Setting Drag

[yakfishing]

Gday Raiders,

never really known how to set the drag correctly. Up till now Ive just been setting it roughly and pulling the line down till theres a decent bend in the rod and the line slowly clicks out. I dunno if this is right, and Id like to be able to set it more accurately. Could I bung some weights in a bag and tie the line to that to test it? Also what is the correct drag to breaking strain ratio. I heard 1/3 of the breaking strain, but dunno for sure.

Cheers

[troutboy]

Gday Yak fisherman, your on the right track with the 1/3 breaking strain formula. Usually spring scales are used to check drag pressure, find a mate,attach spring scales to the end of your line and pull the rod into a working curve and get your friend to read the pressure on the scale. Adjust drag pressure to suit line weight. Just remember when setting the drag for light to ultralight lines allow a small percentage of pressure to compensate for any weakness from poor knot tying or knot choice. Very few people can tie 100 percent strength knots. Hope this helps troutboy

[Nathan L]

thats true about the 1/3 breaking strain.

one thing though that has the potential to influence results when testing drags is how fast you pull line of your reel.

i.e. if you pull line of your reel slowly the reading you get on the scales will be less than if you pull it off fast.

of course taking this into account, the potential for variability can be massive

i reckon the easiest way to think about it is like this:

your line has a certain breaking strain

if you pull on the line and the force that you pull on the line exceeds the breaking strain, then the line breaks

you dont want your line to break

so set your drag so that when fishing the tension on your line will never exceed the line's breaking strain

belly in your line is another important factor, but this only really applies when you're chasing fish that take lost of line and change direction (eg marlin)

i think in general the 1/3 rule is to take into account dodgy knots, old line etc.

i guess in the end it all comes down to how much confidence you have in your gear when a big fish comes along.

i hope i havent confused you more