Usually when setting my drag I give my line a tug and know sort of where it should be.

I was thinking of getting a fish scale to set the drags on all my reels so they would be the same. If using 8-pound leader I would like to set the drag for 6 pounds to compensate for any nicks that may have popped up in the leader.

Does anyone else set their drags using a fish scale?

If so after attaching the scale to your line do you pull the line straight out without allowing the rod to bend or do you hold the rod up (like you were playing a fish) then set the drag?

This may be over kill but I tend to set my drags way to loose. This is one way I was thinking about trying.

ok heres what i have done before, take something (like a dumbell or something heavy) hook you scale to the weight, then tie your line to the scale, put you line through the first eyelet on your rod (make sure its stiff enough)and whole watching the scale or having someone else watch it pull up on the rod until the drag is set right.

Tyler

i'm not sure how realistic this idea is. the reason i say this is, what happens when you adjust you drag on the river? say you get a real hot fish on and you loosen or tighten the drag down, are you going to pull your scale out while your on the bank to reset your drag after you temporarly adjusted your drag. I just have a funny mental image of someone doing this while other people are fishing....i think you might get some funny looks.
I think it boils down to the couple of tuggs you were talking about. I hope i'm not sounding like an A**hole.
I guess you could try the scale method at home, and then see how it feels while you pull the line out by hand, then you would have an idea what it feels like, and could remember that for when your on the river.

Chumsalmon

Nope you don't sound like an A**hole. Always appreciate someones opinion then make my own mind up from there.

I do adjust my drag while at the riverlike you stated. I loosen or tighten depending on how big the fish is. Just thought if I set it at home I might never have to touch it again on the river.

If I set it towards the heavy side I would know when I have a big fish on.

Also I would know that it is not over set for the leader strength.

Oh ya, I would never be anal enough to actually do this at the river, but like I said maybe the whole idea is over kill.

I talked to a guy that guided at Midway Island (in the middle of the Pacific) he holds a couple of IFGA world records. He said for certain lines and certain conditions, they always set their drag using a scale, but this was with nice "lever drag" Penn reels and like 50lb or 80lb line, so I'm not the practice would carry over.

With a lever drag reel, the idea is, if you need to increase the drag, you move the lever forward, but if you need to return to your normal drag setting, you can return the lever to its original position (there's a "click" spot) and your drag should be the same. I've never noticed if there's a "lever drag" steelhead-sized reel.

-N.

Every reel comes with a nice adjustable drag, called your thumb or palm.

Set the drag light and use an appendage. You can use the scale to weigh your catch.

From recent personal experience;

loose drag+thumb+badmofo springer= sore thumb+lost feesh+fun

in my newly revised book of fishing tactics thumbing good for steelies, bad for chinookies

I don't need something else to carry! I always set my drag a little tight till I get a good hookset, then back off it a little for the rest of the fight. Works very well.

While at the spotsmen show this year I spent 5 min watching a guy at the casting area, this was probably the most worth while 5 min I have ever spent. He covered 2 things, first was drag setting, he stated that most fishermen set it to tight. He said the old pull a little line out and adjust it is worthless. He had a person do just that and then try to pull line out from the end of the rod, the rod almost broke. He showed a way to do it , the rod needs to be involved in the drag setting, put the line under you foot and lift. This will give a person a better drag set for fighting a fish, not losing one right after the hook set.
The 2nd was about closing you bale on a spinning reel by hand so it does not wear out as fast.

Fishalot

Even better, buy a centerpin and never bother with drags again! Its all in the palm of your hand baby!

When fishing a levelwind I do what Dan. S does and set my drag loose and thumb the spool. This can get you in trouble though...last year I burned my thumb up pretty good on a Fraser Spring. If you have a high end reel like a calcutta or such, then it may be best to play the fish from the drag rather than your thumb as your thumb can be jerky and cracker off fish.

The guys on salt water who use a scale, set the drag much lighter on the scale than you would ever dream of. For 16 pound test tippet, they will set the drag at about 4 pounds of pull.

By all means, use a scale if you want. It's a great way to get a feel for what you are doing. If you hook a scale to a doorknob and pull, you will find it entertaining to find out how little pull you are actually putting on a fish, and therefore, how much you can really reef on a fish when you want to.

I want my gear rod drags set at about 1/3 of the line test. So, for 20 lb test, I want about 7 lbs of pull to pull the drag freely. That sounds light, but it's actually pretty stiff, and will definitely cause the hook to set it self if the fish runs against it. This is for plugging rods, with the rods set fairly low in the holder. Gives enough tension to set the hook, not enough to break rod or gear. You can always thumb the spool to give more resistance if needed.

well, i'm glad i didn't come off like a jerk. one thing i've found that is pretty intersting, is to set the drag as you normally would (scale or no scale) and with someone else holding the rod take a long run (just like a fish) and notice how little tension is acctually at the hook end of your line. it's a fun experiment, and gives a good idea on how much tension you are really putting on a fish.

Yeah, but you never had so much fun getting a burnt thumb, did you?

It's still better than hearing........zzzzzzzzzttt, SNAP. That's the noise the guy who DIDN'T check his drag makes.

I'd have to agree with Dan's first post on this chain...

Set your drag a where you think it should be set, and let your thumb do the rest. That's the onbly way you can respond to the fish in the quickest manner, as needed.

SG

Here's another vote for setting the drag rather light, about a quarter to a third of the breaking weight, then using your thumb to adjust it while fighting a fish. Here are two more reasons why...

1. As you have line go in or out of your reel, the spool diameter increases or decreases, respectively. As it decreases, the drag becomes tighter without touching the drag adjustment, and as it increases, it becomes looser. The variability can be removed by adjusting the pressure of your thumb to keep it somewhat consistent.

2. Similar to #1, the more line you have out, the more stretch you have in your line. A drag that may have been set properly for fifty feet of line out may snap your line at the beach when you're just about ready to punch your card. Again, your thumb can be instantly variable.

The unfortunate thing about using your thumb to make up for the variability in spool size and line stretch is that the only real way to learn it is through experience. That said, I think it's worth it anyway. When I'm fishing with newbies I always set their drag rather light and help them use their thumbs when fighting fish. It's a disappointment if a fish comes unbuttoned for a newbie, but if a fish breaks their line, the look on their face says "If I had an ice pick, I'd stick it in your ear right now!".

Oh, BTW, if you set your drag for six pounds with eight pound line, I'm 99.9% sure you'd either break your rod or your line long before the drag would come out, depending on the weight class of your rod. Even a very good knot will reduce your line to about 2/3 to 3/4 of it's breaking strength.

Imagine an average 8# hatchery brat. Would you attempt to lift it straight up out of the water with ten pound test on a rod rated for 8-12 pound test? Only if you want to break your line and/or rod!! As noted above, you'll be very surprised if you set your drag as you usually do and then attach a scale and see where it is. I'd guess the average for 10# line is somewhere around 2-3 pounds.

Fish on...

Todd.