# Thoughts on setting drag



## The Ghost (Jul 3, 2013)

I've been thinking about how I set my drag, and I'm curious how others are doing it. For flouro and mono, I generally set my drag at about 1/3 the breaking strain of the line. I go slighlty tighter on my lightest rigs to give myself a little more ability to control the fish. This has served my pretty well over the years, giving me sufficient power on the hook set while keeping me from breaking off. With the medium-heavier rigs that I use for much of my pitching, using around 6 lbs of drag force starts to push the envelop in terms of how much strain I can confidently put on a rod. I lock down the drag on my braid rigs.

Anyway, I have noticed that at least some pros are pushing the envelop substantially more than what I do. I'm pretty comfortable with how I set mine up, but I'm curious what the consensus is among the community here.


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## ducky152000 (Jul 20, 2005)

When using braid and floro leaders on spinning reels for dropshot,ned,shakyheads I like the drag to pull just a little bit on a nice easy hook set. This will keep the hook from making a large hole in the fishes mouth which is how many fish are lost. As for my power fishing rods with mono I have the drag set tight enough to get a good hook set in without drag slipage but as soon as a fish makes a good run the drag will go. Flipping and pitching with braid I crank the drag to the max.


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## leeabu (Apr 10, 2004)

I set mine heavy so I get a good solid hookset. Once the fish is hooked I will back off the drag especially if it is a big fish. I want the fish to just be able to pull drag with a good bow in the rod. That way a head shake will just pull the drag. This is the reason you have a star drag. 
So you can easily change the drag when fighting the fish.


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## ducman491 (Oct 31, 2011)

I tend to really swing hard on hook sets so I set my drag to allow me to do that without it breaking off or yanking the fish out of the water. Probably 4lbs when using 10lb mono or flouro and a bit lighter with braid. If I’m fishing a frog or pitching heavy cover I crank it down tight.


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## Bassbme (Mar 11, 2012)

It doesn't matter what type or size line, or what type of cover, or what kind of gear I'm using, I never want my drag to slip on a hook set. 

As far as a heavy or locked down drag setting making a bigger hole in the fishes mouth on a hook set goes ....... I can understand the logic behind that kind of thinking, but I can't endorse it. A bigger hole could occur during the hook set, or it could occur while fighting the fish. Especially if you're trying to get a fish out of heavy cover.

If I'm fishing cover, I set the hook with the intention of moving the fish. I want to either jerk it out of the cover, or turn it's head so it's coming out head first. The only time I don't really lay into a fish on the hook set is if I am fishing a drop shot, and I have the bait nose hooked, or rigged wacky style.

Personally I think that a lot of people attribute losing fish quickly after the hook set, to setting the hook too hard and making the bigger hole in the mouth that was mentioned earlier. I think if you are losing fish quickly after setting the hook, that you aren't moving the bait in the fishes mouth, so you're never starting hook penetration.

If I have a really big fish on I'll some times loosen my drag. But too be quite honest, I've probably lost just as many fish by loosening the drag, as I've lost by not loosening the drag.


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## Gottagofishn (Nov 18, 2009)

Depends on what I'm using and how I'm fishing. In general though, I go on the heavy side. Trolling I set it so the rod won't break on a snag or 20lb farm animal. Jigging for eyes on Erie I set it a tad lighter than usual as they tend to get excited near the net and I don't have time to mess with settings at that time. Inland eye or bass fishing I will often crank it all the way down and back reel when needed... unless I'm feeling lazy, then I will back it off a tad.

I'm thinking it's a personal preference thing. As long as you are proficient at your technique go with what floats your boat.


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## Bassin' Fool (Jul 29, 2010)

On baitcasters, the drag gets tightened down ALL the way and I thumb the spool if a fish takes one last dive next to the boat.

On spinning rods, especially when using braid and leader combo, inlike to set the drag just loose enough so that a bit of line is released on a hard hookset, otherwise as I’m sure you know, you risk the chance of shock impact breaking your knot.

Bottom line, get those fish turned and don’t let them gain the upper hand on you!!


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## jray (Jan 20, 2006)

I would tend to say that I am a habitual drag loosener. IMO, if you use a good hook it seriously doesn’t take much. With 6 lb flouro leader and braid I have put many dropshot hooks through a walleyes nose with my drag set at 2-3 pounds that’s way harder than a bass. With a baitcaster, I do not trust the drags they are just not smooth enough. I flip with 20-30 lb braid and I set the drag so when I jack a log I won’t break my legend tournament lol. On flouro for cranks and jerks I lock it down. There’s enough stretch you won’t break on the hookset and during the fight I constantly engage and disengage the real. I trust my thumb way more than the drag.


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