Setting The Drag - IGFA Video Tutorial

Setting the drag with Mark Sosin and Tommy Greene. Tommy Green explains a simple way of accurately setting your drag when fishing. An IGFA video tutorial.

[@Mr40tt]

Nice! Very Informative. Although I am 77 years old, I am still a student of fishing and still learning. I love to fish!

[@kezybtw4555]

hope you’re still going well man

[@Mr40tt]

@@kezybtw4555 Thank You! I am still here but only by the grace of God. So, I keep my mind on something that is positive “FISHING.”

[@prestonarnold5094]

"As long as you carry that weight with ya" hahahaha

[@Monstah7]

Marlin on 8lb???.. I appreciate the info on setting the drag tho fellas..

[@flyandfishwithfraser]

Great guys tommy knows what he is talking about

[@notfunnyusername4669]

Good tutorial sir. What rod you're using by the way.

[@greatorangesky]

Rod angle effects drag. Your technique should be: hook the line to a stationary object and load up the rod to the proper rod angle: be it a boat rod in a holder, a top water rod which is normally pointed at the fish, or a long float rod which is normally vertical when setting a hook. Load up the rod and set until the drag slips.

[@floridabmw3150]

2 legends, I went to high school with Marks son.

[@capriottimultimedia]

You could even rig up some kind of medium container that you can fill with water and mark with a sharpie the level it's at for different weights. Then you can dip the bucket or whatever you used into the water for your desired weight to test your drag.

[@betterworld5696]

Great video. Here I have a question. if my rod marked as 15 to 25 lb, can I use a heavier line with a 25% drag within the range of 15 to 25 lb? As an example, 25% of a 60lb line will be 15lb, so is it advisable to use a 60lb on a rod with 15 to 25lb testing? I'm doing surf casting.

[@mdees88]

No, not at all. A rod with a 15-25lb line rating means that rod is designed to be used with 5lbs of drag (25% drag of 20lb line) or less. You "can" use 60lb or 80- or 200lb line with that rod if you wish but your drag should still be set to 5lbs or less because that's what the rod is designed to be used with.

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@mdees88 tell me something then, does the drag setting weight means you can dead lift the same weight with the rod? i know the answer is no and that 25% rule is also bs because i tried dead lifting 3/4lb on my light and medium rods using 4lb test line and both rods were bending uncomfortably when lifting this weight and that 3/4lb comes to 18.75% of my line capacity and i would not be comfortable lifting or flipping a fish that is more than 1/2 lb and that comes to 12.5% of line capacity,, so you see this 25% rule is useless and it all depends on your rod ,best way to set the drag is to attach the line at a 45 deg angle and pull the rod till you do not want it to bend any further then you set the drag to start peeling at this point, also the distance you are doing this test from also makes a difference on the force loading on your line and rod, so that is the best way to set a drag and not go by numbers ,had i set it at 25% that means lifting 1 lb weight instead of 1/2 that the rod was already bending too much at,,, so ill ask again ,does the drag setting weight means you can dead lift the same weight with the rod? if yes then im in trouble and i need to set the drag how i explained it to you if no then perhaps the 25% rule applies ,,idk anymore

[@ARCSTREAMS]

@@mdees88 another question is why bother using anything more than 6lb test line? if you are suppose to use 25% of 20 lb test or less then this comes to a drag setting of 5lb so you can get away with fighting a big fish even up to 20 lbs using only a 6lb test line right, so long as your drag is properly set ,heck i dont see why you cant even use 4 lb test to catch the big ones so long as you got the right drag setting and fighting it properly , actually i landed a 22+lb pike one time using only 6 or 8lb test line and the line was peeling like crazy as if i had a ski doo on the other end , but i took my time tiring it out and landed it

[@mdees88]

@@ARCSTREAMS The drag setting does NOT mean you can dead lift that much weight. If the rod is rated for 15-25lb line then the rod should be fully loaded when holding it in a natural fish fighting position (45 degree angle or less) when using around 5lbs of drag (20lb line drag setting). Rods are not designed to dead lift and high sticking is why many break prematurely. I always set my drags by pulling line through the rod with the rod at a normal fish fighting angle. Also on small inshore tackle I set my drag by hand according to how the rod loads assuming my line is big enough to handle the drag (which it always is). On my offshore tackle I set my drag with a scale and I usually set my full drag to 50-60% of the lightest line I'm using. 25lbs of drag on 40lb fluoro then I fish at strike 90% of time which is around 15lbs of drag. My rods are rated higher than the line I use so I never overload the rods.

[@mdees88]

@@ARCSTREAMS no you can't fish 5lbs od drag on 6lb line. You are not accounting for how much the knot you tied reduced the breaking strength of the line. Also any abrasion or nick on 6lb line will cause it to break at 5lbs. Also if your drag is sticky it will cause the 6lb line to break. Also as the line diameter on the spool decreases, the drag slightly increases which would break the 6lb test. This is why the common suggestion is to set your drag at 25% of the line test. It's not a set in stone rule though, it's just a suggestion. I set my drag based on the fish I'm catching and try to never exceed 50ish % of my lightest line at full drag. For king mackerel I fish 2-3lbs of drag on 30lb test. For snapper I fish 25lbs of drag on 40lb test. Different settings for different applications.

[@tamlinhuongpho4881]

How much is this fishing machine in Vietnam Dong?