Bassin' USA - Bass Fishing Forum Archives

Hey everyone. JoeM in his last post on a different thread brought something to mind and I wanted to ask everyones opinion on it.
The thread concerning breaking down reels and cleaning them turned to a question of whether it is a good idea to loosen the drag on a reel that will be in storage.
JoeM stated that he wrenches down the drag on many of his reels.
I also tighten my drag to to the point it will not slip during the hook set with certain heavy fishing situations. Normaly you need the drag the most when fighting a bass close to the boat. How many of you have had a good fish run under the boat and pull the hook before you could do anything?
I wanted to give all you guys that dont rely heavily on your drag a tip. When I have a fish close to the boat ( especialy with net in hand ) I put my reel in free-spool, then with my thumb I can control exactly how much pressure I give the fish when he bursts off. This has worked almost flawless for me over the last few years. I normaly baby a fish when hooked on a treble hooked bait until I see how well it is hooked and I have found this to be better than relying on the reels drag.
I'm curious if anyone does this?

Eric, I went from a power angler in the mid 80's to a total finesse guy these days. Throughout it all, I always cranked the drag down as hard as possible. These days I backreel when I nned to. I fish tournaments with 6 and 8lb test and don't have problems. I don't fight fish until they are dead on light gear but I don't horse them either. You learn the perfect in between with experience and plenty of line breakage. I'm certainly not saying that all fish are predictable because they are not. your suggestion of freespooling the reel leaves little room for error on a quick burst or run. I also pray and gingerly play fish when hooked on trebles. I just do not trust them as far as holding power is concerned. This season I took a 5.34 largemouth on a
Spit n'Image in a tournament and it was touch and go there for a while for me.

Eric, I too prefer to tighten the drag really tight and appreciate your tip about thumbing the reel. One thing I learned the hard way (is there any other way ?), that is under rough boating, big waves, the drag of a reel may back all the way off. I didn't check mine after a really rough ride, picked up my flippin stick and pitched a jig and pig next to a boat dock, the water exploded, big bass!! I set the hook and the reel simply kept on slippng until the fish got off, my line felt like a wet noodle, believe me, it's difficult to fight a fish and adjust the drag at the same time, especially when the monies on the line. Would you believe I lost that tournament by one pound, of course!! Salt in the would, live and learn. Good post. Johnnie Crain Iowa Pro Staff

I have never backreeled much when using spinning tackle simply because I learned how to effectively use the drag as a kid fishing for trout. ( which by the way has also given me the ability to read water very well. )
Here in my home state of PA we fish a lot of clear water in both lakes and the Susquehanna river. Smallmouth typicaly shy from larger baits and line sizes and I rely heavily on 6 - 8lb line in those situations. Although I havent used it in tournaments, during the winter I use 4lb mono much of the time when fishing hair jigs. Even in moderate current a 3 - 4 lb smallmouth can be handled well with light line. I think one of the biggest mistakes anglers make is not matching there rod to light lines. You must have a forgiving rod that will take some of the power when fighting a fish with light line.
As a multi-species angler I have landed 25" steelhead on 2 lb line, 20 - 30 lb carp on 4 or 6lb line and time to time legal sized musky on very light line ( accidently hooked while targeting other fish ). You just need to know the limitations of your tackle.
On the same note I have had 4 lb largemouth break 20 lb line when in heavy cover, so you will always have fish that will break your heart.

Eric, I lock down my drag when fishing single hook baits, like a jig or a worm on a baitcaster. I also put the reel in free spool when a fish starts to make a run for it. Although I did have a situation arise about 2 years ago that made me alter what I do. If this ever happens to you, you'll probably start doing what I do.

I'll keep this short:

I was fishing a jig N pig on 20lb test with a 7' heavy action rod. While swimming it back to the boat, a bass hit the jig at full speed heading away from the boat. He was pulling drag from a locked down Shimano Bantam Curado from the word "go". When I tried to push the button into free-spool, it was locked down. The bass was pulling so hard that I could not get it into free-spool. The jig I was using had a moderate thickness and strength hook but it caved under the pressure and the fish got away. Such is life... I got a nice look at the fish as it came to the surface before it's exit... it would have made a nice replica trophy. Thankfully I was not fishing in a tournament.

I now do two things different…

1) I never completely lock down my drag
2) I adjust my drag and thumb the spool instead of trying to put the reel into free spool.

I do back reel with spinning gear, but I will also use the drag system. I think that the combination of both gives you more options and allows you to be more in control over the situation at all times.

Happy Holidays...

BC

Ditto for me as well, I never lock mine down all the way and have never lost one since, knock on wood, fiberglass, or whatever else is handy! I figure that if I take a little more time getting them to the boat, thats fine with me, I can't weigh them unless I get them in the livewell! I had lost my fair share with the reel locked down.

Eric, I too lock down my reels.
I have more confidence in my hook sets.
You gotta watch and use some good premium line and check it frequently, I've broke off several fish because my reels are locked tight.
The tip on free spooling big fish is a good one.
Merry Xmas

Although I have never lost a bass in the way Brendan and Bryan have I can see there point and how that can happen and I will keep that in mind.
One other thing that I have learned through trial and error is how to set the hook for particular strikes. It sounds difficult but I have trained myself not to set the hook like a madman when a bass strikes close to the boat or when using treble hooked lures with a mod - fast retreive. Normally with todays super sharp hooks you really only need to lean in to the fish instead of laying into them with eveything youve got. I used to have a problem breaking fish off or tearing big holes in their mouth during the hook set before I trained myself to throttle down my hook sets acording to the the way the strike came.

Eric- As I said toward the end of my earlier post, I have learned to "baby" my drags when I go where there are big bass in residence. And also, Smallies have convinced me to always have a proper drag setting even when backreeling.

I did like the free spool idea. Man, do I love these Boards. Every thread reveals intriguing ideas. Keep 'em coming. Many thanks. Merry Christmas. Joe

Brendan and all,
When faced with the big fish, locked drag, frozen push bottom delima, there's one trick that will work. First, get ready to push the free spool button. Second, lean toward the fish as far as possible. Third, dive into the water and at the same time push the free spool. It's that simple! Now get back in the boat and lose the fish anyway, because the big ones always get away. Just funnin'ya. Johnnie Crain address, unknown.