Ask The Pros

How do I find how much drag I should be using on my reel?

Question:
I was wondering if you could talk about how to figure out how much drag you need on your reel. I have been fishing for a while using live bait but never had a problem with setting my drag, however after finding your podcast recently, I've been using lures and while I do get more bites I either have it to low and I can't hook my fish or I have it to high and I rip the hook out. Any help would be appreciated.

-Jerry

Answer:
I would say the traditional use for a drag is to keep a fish from breaking your line. That is the most obvious answer out there, but as you know, today’s fishing has become so specific to line, lure, retrieve, rod, and environment, that things have changed!!! It almost gets overwhelming! The main thing is to get the fish on, because you can always change the drag during the fight if you need to.

If you seem to be pulling the hook out of the fish, you may want to look at a rod that is not as stiff? This happens a lot when throwing a crankbait! The first reaction a fisherman wants to make when he/she gets a bite on a crankbait is to give a violent hook set. If you stop and think about it, there is usually 2 treble hooks on a crankbait, so the chances of that fish getting one of those hooks in his mouth is pretty good. Just lean into the hook set and keep constant pressure on that fish and let the rod and drag take over during the fight. The amount of drag depends on the weight of the line and action of the rod.

Drag comes in to play when throwing around grass or heavy cover with a stiff rod and heavy line (Braid). In this case, you do not want any drag! You want to be able to pull that fish out of that stuff before he gets hung up in it! Conversely, if you are fishing open or deep water with light line set the drag looser and play the fish out.

The main thing is to set your drag at a level that is comfortable to the way you fish and the equipment you use! There is really no magical setting of the drag that everyone uses. It becomes more technique specific now-a-days.

Hope this helps!

Jake Tippee
Ardent Reels