When the depth that I'm fishing is less than half the length of my rod, I set a medium drag. That way if I don't have time to choke up on the rod, I can take my hand and pull out enough line to net the fish. This is whether I'm rigging or single poling. Anything past the length of my pole, channel at darbonne or caney or Claiborne, I set a tight drag because the hook is basically set once you notice a strike IMO. I kinda wanted to get some other opinions just to see if I have been doing it right. I'm really anxious to get back out on the water. My problem is that I've got too many other hobbies. Deer hunting, duck hunting, trail riding its hard to find the time to do them all and one always overlaps the other. Hunting season is pretty much over for me this year so the next couple weeks will be getting everything in order. Btw I've got a HB 570 DI in the for sale section if anyone is interested. I'd love to sell it local instead of dealing with shipping.