Shimano Symetre-> Front Or Rear Drag???

[ghost]

Is there an advantage to either one?  I know the rear drag is slightly heavier than the front.  What is the advantage w/ the Symetre rear drag?  Is the fine tuning of the rear drag make it better or just a bit much for drag adjustment.

I'm looking at the Symetre 1500 series.

[skillet]

 I have front drag on my Symetre 2500 and have no problem with it. Don't have personal experience with rear drag but have read on here that it is nowhere as smooth. Can't remember anyone posting good things about it...

                                 As Ever,

                                  skillet

[ABC123]

The rule of thumb is/was, hard fighting fish require front drags, like bass, crappies, sunfish, ect... Lazy fish, like 'eye's and pike only need the rear drag.

[Jeff H]

LOL...yeah, what he said.

Don't know about the rest of the country, but up north here Pike ain't lazy fighters.  "eyes are like dragging in old tube socks (once in awhile they might twitch their head though) but we don't call them Pike "gators" for nothin'.   ;D

[Pond Hopper]

LOL...yeah, what he said.

Don't know about the rest of the country, but up north here Pike ain't lazy fighters.  "eyes are like dragging in old tube socks (once in awhile they might twitch their head though) but we don't call them Pike "gators" for nothin'.   ;D

Yup, pike are like bass on steroids!  If we had a good fishable population around here I would be a pike fisherman and not a bass guy  But go with the rear drag!

[burleytog]

FRONT FRONT FRONT!!!

I don't know why they even bother making a rear drag model.  Constantly sticks and isn't as smooth as the FD models.

[cbfishalot]

Front Drag!!!!

All my old rear drag reels have been stripped out from fighting crappies and sunfish. ;D ;D ;D  Cane poles work great for fishing for lazy northern pike. ;D ;D

[ABC123]

I used to fish Pike from MN, to trophy Pike in northern Canada on the Church hill river. Pike are lazy. They are strong, and will pull hard, but none the less, they are lazy. As long as the drag lets line out when they run, your ok. Bass, Crappies, and Bluegill/Sunfish, who are in the same family, tend to make rapid, jerking, fighting moves that require a good smooth drag. Pulling in pound plus bluegills on 2 lb line requires a good drag. As does Crappie fishing on light line. I think most people here know how important a drag is when trying to boat a bigger Bass on light line.

[MickD]

Getting back on topic, I used to have a few rear drag models, although only one was an old Symetre, and I never noticed any drag performance problems with them. I would expect a modern Symetre rear drag to perform fine compared to front, but I have no data.

What the rear drags did do better than some front drag reels, they allowed for faster spool changes (button in center of spool would release it).  Having said that, some front drag reels would do the same thing, although I don't think Symetres do.

If a front drag model were lighter than a rear drag model, I would go with the front drag.  Weight is more important than any performance/handling advantage I've ever found in rear drag.  I would think that front drag is simpler to execute than rear, and simpler is better.

[RoLo]

Many moons ago I purchased a couple "rear drag" Daiwa Tournament SS spinning reels. I entertained the notion that I could adjust the rear drag during battle without touching the line. In no uncertain terms, I was wrong.

Stick to the front-drag spinning reel, which is actually easier to adjust during battle. With a front-drag reel, you don't have to push the rod outward to access the rear drag, but more importantly, the front drag offers greater friction area., thus a more efficient drag.

Roger