Setting your reel drag...Brian Nguyen

[Keta]

I redid the test, same rod, same reel.  I started with my topshot attachment at the reel.
Straight pull 20.5#, rod pull at about 45° 23.25#.  A tested 4 times each letting the reel "settle" for 5 minutes between pulls and alternating straight and rod.  All 4 tests were +- a 1/4 pound of each other.

I am putting a reel on a all roller rod next.

[drumbum]

The outdoor demo in the vid was like watching some carney snake oil stuff.

Speed of pull was obviously different.

Adding friction (drag) of guides.....adds drag(.)

Progressive vs. linear.  How much money and research has been spent to get closer to linear?  How linear can a drag get.

[MACflyer]

I re did the test, same rod, same reel.  I started with my topshot attachment at the reel.
Straight pull 20.5#, rod pull at about 45° 23.25#.  A tested 4 times each letting the reel "settle" for 5 minutes between pulls and alternating straight and rod.  All 4 tests were +- a 1/4 pound of each other.

I am putting a reel on a all roller rod next.

Good stuff Lee. Thanks. Look forward to seeing if the rollers make much difference.

[alantani]

yeah, straight pull here as well.  now off to more important things.  i have a kitchen to clean....   

[oldmanjoe]

    Me thinks in the near future , there will be microprocessor drag control built into the reels with touch screen  to program the desired  drag .  No more scaling needed .      As of now I am the microprocessor .

[Keta]

The 6.25' AR rod results were similar but it is a lot easier pulling 20# with.

[jurelometer]

The 6.25' AR rod results were similar but it is a lot easier pulling 20# with.

That makes sense.  Easier from the shorter lever (rod length).   No change in drag because the coefficient of friction for UHMWPE (braid material) on polished ceramic insert material is crazy low, and if you were actually adding a couple pounds of load from friction, it  would show as substantial wear on the line if it didn't break outright.

Yep, No friction with rollers and practically no friction with ceramic guides.

I am pretty convinced that getting different results on straight pull vs. bent rod is an artifact of static (startup) drag testing. The static load is applied very differently in these two methods, and some of the static load turns into stored energy on the bent rod, and will not be observed using a kinetic  (running after startup) drag test.

I have yet to see an explanation of why the bent rod would make a difference otherwise. But I have provided an explanation  of why it would not.

Unlike the video where they just yank on some line with a scale while swinging a rod and call it "scientific", a halfway decent scientific approach requires both controlled testing and a plausible explanation of why the observed results are happening that is consistent with known science (in this case Physics, and more specifically Tribology).


I am not criticizing Lee's tests. He is not hanging "scientific" on his observations.  He has provided us with some useful data.  The rest of the scientific work has yet to be done.  And frankly, I don't think it is worth doing. But if somebody wants to defend that rod angle makes a difference on ongoing drag, feel free to pick up from here.


One other point is that drag is just one part of managing the load on that big tuna.  There is also the amount of load applied when the fish is not taking line.  I think this is probably where we find the biggest difference between the angler who struggles on a big tuna for a couple hours and the one who has it at the rail in under 20 minutes. 

Like almost all fish species, tuna don't have a reverse, plus they  have less endurance  for turning than straight line swimming.  Keeping its head pointed toward you as much of the time as possible  will wear out the fish much faster than if you keep letting in turn around. That takes consistent winding load, the higher the better.

For awhile, I was playing with the idea of making a big game rod butt with a reel seat that could slide a very short distance do it could punch against a load sensor.  Stick some batteries in there and a transmitter, make or tweak some software, and now we could record the load that the angler was applying to a fish throughout the fight, and could compare the histograms of various  anglers.  This would help identify what the guys who are landing big fish quickly are specifically doing differently.  But I think we already know most of it.

It could probably be done for under $2000 USD, maybe a lot less.  The interesting part was figuring  out roughly how to do it.  The less interesting part was spending the money and time to build it, recruiting anglers willing to try it with their valuable cow tuna fishing opportunities, training, etc.  But if somebody else wants to run with it, I am willing to look at it some more.

-J

[oldmanjoe]

Here is a test to further confuse ya .  Take a weight and scale it . "I have 2.5 pounds with a digital scale  "  Now run a line down the guides of your stick , Tiegh  the weight and put a loop on the string at ,or near the reel seat so you can hook the scale to it . lift the weight flat stick and note the weight .  Now pick the stick to 80-85 degrees and note the weight . Why does it vary so much?