Mark, what happens to drags is, if overloaded, they heat up. And the
hotter they get, the less effective they are. Now on a lever drag reel
the drag washers are quite large, three to four inches across, so they
can disapate more heat, and on larger reels their are multiple washers
(lots of surface area) and usually, the reel being made of aluminum
helps as well. On your 114L the drag washers are only about an inch
across, their are multiple ones, but their mounted within a gear, they
don't disipate heat very well, they overheat very easily under a heavy
sustained load.

The moral of the story, when bear hunting, leave the BB gun home
(sorry, I couldn't resist that one). I've had my share of times
trolling for Tuna with "the big guns" out and someone decides to put
out a light weight rod like a 20 or 30. Guess which rod get's the hit
every time?

Do you ever get Blue Fins where you are? Every now and then here in NY
someone hooks a big one up while trolling spoons for Stripers. It's
usually over very quickly. If the line doesn't snap you just get
stripped.