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