Spinning Reel Drag Questions

[Jiggah]

Thought this might be a helpful discussion. I didn't see it anywhere.

So, I'll ask a few questions and see how this goes.

First question; When spooling your spinning reel, do you set the drag all the way tight or loose?

Second question; When not fishing and you are storing your poles, do you loosen up your drag or leave it tight?

[yippeejf]

Inquiring minds want to know ;-)

[CrappiePappy]

I may not be the best one to advise about this, but .... I set the drag to slip when the rod is at 90% maximum bend and a little more pressure is exerted. It stays set that way, unless I put lighter/heavier pound test line on it.

Now, that may not be the best way to do it ... as far as leaving the drag set when stored for long periods ... but, I haven't had any drag failures or broken lines due to drag failures.

Now, I have loosened the drag on some reels (in the past) while stored & unused for many months ... but, haven't seen any difference in how they perform vs those I didn't store that way.

[jimp]

#1
I set the drag tight enough to pull the new line thru my fingers that is pinching the line, or I weave the line thru 3 or 4 fingers on my left hand depending on my mood and which way comes to mind first. Read where you need to put some tension on the new line so it will spool up on the reel correctly/properly. If you try to make a cast with the new line spooled to loose, you will get a nice fubar to deal with.
#2
sometimes I release the drag and sometimes I don't. For long term storage, I try to remember to loose the drag, but I don't buy expensive reels, so I'm not overly worried about it.

[Eagle 1]

Spool tight/store loose . Not saying this is correct, but like most things in fishing someone must have said it . It is what I do .

[Alphahawk]

When I spool up a reel my drag is tight...then I set it to 1# of drag....I use 2# test line.....using a pull scale....sometimes I do it by feel....but I try to have drag set at 50 percent of my line rating. Most drag washers are made from felt. They will get compressed over time if the drag is kept tightened down for a long period. If one is only catching crappie...Gills....this is not going to be a problem. I would at least clean and grease my drag washers once a year.....doing this will keep your felt washers in good shape for years. All my reels have carbon fiber drags in them and I expect them to last for many years...if not forever. I did this as I not only use my UL reels for crappie...Gills...but also catch tons of smallmouth a year...many at the 21 inch mark.....can't have a drag mistake when one of those is on 2# test line. I loosen my drag after each fishing trip and set it again for next trip...even if I know I am going out the next morning.

Regards

[Jiggah]

Thanks guys!

[Crestliner08]

I've always just adjusted the drag by my own feel. Then, after one or two crappie, you'll know quick enough if everything is good or not. And whenever we decide to quit fishing, I loosen the drag to the point where it just holds the jig in the keeper. Have never had a "real" issue doing this for so many years. I've never gone so far as to use a scale to preset it. Just never thought it was that important.

[sparkie51]

I crank it down tight. I very seldom use the drag. Learn to back reel and you won't need it. Your fishing for pan fish not a fish that makes a long run trying to escape.

[CrappiePappy]

I crank it down tight. I very seldom use the drag. Learn to back reel and you won't need it. Your fishing for pan fish not a fish that makes a long run trying to escape.

I felt that way, once upon a time ... and then a little 8-9" Hybrid Striper hit my jig at the side of the boat and yanked the rod down hard enough to break the <3ft of line I had out ... on the end of my 5'2" ESP UL rod. After that, I started setting my drag to match the line's test strength. Not because I don't know how to back reel (been doing that for decades), or because I'm afraid of losing a slab Crappie ... but, because I want that extra couple of seconds, when a big fish hits, that gives me time to realize it's a big fish and flip the anti-reverse off.

Back reeling has helped me land a 32" Tiger Muskie on 4lb test line on a UL outfit ... a 6lb Largemouth Bass on 4lb test line on a UL outfit ... and other species of fish that weighed more than the breaking strength of the line I was using. Having a drag set according to the breaking strength of the line I'm using has allowed me to land several Largemouth/Smallmouth Bass & Hybrid Striped Bass & Catfish, that on their first "run" would have broken my line like it was sewing thread. Personally, I care less about losing the fish than losing the bait ... except, of course, if it happened to be a 3lb Crappie (then I'd be crushed !! )