you can go up to 12000 sized spinners. Similarly,  you can go up to 400+ sized casting reels. Start with what youll be throwing/targeting. When in doubt, use what the locals recommend. 

Thanks.  I get that. 
 

but I’m just trying to compare apples to oranges, I think.  By numbers purely, I can wrestle a big peacock with my Vanford 2500. 
 

my guide recommends garden variety Curado K’s.  Those I have. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

Max drag for smaller reels isnt very important IMO.  Just because the company claims the drag can handle that much pressure doesn't mean its a good idea to test its limits.  Max drag tests are very hard on reels and likely to cause damage.  In reality there isnt a scenario I can think of where I would need more then 8lb of drag with a 2500 reel, and even thats high.    

[Darth-Baiter]

24 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Max drag for smaller reels isnt very important IMO.  Just because the company claims the drag can handle that much pressure doesn't mean its a good idea to test its limits.  Max drag tests are very hard on reels and likely to cause damage.  In reality there isnt a scenario I can think of where I would need more then 8lb of drag with a 2500 reel, and even thats high.    

I kinda agree. That single main shaft is essentially the flag pole question from college days. 

[ska4fun]

4 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

i am planning and shopping for an exotic fishing vacation hunting giants.  i typically dont deep-dive much into reel specs.  not the minutia stuff.

 

i do know my 2500 Vanford has a 20 lb drag at max, and my Curado 150 has 13  (i think).  what does this mean in the real world?  a person can control a bigger fish sprint/run with a spinning?  maybe i need more coffee at the moment.  i think a fish is easier to manhandle with a BC reel.  (boiling some more water now)

 

 

It indicate the maximum resistance to before giving away line. Usually a reel must release line above 25% of the nominal line rate of the rod. A reel in a 20lb rod should release line above 5lb.

[WRB]

What everyone should considered is the rods ability to handle forces applied by the reels drag.

The second fact to understand is the start force required to get the drag to slip and force when slipping. Spinning reels usually have higher start up drag force then baitcasting reels.

The drag materials need to slip without heating and seizing or  jerking...must be smooth.

Adjust drag pressure by actually lifting dead weight. Caution do not try to lift more then the can withstand.

Generally; rod bent 90 degrees, don’t high stick lift. Standard bass rods.

Medium Light or 2 power is 2 pounds

Medium or 3 power is 3 pounds

Medium Heavy or 4-5 power is 4 pounds.

Heavy or 5-6 power is 5 pounds.

Swimbait rods, add 1 pound.

Why do you need more drag force then a rods power ?

It’s easy to add drag force with your index finger on a spinning reel spool and thumb on a baitcaster.

Tom

PS, 1 pint plastic water bottle weighs 1 pound, simply use a plastic grocery bag and place the water bottle in and lift.

[brophog]

13 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

but I’m just trying to compare apples to oranges, I think.

 

When it comes to drag specs these days, the numbers might as well say eleventy billion. If you set your drag to 1/3 of your line's breaking strength, then that 20lb drag would be good up to about 60lb. Are you putting 60lb line on a 2500 size reel? There's other guidelines someone may use to set their drag, but that's one way of thinking about it.

On a 2500 size reel, there's no functional difference between 13 and 20 lb max drag because you're almost certainly not using big enough line on that reel to max either. It's a 20lb drag because that's what the material they used allows for, and bigger numbers look pretty on boxes.

 

Spinning reels will often have bigger listed drags than low profile casting reels, but you can easily find big game casting reels that have 25+ lbs of max drag and from the fishes perspective that's a lot of drag pressure.

 

In terms of this trip, what do you consider to be a giant? How big the fish is, and what kind of structure you need to pull it out of tends to dictate how big of line you need and that's what will ultimately determine how much max drag you need.