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Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
Ages ago my dad and I used to set the drag on our reels with a spring scale.
We would usually set the drag so it slipped at about 1/3 of the line test when pulling directly against the reel. That being said I always wondered if that was wise or if we should have set it even lighter. I have to be honest we never broke off many fish. If we did they were real toads that wrapped us up or were just too big to fight on the amount of line we had. The reason I wonder about the wisdom of our drag settings is that it takes a lot more force to strip drag through the guides of a rod arced over than straight off the reel. We probably had a good comprimise, but I wonder if we might have been more accurate in our useful setting if we had used the spring scale to set the drag at about 1/2 of line strength through the rod arced over... hmmm... -- Bob La Londe Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River Fishing Forums & Contests http://www.YumaBassMan.com -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
Be a man Bob. Crank that sucker down as tight as it'll go and spool the reel
with your thumb as you need to. All my drags get set that way! "Bob La Londe" wrote in message .. . Ages ago my dad and I used to set the drag on our reels with a spring scale. We would usually set the drag so it slipped at about 1/3 of the line test when pulling directly against the reel. That being said I always wondered if that was wise or if we should have set it even lighter. I have to be honest we never broke off many fish. If we did they were real toads that wrapped us up or were just too big to fight on the amount of line we had. The reason I wonder about the wisdom of our drag settings is that it takes a lot more force to strip drag through the guides of a rod arced over than straight off the reel. We probably had a good comprimise, but I wonder if we might have been more accurate in our useful setting if we had used the spring scale to set the drag at about 1/2 of line strength through the rod arced over... hmmm... -- Bob La Londe Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River Fishing Forums & Contests http://www.YumaBassMan.com -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message . .. Be a man Bob. Crank that sucker down as tight as it'll go and spool the reel with your thumb as you need to. All my drags get set that way! That's pretty much how I set mine too Charles! If it works for muskies in the weeds, stumps and logs, it'll work for bass too, I reckon..... -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in message ... "Charles B. Summers" wrote in message . .. Be a man Bob. Crank that sucker down as tight as it'll go and spool the reel with your thumb as you need to. All my drags get set that way! That's pretty much how I set mine too Charles! If it works for muskies in the weeds, stumps and logs, it'll work for bass too, I reckon..... -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com Then maybe you are using to heavy of tackle. |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
Bob La Londe wrote:
Ages ago my dad and I used to set the drag on our reels with a spring scale. We would usually set the drag so it slipped at about 1/3 of the line test when pulling directly against the reel. That being said I always wondered if that was wise or if we should have set it even lighter. I have to be honest we never broke off many fish. If we did they were real toads that wrapped us up or were just too big to fight on the amount of line we had. The reason I wonder about the wisdom of our drag settings is that it takes a lot more force to strip drag through the guides of a rod arced over than straight off the reel. We probably had a good comprimise, but I wonder if we might have been more accurate in our useful setting if we had used the spring scale to set the drag at about 1/2 of line strength through the rod arced over... hmmm... http://www.richz.com/fishing/fishtips/backreel.html |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
"Calif Bill" wrote in message SNIP That's pretty much how I set mine too Charles! If it works for muskies in the weeds, stumps and logs, it'll work for bass too, I reckon..... -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com Then maybe you are using to heavy of tackle. 6'6" Medium Light to 7' Medium Heavy with a Curado 200 or Cardiff 100 reel? Nah, I just developed a very educated thumb and sense for how much pressure I can put on a fish. I rarely break off a fish due to line snapping. -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
Sure Rich... if you're using spinning tackle. I prefer the winch method
myself... so Ken says. "RichZ" wrote in message ... Bob La Londe wrote: Ages ago my dad and I used to set the drag on our reels with a spring scale. We would usually set the drag so it slipped at about 1/3 of the line test when pulling directly against the reel. That being said I always wondered if that was wise or if we should have set it even lighter. I have to be honest we never broke off many fish. If we did they were real toads that wrapped us up or were just too big to fight on the amount of line we had. The reason I wonder about the wisdom of our drag settings is that it takes a lot more force to strip drag through the guides of a rod arced over than straight off the reel. We probably had a good comprimise, but I wonder if we might have been more accurate in our useful setting if we had used the spring scale to set the drag at about 1/2 of line strength through the rod arced over... hmmm... http://www.richz.com/fishing/fishtips/backreel.html |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
"Charles B. Summers" wrote in message ... Sure Rich... if you're using spinning tackle. I prefer the winch method myself... so Ken says. "RichZ" wrote in message ... Bob La Londe wrote: Ages ago my dad and I used to set the drag on our reels with a spring scale. We would usually set the drag so it slipped at about 1/3 of the line test when pulling directly against the reel. That being said I always wondered if that was wise or if we should have set it even lighter. I have to be honest we never broke off many fish. If we did they were real toads that wrapped us up or were just too big to fight on the amount of line we had. The reason I wonder about the wisdom of our drag settings is that it takes a lot more force to strip drag through the guides of a rod arced over than straight off the reel. We probably had a good comprimise, but I wonder if we might have been more accurate in our useful setting if we had used the spring scale to set the drag at about 1/2 of line strength through the rod arced over... hmmm... http://www.richz.com/fishing/fishtips/backreel.html I guess I just don't do it right. Except on my flipping rods I keep the drags set so that they will slip on the hookset on any fish over two pounds, and just use my thumb for extra pressure on bigger fish in open water. It works for me. On bigger fish (like 8-12 lb stripers) on spinning tackle I used to set the drag slightly heavier, but not cinched down, and back wind as Rich suggested. It works pretty well on those long runs, well atleast until your palm starts to get beat up from acting as a brake against that spinning handle on a long hard run. LOL. As far as a lighter drag setting being a problem. Not unless you are fighting monster fish. You can cup the spool with your palm on a spinning reel or thumb it on a baitcaster jsut fine to add some brakes. I've done exactly that many times when fishing 10lb line with topwater and I see a 4+ head for the tulies. I guess I have tactics that work ok for me, but its been so long since I fished really light tackle that I just needed to refresh my memory. Thanks everybody. -- Bob La Londe Fishing Arizona & The Colorado River Fishing Forums & Contests http://www.YumaBassMan.com -- Posted via a free Usenet account from http://www.teranews.com |
Fighting Big Fish on Light Tackle - How to Set The Drag
"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in message ... "Calif Bill" wrote in message SNIP That's pretty much how I set mine too Charles! If it works for muskies in the weeds, stumps and logs, it'll work for bass too, I reckon..... -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com Then maybe you are using to heavy of tackle. 6'6" Medium Light to 7' Medium Heavy with a Curado 200 or Cardiff 100 reel? Nah, I just developed a very educated thumb and sense for how much pressure I can put on a fish. I rarely break off a fish due to line snapping. -- Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods http://www.herefishyfishy.com I have set the drag before and do not touch it unless I am going to be spooled. I learned fishing on the salt and you could hook in to very large fish on the lighter gear. Fishing for Stripers at the Berkeley Pier as a kid, you may get a 22# perch or an 80# Mud Marlin (ray). |
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