initial drag setting and final drag setting

[maxpowers]

2013 was a phenomenal year for the Southern California / Mexico Bluefin bites.  For most of us, the only way to experience this was on a cattle boat for 1-3 days of fishing.  There was varying view on the setting of the drag to fish these bluefins.  The school that fished heavy strike drag advocate that you should fished as heavy a drag as possible to get these fish to the boat quickly while a smaller school advocated much lighter drag (5-7 lbs) when fishing for these fish.  The light drag school is championed by one of the best 1-3 days skipper in the fleet while most of the fleet fished much heavier drag.  One of the disadvantage of the heavier drag is of course pulled hooks on the initial hookup, especially with stiffer rods and short leaders (3-10 ft).  To minimize this I want to try setting finding the max drag for a the line class and a 5-8 lbs initial drag.  On the lever drag that is probably easier to do but on star drag I might have to back the drag off completely and set up some kind of indicator for max drag setting for certain pound test line.  What do you guys think of this?

[Bryan Young]

I truely believe it depends on the rod you are fishing with.  A slow action or a soft tipped rod, you could fish with higher drag setting with no problems.  The faster and stiffer your rod, you would need to find the right drag setting that works, max 1/3 the leader or knot strength, whichever is lower.

[Dominick]

Max:  Here is a trick for the star drag I learned from the Sal, the Wizard of Reeladelphia.  First set the drag by tightening the star to the original drag setting.  Let's just give it somewhere between 5 and 8lbs. I'm not exact here because I want you to end up with one leg of the star even with the handle.  Once the leg of the star is even with the handle and you know the drag setting without looking grab the next leg of the star and turn it stopping at the handle once more.  Test the drag again.  You will see that the drag will increase with each stop.  If you test each stop you will know how much drag you have by the number of turns you have to make.  I trust that I have mad myself clear, if not I will do a tutorial on setting a star drag.  Dominick

[Tightlines667]

A piece of rubber tubing on one spur of the star is useful while fishing to indicate where your drag is set at..after you've done the testing of course.   Marks on the spool can also be helpful in determining drag when you've lost line off of the reel.

[Ron Jones]

I don't know, at some point you have to say it is just fishing. If the fish is running harder than you want and you feel you would be better off with more drag, turn the star. If your getting beat up or your worried about the fish tearing off, turn the star the other way. Out on the water I have just never cared weather I am fighting with 5 or 7 pounds of drag, I just want the drag to be where it needs to be, then it is right.

Ron

[maxpowers]

I don't know, at some point you have to say it is just fishing. If the fish is running harder than you want and you feel you would be better off with more drag, turn the star. If your getting beat up or your worried about the fish tearing off, turn the star the other way. Out on the water I have just never cared weather I am fighting with 5 or 7 pounds of drag, I just want the drag to be where it needs to be, then it is right.

Ron

Ron, 

This is how I would fish too if I was on a pier or the shoreline or my own private boat.  However on the cattle boat and we are doing drift fishing for pelagic, it is proper etiquette to get the fish to the boat as soon as possible because sometime the boat need to be reset for the drift.  If you are taking too long to bring a fish in, it create a lot of hard feelings and rumbling from the rest of the passengers.

[Ron Jones]

Quite possibly my most perfect day would be a 3/4 day trip to Mexican waters out of Point Loma for tuna. I understand that sometimes you have to get the fish in, but I don't see how that changes anything. If you have to get the fish in, turn the star; if the fish breaks off then that's the way the cookie crumbles. I'm not trying to say that what your doing is not a good idea, in fact it is probably a much better way of doing things than me, but I'm just not ready to put that much into it on the water. On the bench to get ready for the water sure, but when I'm fishing all I want to do is fish.
Ron