This is something I don't see brought up or talked about much. How do you set your drag before fishing swimbaits? I'm just curious if there is a standard method or if everyone does it differently. Are you calibrating it to a precise amount or just going by the 'feel' of it? Also how soon do you set it before you fish, the night before or on the boat or shoreline right before you fish?

Honestly I have not looked into at all, just thought of it tonight and wanted to hear how others are preparing for battle.

Thanks.

I set drag by feel, not using any sort of machine or scale.

All my swimbait reels are Calcuttas or Calcutta TE's. I set them the night before. This makes up for the fact that I am usually half-asleep in the morning and likely to forget to set my drag. The way to set them the night before is as follows:

With the drag tight, pull off 30 or 40 feet of line
Reel the line back on with good tension using your thumb + forefinger
Back the drag off
Tighten the drag up and pull on the line
Adjust the drag
Always set the drag by tightening it to the point you want
Never back the drag off to where you want it and leave it

Drags expand and contract with temperature and humidity and such. Always check the drag before the first cast in the morning and occasionally throughout the day.

Oddly (and there is probably some technical reason for this) the higher end round reels with multiple drag washers will tend to 'self-adjust' more than say a Curado which has only 1 drag washer.

When you fish you will have tension on the line so there's usually no need to strip line off and wind it on tight before setting the drag.

Thanks for that info. Many things there I had not thought or heard of, always looking to sharpen my game. :)

I check and readjust (if neccessary) my drag every few casts. If I change swimbaits, I adjust to compensate for different weight. Can't tell you how many bass I have lost because my drag slipped with a heavier swimbait.

I use 25# mostly for swimbait fishing for largemouth. I just buckle the drag and call it a day. No bass is going to break 25# on a straight pull unless the line is damaged or poor quality. Then again I don't catch fish big enough to use the drag :-)

No bass is going to break
>25# on a straight pull unless the line is damaged or poor
>quality. :-)

Oh, I dont know about that!

I've broken off my share of big swimbait fish, but never on just a straight pull. Bass can't break 25 lb.

On the other hand, bass *can* bend hooks on a straight pull, so locking the drag isn't a great idea.

How I set my drag in part depends on if I'm fishing by myself or with someone else who is good with a landing net. If there's someone with a net in the boat you can virtually always get the fish in the net before it starts fighting back, so locking the drag isn't much of an issue. By yourself you have to be more careful and use a lighter drag.

>Oh, I dont know about that!

Well the bass I catch will not break 25#
:-)

I have bent plenty of hooks that should not bend with 25# or even 50. Metal is metal and it can bend/break if not properly tempered.

When I started fishing swimbaits I was using 15# line with a drag set appropriately for that size line. Went I started swimbait fishing with Mark (SWMB8ER) he changed my style. We were dead sticking surfacing baits and Mark set the hook, I got the net then went to get into position, and before I realized it Mark had the fish at the boat. I was just dipping the net when I saw the fish at the boat then it was gone. I wasn’t slow with the net Mark was just too fast. Mark looked at me and he did not say a word but he did not have to, I knew what he was thinking. Luckily the fish was not that big, about an eight. Mark caught three more and now the net was waiting for the fish.

What I learned that day was how to play a swimbait fish. Heavy line and keep them coming towards you using a tight drag. From that day on my drag has been nailed. Most of the time I fish by myself and it became second nature to have my net positioned for fast reach to capture a fish that is not ready for the net.

After I gained experience I realized that when a fish changes directions with a large bait in her mouth you stand a 50% chance of loosing that fish hence the reason for keeping her coming your way. Another thing I realized the bass could not close her mouth (most of the time) with a large bait attached. Having her mouth open created two side effects. First, the bass could not get into it’s normal streamed lined shape therefore the bass was at a disadvantage for maneuverability. Second, with the mouth open there is more resistance, like pulling in a small bucket.

I will mention using this tight drag method in the summer is a little different. Using a slammer or other surface bait, the bass can usually close its mouth and become a torpedo and in 80 degree water the fish is hot and I don’t mean temperature wise. I have had times in the summer when I lost control of the fish and had to hit the drag counter clockwise very fast. When that hot fish changes direction don’t try to gain the advantage. It becomes too easy to rip the hooks out of her mouth loosen the drag and let her go.

Bringing up the point of bending hooks is valid. I have bent hooks but not to the point where I lost fish. I did break a treble hook but it wasn’t because of the drag being tight. I have a picture below of a ring after a 20# class catfish fell in love with a Huddleston and a tight drag (I did not loose the fish). Also another picture of a snap falling victim to a tight drag. I don’t recommend using a snap but that day I was changing baits frequently.

All of the above is written with the use of mono or fluro in mind. Braid changed the equation.

Henry


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7816-ring.jpg


http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/7817-snap.JPG