Setting drag

[BoutTime]

Not really a bass topic, but it does come into play alot.

Seems like most every where I fish, theres somebody around who doesnt use the drag on their reel. I hear silence coming from their reel with a fish on, and then snap.  "Oh my knot broke"   This isnt gnarly southern U.S. weed beds we are fishing here, so I assume its simply because they dont understand why its there or dont care about using it.

Why not use it to your advantage? It helps take the strain off your line, terminal tackle and reel gears, I dont get why some people lock it right down and manhandle a fish in.

I set mine to slip ever so slightly on smaller fish, and it really kicks in on bigger stuff. I can tighten it up a smidge if needed from there.

Anybody else not use their drag? (gnarly weeds aside)

[NYSporty]

I find that people don't fish like I do and have not been taught like I have.
I talk to people about fishing at any given chance some say I like to fish the conversation goes no where due to the fact they just dust off the the old Mitchell 300 from the 60's.
Grab the box of old lures that I would die to have in my collection and "fish" once a year on there annual camping trip. Setting drag is important so is not tying on a lure worth 50+ dollars on 30 year old line with a traditional overhand knot. Sorry for venting but I ran across this situation last year. As my wife puts it not everyone fishes like you. I see it as a rookie mistake.

[TheDL]

I've never met a fisherman that doesn't set his drag .  It's one of the most critical parts of your setup.  I'm constantly adjusting my drag for the fish I'm targeting, better to be on the lite side and tighten then on the stiff side and break off.  I did make the mistake last weekend of having my drag set too tight (weedy/structure filled water) to drag my lure out of the junk, and when my rod was sitting in the rod holder I got a MASSIVE hit, bent the rod right over and before I could loosen the drag it broke off on my 10lb suffix 832 line    Oh boy, I won't make that mistake again!

[bigredfishing]

Most bass tourney guys that fish jigs around any sort of cover have their drags turned completely up so that no line comes out at all.    If your targeting purely largemouth in the northeast, which means realisticly no chance of a LMB bigger than 10lbs, and you don't care about other species (tournament angler), there's no point in having any drag.   You aren't going to hook a bass that can break 17lb+ mono or 30lb+ braid.

HOWEVER - I set my drag on all but one of my casting reels - My frog rod - a7'6" XH rod with a 7.1:1 retrieve ratio and 65lb test power pro, ain't nothin' where I fish that is going to snap 65lb test power pro.

[Fat Boy]

Most bass tourney guys that fish jigs around any sort of cover have their drags turned completely up so that no line comes out at all.    If your targeting purely largemouth in the northeast, which means realisticly no chance of a LMB bigger than 10lbs, and you don't care about other species (tournament angler), there's no point in having any drag.   You aren't going to hook a bass that can break 17lb+ mono or 30lb+ braid.

HOWEVER - I set my drag on all but one of my casting reels - My frog rod - a7'6" XH rod with a 7.1:1 retrieve ratio and 65lb test power pro, ain't nothin' where I fish that is going to snap 65lb test power pro.

Yes, this is very true.  For heavy tackle patterns with heavy line, like flipping and pitching, often bass anglers tighten it down completely.  They want to drive that hook home and not give the fish an inch. 

For me, when fishing finesse style presentations, crankbaits, and even spinnerbaits, I've found that setting your drag properly can actually improve hookups in addition to landing fish that would otherwise break you off.

I have a buddy that believes only in backreeling and tightening that drag down all the way on all his rods.  But, some species of fish are too fast to backreel and you'll most likely end up with a bruised thumb.  I think that I'm getting through to him though because I noticed the last time that I fished with him he was fighting a musky and he was using his drag.  Don't get me wrong, I'm not against backreeling because it's a good skill to have in case for some reason your drag fails or you forgot to set it, and sometimes in combination with using drag you can handle even bigger fish.  I prefer to not backreel though unless I have no other choice.  Too much can go wrong.

Personally, I set them based on species that I'm targeting, the set up of the rod/reel combo, and a gut feeling of what I can get away with to give me the best hooksetting power and fish fighting ability.  Some would use more drag than I, others less.  Since I'm not a tournament angler, every fish I hook is important to me, so my goal is to land as many as possible no matter what species it is and what I'm targeting.  So, if I had to describe it, my drag doesn't move at all on hookset (unless the fish is absolutely huge), but is set for big fish to run. 

Also, as part of the set up, I tend to set my drag tighter when using braided lines for fishing soft plastics on spinning tackle since the line is so much stronger.  But, if I'm using this set up for fishing small cranks, I'll loosen it up so that on hook set it might give some since my rods are mostly fast action graphite and the line has no stretch, otherwise I'd pull the hook away from them.  I only go that route if I'm limited on the number of rods I can use, otherwise I have a different set up/line for crankbaits. 

[wyreellifeguy]

I believe drag  is one of those thing that if you using a super line it can be a thing not to think about but with mono it is a key and as pointed out old line it is a must , as for do i  us it yes and no my heavy line rod no on my lite stuff yes but that is I us fireline on my heavy rods and mono on my lighter  stuff  and as how is set my drag I just grab the line if i can pull it and the drag slips freely i think that good but some time i still have to loosen it one bigger fish but that's what it is for

[BoutTime]

Most bass tourney guys that fish jigs around any sort of cover have their drags turned completely up so that no line comes out at all.    If your targeting purely largemouth in the northeast, which means realisticly no chance of a LMB bigger than 10lbs, and you don't care about other species (tournament angler), there's no point in having any drag.   You aren't going to hook a bass that can break 17lb+ mono or 30lb+ braid.

HOWEVER - I set my drag on all but one of my casting reels - My frog rod - a7'6" XH rod with a 7.1:1 retrieve ratio and 65lb test power pro, ain't nothin' where I fish that is going to snap 65lb test power pro.

Well not for nothing, but the Maine state record lagemouth is well over 11 pounds. But yes, the LM bass up here are mostly mid-sized on any given hookset. The smallies are where its at for me though.

Using 17lb test mono is a little much in my opinion, and the heaviest I use is 10lb. Im usually hunting smallmouth using 6 or 8lb on pretty light rods, hence my heavy use of drag. Its just way too fun to stop, and Im an addict.

[BoutTime]

I believe drag  is one of those thing that if you using a super line it can be a thing not to think about but with mono it is a key and as pointed out old line it is a must , as for do i  us it yes and no my heavy line rod no on my lite stuff yes but that is I us fireline on my heavy rods and mono on my lighter  stuff  and as how is set my drag I just grab the line if i can pull it and the drag slips freely i think that good but some time i still have to loosen it one bigger fish but that's what it is for

I dont use braid much, but Id assume one would want a little drag to save on their rod or reel gears.

[wyreellifeguy]

A little but not much  as you said just to save the reel and rod  what i like about Fireline is that 6 momo line size is 14 pound test in Fireline so i have that extra  help on pulling stuff in fast  but some times fishing for bigger fish you will always need drag but then  if you us 30 pound Fireline that is only the same size as 12 mono so it is one of those should i loosen the drag  or not things it is all on ones idea what best for them 

[BoutTime]

Yeah, I gotta actively give braid a try this year.

That means picking up another rod. Yeah!

[slipperybob]

I set drag mostly depending on line strength, although I do tend to set my drags light.  So most of my bass reels don't have much over 10 lbs of usable drags so it's not an issue for me.  My low profiles are all silent on the drags too, so I never truly know how it's doing. 

[jibbs]

very important to set your drag on spinning gear...i will have a pretty tight drag on my baitcasters however...

[JAMMER]

I am guilty of the " drive the hook home " fishing style with tight drag for bass. Spending time and catching fish with competition anglers may be the reason. Like all the prior posts it depends on the
fish you are targeting. There are alot more options on setting drag with the line,flouro and mighty
braid out there. Grip it and rip it.

[bassjunky]

this is an interesting thread, with spinning, Im playing with the drag all the time, I adjsut it when I change lures, as well if I dont like the way it felt on the previous fish. On my casting reels, I do adjust the drag and usually a bit tighter then I would on spinning, I guess it comes down to the way you fish. Frog fishing there is almost no drag.

I love the sound of my spinning reels drag, need to get it in a ring tone

[TheDL]

I love the sound of my spinning reels drag, need to get it in a ring tone

awesome idea, I love the sound of my reel drag too, just gotta catch a monster and get it recorded now!