Lever vs Star - mechanics wise

[Mandelstam]

I'm not going to stir up a hornet's nest here by asking what is the preferred drag system but I am a bit curious to the differences, mechanics wise, between the two. I've only handled star drag reels before but am thinking of getting a smaller lever drag reel, mostly out of curiosity. Not for casting, mostly jigging and stuff.

But...

• Is there any big difference in reliability between the two?
• Service wise, is there anything you should be aware of when getting a lever drag reel?
• Last, if you only were to look at the mechanics of the reel and it's drag system and disregard any individual preferences one way or the other, what is the best system (if there is any)?

I've read a lot of heated discussions about lever vs. star drag and I realize that it's mostly down to personal preferences of the fisherman. It's like discussing spinning vs. conventional reels. But if there is any important stone cold facts and differences that you should be aware of before going lever drag I am very interested in hearing about it from you guys.

/Karl

[SoCalAngler]

It use to be star's casted much better than lever's but now the levers are almost as good as stars for casting. Only the best casters will get a small lack of distance from lever's. Levers are best for trolling or if you want/need to ajust the drag during a fight.

[Mandelstam]

So, is there any draw backs at all from modern lever drag reels?

What I am drawn to is the total (apparently) control of the drag, even when you adjust it you can be back at a preset seconds later.

[johndtuttle]

• Is there any big difference in reliability between the two?
• Service wise, is there anything you should be aware of when getting a lever drag reel?
• Last, if you only were to look at the mechanics of the reel and it's drag system and disregard any individual preferences one way or the other, what is the best system (if there is any)?

/Karl

1. Yes, star drags are more reliable. They use a simpler mechanism for applying drag separate from the spool that is less prone to mechanical failure.

2. The pinion bearing gets crunched in most lever drag designs (the Accurate dual drag minimizes this) and is a frequent source of maintenance.

3. Neither system is superior it is simply apples and oranges. A star drag is more infinitely adjustable in small increments, a lever is easier for returning to a preset. A lever drag in the larger reel sizes has more surface area (the same size as the spool) and so produces more max drag.

The issue is that the entire drag mechanism is mounted on the spool of a lever drag. This additional weight to the spool limits the design for casting lighter objects.

In the smallest reel sizes a star drag is superior for casting among conventional reels. This is why the bass guys use them and there are few super tiny lever drags intended for casting light lures though there are some (ie JM pe2) for bottom fishing. Lever drags have pretty much completely taken over true big game fishing as they put out more max drag and there is not much casting to worry about.

What it really comes down to is what are your line and drag capacity needs for your target species. My rule is that if a star drag can get it done it usually is the better choice. But when you need more drag than they provide then lever drags start truly shining.

best

[Mandelstam]

Thanks for your answer John! Exactly the kind of answer I was looking for.

Guess I have to try it out for myself and see how I like it. Been oggling the Okuma Cedros LD for a while.

[Alto Mare]

Out of the two, I prefer the ones that I have the most
Here are a few:

[Mandelstam]

That is some serious bling bling.. Love it!

Thanks for the pic!

[Alto Mare]

Just a joke Karl, have you noticed I don't have one lever drag?.  A lot of guys here like those better though .
I guess you'll need to try it for yourself.

[Mandelstam]

Yes I guess I do.

If you want to have a lever drag reel in the lower drag range (15-20's), is there any good old school reels you can look for, or should you go for a more modern reel? I've been looking at a lot of the smaller modern lever drag reels, Avet, Accurate, Okuma, etc, but if I can go old school that's what I want.

[basto]

Yes I guess I do.

If you want to have a lever drag reel in the lower drag range (15-20's), is there any good old school reels you can look for, or should you go for a more modern reel? I've been looking at a lot of the smaller modern lever drag reels, Avet, Accurate, Okuma, etc, but if I can go old school that's what I want.

PENN and SHIMANO are very good time proven reels in levers.

[Ron Jones]

I just don't see the benefit of  lever. I have boated big Marlin on stars and levers. The majority of my big fish have been sharks. I have never felt that adjusting a star was so slow that I wished I had a lever. I HAVE fished with a lever when I knew that I could personally cast a star of similar size farther and that would have got me into better fish.

I'm with Alto, Senators for ever!

Ron

[SoCalAngler]

Levers offer more of a precise control of the drags while fighting a fish. That's why most people use them while trolling for larger game. You set up the drag before catching a fish and you will know that when the lever is placed back to where you set them you will have the same drag pressure. Let's say you set up a lever drag to have 10 lbs of drag at strike on a reel when using it with 40 lb main line. When trolling you will not have the lever set all the way to strike most of the time opting to fish with a lesser drag setting for the strike. Ok now you hook a fish and want to fight it. You push the lever to strike and you will have the 10 lbs of drag you set before hand every time, there is no guess work on how far you will turn a star to get the same drag. Now say you cant move the fish with the 10 lbs of drag, like when tuna start to do the death spiral or a billfish turns sideways to you and it is right out of leader length. You can add more drag by pushing the lever past strike and get the fish to the boat. If you add too much drag, zing-pow, and the line breaks. If you set up your lever reel and do drag measurements before you catch a fish and you do not adjust the drag knob during a trip those measurements should stay very close.

Say your going to get spooled by a big fish or taken into structure and you want to add maximum drag to your reel for the line your fishing. Again if you have done the setup and measurements before hand you will know the precise location of your lever to offer the drag you want without breaking off a fish. Or say you hook a fish while using a star drag reel and somehow the star got moved while in a rod holder, rocket launcher or what ever how much do you need to turn the star to get the drag pressure you want? For the most part I have only noticed this has happened after I have hooked a fish.

Setting up a lever reel with a drag scale is the best way to know there your drags are set and they should stay that way if the drag adjustment knob is not moved and it is much harder to have this happen than getting the star bumped. Most people that don't use a scale are off then setting their drags, some way off. Try this, set a reel by feel to where you think you want the drag set, then measure with a scale. If your anything like me you will be surprised on how far you are off then setting the drag to the line test used.

Edit: don't think I'm only a lever drag user I have both types of reels used for different applications.

[johndtuttle]

Yea, apples and oranges.

If your fishing depends on max drag for a given size reel then lever drags do really shine for the brief window you can fish them that way before they need work.

And it's true that a star can't be shoved to "full drag" as easy. This is both good and bad. You might lose that fish in structure but with a little more finesse you will still catch a lot fish and not destroy your reels in the process. They may not be as sexy, but they are relentlessly reliable and that has it's own attraction.

Its truly not the lever drag reel's fault. It's so easy to push to full people do it and beat them up. If you cranked down the star completely and fished a star drag that way then lots of things on many of them would start breaking too.

Lever drags are all trick and cool and stuff but as I posted above, unless you have a specific application where they shine the other attributes that star drags actually make them preferable for some styles of fishing.

best

[Ron Jones]

My only issue with your line of thinking, SoCalAngler, is that the numbers just don't matter. It is sort of like the 30-06 or 300 Win mag argument, if the elk is dead who cares if the bullet was traveling at 2700 or 3000 fps? If you land the fish who cares if you were using 10 or 11.5 pounds of drag? Numbers are great in the lab  and for comparing apples to apples, but when the fight is on they just don't really have a lot of influence. I have never not gotten extra drag on it time with a star drag. I have (30 years ago) snapped fish clean off from flipping a lever to far.

Ron

[Alto Mare]

Yea, to me it would be like driving my wife's automatic or my infinity coupe with 6 on the floor.
I never had problems adjusting the star as I needed. We're making fishing too complicated.