First time lever drag owner

[JEAT]

Hi I just made an investment in an AVET JX6MC. I did an extensive amount of researching before finally making the purchase and ran across countless complaints about the pinion bearings lol. Anyway i think these findings are inhibiting me from using my new reel to its potential. How often are you fishing in the full position? at the beginning of the run? when setting the hook? i haven't tried throwing it to full with a fish on the other end of the line yet but at strike i can't even pump the rod w/o the drag slipping. I think I'm too used to horsing fish in because I almost locking down the drags on reels most ppl just kick around (like the 525 mag, red 4/0, and calcutta 400b well not usually kicked around but i know it can handle it.) I really want to learn to use my fancy new reel but most search results just talk about star vs lever and how to set the drag on an LD, any insight you have to share would be appreciated

Regards,
JEAT

[JEAT]

I should add I bought the reel from CharkBait spooled with 50lbs JB backing 30lbs momoi mono and i believe they set the reel to 10lbs of drag 1/3 line breaking.

I'm from So. FL so most of the time we have bonito dolphin kingfish sailfish in around 130ft of water and I fish mostly live sardine

Regards,
JEAT

[alantani]

any drag setting, strike, full or anything inbetween, that exceeds 15 pounds, can damage the bearing.  getting it wet will do the same. 

[Cowbass]

First you must put the lever in free spool, then increase the drag knob a click. This will increase your strike setting. If it doesn't help do another click. This reel is 15lb max at strike. I bought the raptor version because I didn't want to be pushing the reel to it's max all the time.

I'd just fish it and don't be afraid to bump up the drag. Bearings are cheap and easy to install. A broken bearing means a used reel and caught fish...we should all be so lucky

Fish pulling drag= fishing... Cranking them in... = winching... No fun
Good luck

[SoCalAngler]

NEVER adjust a lever drag reel while the drag lever is engaged. If you need more or less drag place the lever in free spool before making any adjustments. You should measure the drag pressure with something like a spring scale to make sure where your drags are set to where you want them before you catch your first fish. With my JX I set the drag at 10 lbs at strike for the most part and I fish mine with a long 80 yard or so topshot. Then if I want more drag pressure while fighting a fish I can move the lever past strike and if I want even more drag pressure I move the lever further toward full or all the way depending how much drag I want. With the spring scale you will know how much the drag increases while moving the lever past strike and all the way to full, giving that you have done the measurements before you get on the water.

Now when to push the reel past strike that all depends. Say for tuna I like to add more drag pressure at the end of the fight when the tuna are stubborn and doing their death circles by the boat and I cant gain any line on them to get them to gaff range. Other fishes deep around structure I may want to have the reel start in full so I am able to get the fishes head turned away from said structure before it has a chance to bust me off. Just remember the more line you have in the water say on a long soak the drag pressure will increase on the line. Also, at other times I may start with more than 10 lbs at strike, it all depends on what I'm fishing for. how I'm fishing and the conditions I'm fishing in this all plays a role in how I set my drags.

[JEAT]

Thanks for the responses fellas I actually started messing w/ the reel and flipped it into full and it felt more normal. I am guessing the guys at Charkbait set it up for 10lbs @ full. I always thought it was 10lbs @ strike so you have a nice range of drag to play with and if you needed more drag crank it up to full. the range of the full seems very short so i may set it up the way you have it SoCal to help out in the situations you described.

I'd sure love to have a raptor but being my first LD i couldnt warrant spending the extra 230 right now haha. I got it to chuck things around and having its high profile i didnt think the extra dimensions would help either but after todays fishing trip i am a lot happier with my purchase. BOCA Bearing is not far from me so i may swap out the bearing as Alan suggests in other threads

Regards,
JEAT

[JEAT]

Well i just talk to them over at Charkbait and said they now back off the drags when shipping them out.

[SoCalAngler]

Get yourself a spring scale, a brand that you recognize the name of, at a tackle store. They may have some cheap brands that you may of never heard of. I personaly don't trust those to be accurate, they may be but I still feel better with something I trust. I bet you will be suprised at what you thought was the correct drag pressure when you finaly measure them. I like to back off the drags on all my reels between fishing trips and set them again before it is time to catch fish. I set my drags normaly at 1/4 to 1/3 of the lightest line on any givin reel be it the mono, flouro or spectra.