Home Forums Fishing Freshwater braided lines and ultra light equipment

True but in a practical sense, IMHO, it has very little effect on a reel with a silky smooth drag. Increasing or decreasing the angle of the rod will have as much as effect on drag as the spool diameter.

I don't ever recall having to back off the drag when a fish was spooling the reel.

(obligatory fish story inserted here) I hooked a King in the Anchor River that spooled my System II with 125 yards + of backing on it. It had run down the river, out of sight, and around a bend. I had to break the leader when I got down to just a few wraps left or I would have lost the entire fly line. It was a big strong fishy.

Rocky, this is exactly right, and was very applicable in the old days of cork and asbestos drag materials. Once the new space age stuff-i.e. teflon came of age it made a huge difference. It isn't affected nearly as bad as the old stuff, indeed its hardly noticeable, and it also has a slower 'starting speed'�


And as you alluded to, it makes very little difference with most freshwater species. In salt water however, it is a major consideration.Fish in the wide open salt use speed and distance to protect themselves, freshwater fish most often use cover.

No comparison fresh to salt a 30" mackerel is 10xthe fight of and equal pike

A medium barracuda will smoke about any freshwater fish with little effort.

Spool size, I mistyped. It's correct as stated the drag goes up. That's exactly why I set 3lbs at ten feet, with a 30-40 yard cast getting hit hard would have a much higher drag setting.

Also why I set then for sharks at 50 yards. That's about where the bait is from the boat. Palming your spool is one of the best ways to learn additional pressure. Set lighter then needed and palm your spool

I suppose controlling the pressure with the angle of the rod works good too. However fish around the boat often require the rod to be half way into the water so the line does not run on the bottom of the hull.

Drag setting is a great topic here. Lots to learn from many different experiences.

Typing on an iPhone and multitasking is not my strong suit!

On the drag setting getting harder as more line runs out�as mentioned its not the problem it used to be, and try convincing 99% of all fisherman that as the line runs out they need to loosen and not tighten their drags�.

Wish I had a nickel for every time I heard " I just couldn't stop him! Didn't matter how hard I screwed the drag down! He broke the line�."


And Jim you are right, a #10 pike doesn't hold a candle to a #10 mackerel or the like. No comparison�.A pike may run 10 yards on a rare day. A Mackerel isn't even up to speed at ten yards!

My first flats trip to Florida changed my life and educated me beyond my wildest expectations. Fishing with a top notch guide was a brilliant value!

I can only hope folks hunting with me In Africa might feel the same about their experience.

My first 40" barracuda blew my mind! Then the permit and cobia wow. I was the one hooked! After blacktip or spinner sharks on 15lb spinning gear and Florida began sucking all available money from my account!

Had a friend going to the Bahamas that wanted to catch a 'cuda cause he had seen them before and couldn't get them to strike. I told him to put on a surge lure, drag it in front of one and then try your damnedest to move it so fast he can't possibly catch it�..

I have a small reel, an accurate twinspin #6

It's quite small but built like a tank. I'm not convinced it's Stella quality yet. No drag clicker, not as sexy as hearing the clicks screaming. And no automatic bail close. I close the bail by hand anyway so I'm okay with this. And no ability to reel reverse. That's only a rare to very rare need for me but the Stella does all three of these.

The drag can go to 15 lbs. which is a massive amount of drag for such a tiny reel. It's not ultra light by spec, but it's only 10oz weight. All machined aluminum. It's a great looking ultra smooth and exceptionally well made machine.

I have an accurate twinspin 12 as well which I use for sturgeon. That's also built like a tank. I managed to get that one from a writer doing a review on it. So the price was right!

Still don't think there is a better value then the shimano stradic or sustain in the spinning reel market.

I like the Stradics a bunch too, but they don't make one small enough for me!

I think 1000 is the lower limit.

Clarus 5 and 5'6" are two of my fave, b/c they have some backbone...those UL rods feel stiffer than most...

Never caught a Smallie, but they sure look like fun, pretty fish. Down here they call Pickerel "Jackfish", put up a good fight, not caught often, usually on H&H spinners on Caddo lake.

You have Chain Pickerel down there I presume. Used to catch them when I lived in the south. Looked like little pike ( with black instead of white spots) and acted more like their big cousins the musky...

Usually the tendency is for someone to try and stop a run by tightening the drag. Many times I had to coach someone on my boat to not mess with the drag when a fish was peeling line. "Keep the rod bent, don't mess with the drag, and don't worry about how much line the fish is taking."

With that said, I have a tendency, at times ... depending, to loosen the drag when a big fish nears the boat or shore. When a fish starts thrashing is when break offs become a concern.

On the issue of loosening the drag when a big fish runs deep into the spool I think it's a moot point if you have a silky smooth drag that's properly set to begin with. It's also a non-issue if the reel you're using has enough "working capacity" of line that's appropriate to the fish you're after.

-------------------

A very good way to judge if a reel has a silky smooth drag, no matter the type, is to ...

Take the reel off the rod, strip a bit a line out, adjust the drag to where you can lift the reel off the floor by holding the line (it takes a bit of finagling), and if the drag starts without hesitation, and if the reel falls smoothly to the floor ... it's good to go. If not it's time for a new set of drag washers or a cleaning or rebuild.

There's one other thing that can affect drag and that's the rod guides. No matter what material the guides are made of they can become "sticky" with weed debris and dirt. At the beginning of every fishing season I'd clean my rods with Simple Green, check the guides for nicks or cracks, and lube the guides with a silicone based treatment. I used automotive vinyl protectant like Turtle Wax Formula 2000. It does make a difference.

I'm so anal about guides that in the olden days I'd take a Dremel tool with a felt wheel and rouge to buff the stainless guides on my saltwater rods. With roller, ceramic, or titanium coated guides it's not needed.

Blah, blah, blah. I feel like I'm entering DIYguy territory.

If the fish is big and strong, you can hear the line ripping through the guides.

Yeah they make a difference if they are worn from braided line cutting in.

Noise is expected but ...

If your braided line is wearing the guides then you have the wrong guides but you probably don't but it depends on what type of guide you have. Do the fingernail test. If you can feel any roughness, chips or splits, by using your fingernails to feel the guides (it's better than looking) then you have a problem.

I need to correct and add one other thing.

Most of the fishing I've done has been with mono (my first choice) and cleaning, polishing, and lubing guides when using mono is when it makes a big difference.

Super lines and braids are so abrasive (depending on the coating) that any foreign material is essentially wiped away.

This thread had me thinking so I checked my trolling rods today.

Rods with 30 pound braid and 10 pound fluorocarbon leaders were set at 6 and 7 pounds at 10 feet

Rods with 8 pound mono were 4 and 6

Rods with 6 pound mono were 2.5 to 3.5.

Used to be the common feeling that 30% drag based on line strength

Now I think it's more like 30% based on rod strength when using braid!

The rod is more likely the weak link!

True dat!


Or in my case the loose nut on the reel handle�.

When I'm Light-Lining,I'm Long-Rodding,for the added leverage,control and casting distance. Noodle Rods can do nice thangs and I'm typically fishing much lighter rod weights,than everyone else.

That being said,the LAST [bleep] thing I'd do,is stoke a Noodle with fine braid. Cain't think of a rod/reel,in which I gun anything lighter than 20# braided mainline,though I'll of course Light-Line the leader.

20# here.



Though that is more of a Niche Pursuit rod,as opposed to a Utility Grinder. Daily Grinder's are of the 9'6" 4-8# UL variety and I reckon I don't catch much more than a thousand or so Salmonids a year on 'em. 30# PP is their bread and butter,with a mono leader slated to suit the moment.

Enjoyed the Drag Chronicles and the Yardstick Rod yarns. Purty tough to come in second in a boat,so that really isn't much of an evaluation of equipment,in a Finesse Fishery critique.

If I'm driving a 6' rod,it's a stand up in one of my boats and it's laden with 100# braid.

Hint.(grin)

After getting back from muskie fishing last night I thought of this thread and played around some more.

Muskie rods are loaded with straight braid and the drags are set at 4-6 pounds.

Spinning rods with 8 pound mono (used exclusively for smallies) were set at 2-3.

Conventionals with either braid or mono were between 3 and 5.

Never actually thought much about drag other than to stop em or pop em.

Boxer: your noodle rod set ups are a niche thing, and well thought out for the prey at hand, and their propensity to try and avoid capture.
My little 5.5 footers and #10 braid get used on small trout in creeks that can't travel far, and big pike in big water that don't want to travel far. Works for both.

Just forsook my fave Fireline to thread up with some PP for this summer's pike.

It better work better than H335�..