how to measure drag?

[day0ne]

Interesting video. Several comments. If you look around 7:51, he stripped that reel almost to the arbor, not 1/3 to 1/2 way down like he said and he closed his hand around both the line and the rod while he got his reading, which brings up the second observation. That was the lightest 50 lb rod I ever saw. It looked closer to a 20 or 30 lb rod, which will affect the results.

[jonathan.han]

The zero point would be the offset between the surface of the spool and the center of the spool shaft. When fighting a fish, remember that they breathe by moving. If you stick it to them hard in the beginning, they suffocate esp. with pelagic species that must move at a fair rate to keep up with metabolic rates thus their diving and ascending in the water column to maintain their needs.

You're going to want to back off a bit when your spool gets low. If the line is dumping out fast, adjust. Drag pressure is a starting point. When fighting a fish, you're drag setting should be dynamic. People who fish a static drag setting see a lot of lost fish. Time on the water will prove this rule. It goes from being a scientific approach to an artform.