drag setting..

what is drag on a reel?
and how am i supposed to set it?
all my other reels didnt have it..but the one im using does and i know nothing

the drag setting is like a brake, it is normally a star wheel by the handle on a mulitplier or on a fixed spool it can be that you can screw down on a plate on top of the spool or a knurled nob at the bottom of the reel the instructions with the reel will tell you how to set it. the use of the drag is to prevent you loosing a fish through snapping the line or pulling the hook out of it.s mouth you should set your drag so that the line will pull off the reel if the pull of the fish reaches the breaking strain of the line, trial and error on the next couple of fishing trips will soon have you using it every time, it will help you, and you will learn when to tighten up (when the fish is tired and ready to come to the net) and when to slacken off (when the fish is fresh and full of fight) we have found that if it is set just right we hardly need to adjust it at all good luck and I hope this has helped.

[Ben]

not really important with sea fishing untill you catch some fish which put up a fight

sorry ben I totaly disagree, set the clutch and you never know when a large fish will take your bait and if your clutch is not set correctly you'll loose it.

[Ben]

i ment not really important when landing a small fish, you only really need to worry about it when you have a fish big enough to pull line out
i usualy have mine set quite soft so that if i ddo get a good fish on i can have soem fun playing it

[steve devon]

i set mine so you can pul line out without the line snapping then you wont snap off when you have a fish on

how do you know when a fish is biting wether its large or small?????? some of my biggest fish gave very small bites and then took off like a train if my clutch had been incorrectly set I would have lost them.

[steve devon]

always best to have it set coz u never no

especialy mackerel fishing never know when a bass could take

[andyg]

Initially I always set my drag much lower than the breaking strain of the line/rod. Many fish like to take the bait in their mouths and run before actually eating it, so if the hook isn't set the bait will be yanked out of the mouth with the drag set too high.
And if I'm beach fishing and not holding my rod - how many rods have been dragged in to the sea because the drag didn't allow line to play out.

[Ben]

mine was, twice

but its ok, i got it back with the fish on the end
i always though it would make it harder to tell when you got a bite if the fish can happily take line out