Testing drag on spinning reels

Started by Reel Beaker, February 04, 2018, 12:34:52 PM

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Rivverrat

Another point that goes along with drag is getting to know the rod your using.  A rod & nice weight reel that can fish 3 line classes well, for me is a fantastic thing. Of course this is not always something that should or could be done. When you get to know a rod well & how it reacts to your pulling at what ever level of drag that feed back allows me to keep my attention on the fish & not continually glancing back at the reel.

For my situation at times when needing to push the envolope this can be important when applying that last little bit of pressure with rod & drag to lead a decent, still fired up fish in out & around obstacles both below & above the surface... Jeff

Alto Mare

After doing it for many years I could set the drag gradually up to 20lbs just by feel and I bet I get pretty darn close to it every time.
The boys at the west side have a different way of setting drag, they set 15-20lbs on strike and yank the hook right out of the fish mouth.
I've seen a bunch of pulled hooks on yellowtail on one of their trips. Maybe next time they should take one of our custom  star drag reel , make adjustments as required with the fish that is actually on the end of the line and gently bring him home  ;D.

Just a thought...

Sal
Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.

Gfish

On the West coast we actually have rocky underwater structure to deal with. Something Yellowtails et. al., dart towards when first hooked. Never fished on the Atlantic side, so I can't say what it's like. What I like about the Pacific is the steep rocky/volcanic shorelines, places where people can't develop. Hawaii is great, even beaches are public domain, though there are places where access from roadways is limited, but never completely blocked.
Gfish
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Rivverrat

#33
Quote from: Gfish on February 07, 2018, 08:24:02 PM
 What I like about the Pacific is the steep rocky/volcanic shorelines, places where people can't develop. Hawaii is great, even beaches are public domain, though there are places where access from roadways is limited, but never completely blocked.
Gfish

What you describe sounds very cool. It pricks my interest to a level of wanting to fish there. Off to googleville I go to learn more... Jeff

Midway Tommy

Quote from: Alto Mare on February 07, 2018, 08:07:30 PM
After doing it for many years I could set the drag gradually up to 20lbs just by feel and I bet I get pretty darn close to it every time.
The boys at the west side have a different way of setting drag, they set 15-20lbs on strike and yank the hook right out of the fish mouth.
I've seen a bunch of pulled hooks on yellowtail on one of their trips. Maybe next time they should take one of our custom  star drag reel , make adjustments as required with the fish that is actually on the end of the line and gently bring him home  ;D.

Just a thought...

Sal

Ha! That's kind of why I set my drags the way I do. I never use a rod holder, I do my trolling with rod in hand so I can feel the bite & set the hook accordingly. For me the most fun is feeling the hit & setting the hook, not necessarily reeling the fish in, although that's fun, too.   ;) 
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
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