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| As of late, I have been having some real issues with loosing fish, especially those hooked near the boat. I have gotten into the habit of locking my drag down as tight as they go because I hate when the drag gives on a hookset, or when ripping a Grandma or Jake.
I have found that when doing this the drag is set to tight for the initial fight on figure eight fish or those stuck near the boat. With no line stretch and such a short length of line out many of these fish are shaking the hooks prior to the mandatory picture taking session.
How are the rest of you setting your drags when using superlines (I am using 80# Power Pro)? I know I should back them off a bit but am worried it will affect my ability to "bury" the hooks and will cut down my action when ripping baits. Can you still get a good hookset when the drag gives a little in the middle of it? Which is the lesser of the two evils, I need help because I have lost four figure eight fish in the last three trips.
P.S. Please tell me something other than hitting the freespool before going into the figure eight. I've tried that and feel like I'm trying to fish with two left feet on my rod and reel.
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| Norm,
I also use 80# Power Pro on my reels. I tighten my drag down as tight as possible, and when a fish hits I have been loosening the drag after I feel I have a good set. Loosening the drag when fighting a fish is a little tough at first but after doing it a few times it becomes much easier. The only problem I have now is that I often forget to tighten the drag after the fish is released.
I have tried the free spooling on the figure 8 as well and have not felt real comfortable doing it. I have now stopped that practice.
Another option would be to loosen the drag a little bit and "thumb" the real when setting the hook. Haven't tried this method but I am sure it would be a successful method as well. |
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| Norm:
I too use Power Pro (65# and 80#) and adjust the drag on my Abu's fairly tight. I set mine so that it is just barely possible for me to pull line from the reel spool by hand. I then thumb the spool at hookset for added force.
I have lost a few fish at boatside but think that was because they were only lightly hooked and the tight drag setting resulted in the hooks pulling free when they powered away from the boat. Would have most likely lost them even with a lighter drag setting as sooner or later I would have had to apply pressure to lead them to net.
I want there to be some slip of the drag when a fish power dives (but not too much) because I do not freespool my reel on figure eights, I let the drag setting take over when needed.
I think we all will lose some fish from time to time regardless of how our drag settings are adjusted, I just like to play the odds in my favor as much as possible.
It will be interesting to see how others respond to your question.
Mike
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| I also do the same thing as Musky Mike does. The only problem is I do a lot of twitching of cranks and thumb everytime I twitch. I end up with a pretty sore thumb, and it won't quit hurting till weeks after the season is done. Godd luck, and I hope you start sticking the fish. |
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| I would say crank the drag down as tight as you can. The key is the figure eight. I feel it is VERY important to use a free spool condition while doing all figure eights. Click that button down and hold the spool just before you begin your figure 8, so if one hits, you can give out some line at your disgression.
I would rather trust my thumb in that split second than the drag on my reel, for the reasons you have pointed out. |
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| I crank mine tight on the calcuttas.The thumb-bars will release under a good bit of pressure.I'd like to see a lever drag on a 400 even at the expense of the extra weight. |
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| Norm, I tighten my drags very tight, just loose enough so that I can loosen the star drag by hand. (no pliers needed)I then have enough power toset the hook to any fish that may come along. I hope this is the case anyway. When getting a fish to bite at boat side, I then hit the free spool thumb bar and use my good ol' thumb for drag. While doing this I loosen the star drag and then engage the reel again. Sounds difficult but is not that tough with a little practice. Has worked for me for over 20 years with only 1 broken line because of not being able to get the button pushed. Hope this helps. |
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| A theme has emerged. Thanks for the great tips. |
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| Thanks guys, unfortunately you have confirmed what I already knew was the right way to do it, which is to hit the freespool going into the figure eight. Looks like it will take me a few days on the water to get used to it however. I think I better get out and practice it right now, hope the wife understands that its not really a fishing trip, rather a practice outing.[:bigsmile:] |
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| intersting topic. It seems that everyone so far agrees that a very tight drag is best. I keep my drag on the medium side where it is easy for the fish to run, if i want to stop the run i just thumb the spool. when i get a strike i thumb the spool to drive the hooks in and then if need be, let the beast run and there is a steady pressure from the drag. i am curious to know what you "tight draggers" do when a 50" t-bones your bucktail 10 ft. from the boat? thats what scares me about a tight drag, but i will change if persuaded
Enlighten Me
"Tah Da Gills"
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| also i dont feel any drag is strong enuff to not slip a little bit when a hard strike occurs. i would never trust my drag over my thumb.
ENLIGHTEN ME
hit em high and hit em hard
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I gotta go with Muskie Slayer on this one.
How hard do you need to twitch/Rip a bait-to the point of pulling line ?
Even if it's a 9 in. G-ma or a 10 in. Believer.
Short of removing weeds aren't we getting a little worked
up.That will make for a short day of casting from fatigue
leading to lazy and poor attention to casts-hooksets.
Locked down drags - 50/80/100 lb super lines having near
zero stretch, the rod is the only shock absorbing link.
You may be setting so hard that the hooks maybe opening large holes during the fight or pulling out of a softer
area of the mouth when the fish is boatside-the spot with
the least "give" for a shaking fish. The boatside is the
time for a 'loose' drag, let em' run if they want to. No
need to horse in a 'green' fish and then battle it to try
removing the hooks. Never lost a fish at boatside yet.
Sure I run a snug drag, that I will alter depending on
bait size and resistance.Locked down - never.I let my
thumb lock it if need be.
Free-spool fig. 8 - if not you may lose your rod. You may
laugh but, after casting for ten hours on a hot sunny day
your getting a little lazy-not gripping the rod to tightly
eyes are burning from the all day glare- suddenly a 46" missle hammers the bait from under the boat and your drag
is locked down - you just lost you rod !!
It is a drag not a spool lock and it is detrimental to
the system if tightened severely continually.
Mother |
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| I agree with mother. I use the heavy power pro line as well and I don't have my drag cranked. In fact I like to have it so that when I'm fighting, and the fish wants to run, it'll give a little -- spice up the fight. It seems kinda bone-headish to have your drag cranked to the point of locking your reel up. The drag is there for a reason. I've never lost a muskie because of my drag setting being set at a medium tension.
[;)] |
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| I like my reels tight, but not TOO tight. You should be able to pull the line out with some force.
One thing to remember too, always back off your reels when you are done using them. That saves on the drag washers. |
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| Norm I desagree 100% with the tight drag. You have lost twice as many fish in your last 3 outings then I have in 10 years.
I keep my drag lose to a point that if a 35 incher wants to run it can. When it comes to hooksets and jerkbaits I use my thumb. You may even want to use both hands and thumbs for setting hooks on a figure 8 fish. Another thing is it saves on your reels as that heavy jerkbaiting must not be good for your reels when you get a clunk everytime.
I believe I get less slippage with my thumb then a locked down drag. Losening drag after hookset or freespooling is only giving the fish time to get off as it takes but a split second to shake off that lure.
What I do is set the hook hard once and hold the rod high and away from the fish as it is taking line out ( I am 260# and if the drag slips some the hooks still get home ). I will not reel until the fish has stopped running, then I will make sure to keep a bend in my rod untill the fish is in the net. The most important part here is to keep pressure on the fish 100% of the time here and let the fish run when it wants too and even if you did not have that good of a hookset the fish will not get off.
Tight drags will only rip lures right out of the fish or create a large hole that will allow the fish to lose the lure on a headshake.
Now I use 80# power pro spooled onto 6500C3's and G-loomis heavy action fast jerkbait rods. Now the fast action is important here as that will allow you to make sure you see a good bend in the rod at all times.
There is no way that a lose drag will allow you to lose fish as what you are doing is keeping tention on the fish without pulling hard on them. Believe me you don't need heavy tention to land big fish, the tire easy enough.
Try it as you have nothing to lose but one or two more fish. [:sun:] |
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| I don't have the experience that I am sure most of you guys have with big fish but a locked down drag just doesn't make any sense to me. Keep reasonable tension on a fish with a snug drag, a longer rod that has some give to it, and I don't see how that many will come off. In heavy cover you might have to be more aggressive, but for the most part let the tackle do the work. |
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