Drag

[Rebbasser]

How many of y'all loosen the drag on your baitcasters when not on the water? I used to never loosen them until I read an article stating the #1 cause of drag failure-slipping or sticking-is keeping the drag tightened all the time. Lancer6 religiously loosened his and I thought it was just a real pain, but now I realize he knew what he was doing. Now I loosen the drag before storing them. don't want a preventable failure.

[islandbass]

100% of the time, without fail, no matter how tired or late I'm going to be. As soon as I'm done fishing, loosen the drags even before I start walking toward the car. That ounce of prevention adage is a good one for this.

[Cavs1123]

I do it. When I can remember...

[walkeraviator]

Ill be honest I have never heard of this... and Dads 30 year old Abu's have never had the drag turned down their entire life, but no drag failures that i know of.

[keithdog]

Durring the off season I keep them all loosened untill the next spring season. However, durring the fishin season, I usually don't, simply because I don't think about it often, lol. I'm also hessitant to do so durring fishing season becuase I just know I'll forget to tighten it back to where I want it next time I get out untill I need it to work. I'd agree, it's a good habit to get into though.

[bassboogieman]

I do mine like Keith, when I put them away for the winter. I don't keep my drags "locked down" anyway, so I'm not sure if that makes a difference or not, but I haven't had any drag issues over the years.

[Kevin]

I never used to loosen them until I had my first two reels drag start slipping. The two drag compression washers flatten out under the constant pressure. But this is a simple fix and a quick call to your reel mfg will get you a free set of compression washers sent in the mail. Put the new washers in and you're back in business like new.

So basically... Yes, leaving your drag tight for long periods (years) will weaken your drag. But even if it does, you can always get replacement drag washers usually, unless they run out of washers for that particular model.

[HarveysMinnow]

Originally Posted by Rebbasser

How many of y'all loosen the drag on your baitcasters when not on the water? .

Makes a lot of sense, now that you mention it, and as Kevin mentions, the washers could flatten out under constant pressure. Some reels (maybe only spinners) use a Teflon washer as part of the drag mechanism, and Teflon is notorious for shape deformations under prolonged stress.

This leads me to a parallel question about drags on spinning reels: Do rear drag spinners have any advantage over front drag models? Front drags seem to be the predominant offering, although Shimano makes several models with rear adjustment knobs. Somebody, somewhere, must have thought this was preferable, or they would not have spent the time and effort designing rear drag systems.

[Jrob78]

I always loosen mine when I know the reel isn't going to be in use for an extended period. I need to get into the habit of doing it after ever trip.

The flip side of that is to make sure you tighten your drags back up before fishing again, it's very important, ask me how I know that.

[Bob Smith]

I never really thought about it until I read this thread. I always keep my drags fairly loose anyway (with today's super lines and hooks, it doesn't take much to drive the point home). What Kevin said about the compression washers on the baitcasters makes sense so that may have to become part of my regimen.

[BigBassin144]

I've heard this before, but I don't loosen them after every trip. My main problem is I'd forget to tighten them back up until the first hookset...

I do; however, loosen them during the winter.

BB

[Kevin]

Here's a hot tip for guys like me who do reel maintenance...

A lot of us have reels that are used primarily for heavy cover, often with heavy braid or fluoro... frogging, flipping, etc. If you're like me, you probably just tighten the drag down all the way so there is little to no drag at all, so you can quickly haul fish out of cover before they get you wrapped up.

As this thread points out, your drag compression washers will flatten out over time and relax, so you don't want to leave your drag tightened down hard over long periods of time.

So here's a useful tip... next time you are breaking your reel down for maintenance, wipe the drag grease off your drag washer(s) to where they are nearly dry. The more drag grease that is on the fiber washer, the more your drag will slip. The less grease, the less your drag will slip.

So basically, by taking most of the grease off your drag washer(s), you don't have to tighten down your drag so hard to get it to lock, and you can save your compression washers from flattening and relaxing out.

[Ebbetsguy]

I thought this was going to be a thread about men dressing in women's clothing

Alway loosen mine, as soon as I get to the Jeep, so I do not forget
Problem: I frequently start to fish , hook up and then remember to retighten the drag!

[rrw4258]

I always loosen my drag on casting and spinning reels. Not when moving spots, but even if they are stored over night, I always loosen the drag. It has become second nature to me, and the first thing I always do before casting is check the drag. It's like putting a seat belt on in a car, I don't even have to think about it.

Ryan

[jooleyen]

Kev... Nice tip. I always loosen mine but not immediately when I'm done fishing. See, what happens is if I loosen them after my last cast and I start to walk toward the car, I see a huge bass blow up on the surface and I totally forget that I just loosened my drag and tension... you know what happens.

[Raul]

I always loosen the drag on my reels immediately after being used and in BC gear I always loosen the tension knob, there´s a spring and shims under the cap you know.

It´s a habit you acquire after you fished with old tackle, back during the age of the dinousaurs when I began fishing reels used drag pads made of compressible materials like cork, felt, cardboard, those flatten out badly if you keep the drag tightened during storage. More modern gear in most cases no longer make use of that type of materials for drag pads, the material is incompressible but it can deform.

[Bassboss]

Originally Posted by Cavs1123

I do it. When I can remember...

lmao me too cavs!

[66KingFisher]

Originally Posted by keithdog

Durring the off season I keep them all loosened untill the next spring season. However, durring the fishin season, I usually don't, simply because I don't think about it often, lol. I'm also hessitant to do so durring fishing season becuase I just know I'll forget to tighten it back to where I want it next time I get out untill I need it to work. I'd agree, it's a good habit to get into though.

This sounds like me.....I used to try an remember to loosen the drag after each fishin trip, but then i'd always forget to retighten it on the next trip out, and after loosing several fish because of that I just quit trying, and leave it tight most of the time......I'll replace the drag washers if I ever have an issue.

[bassinbob]

Never used to do it but started earlier this year after reading about it. Forgot to tighten it a few times. Read somewhere where the first model Revo Preimere was very notorious for this.

[Rebbasser]

I do have to admit before i started loosening the drag Lancer6 did it for me. Naturally it didn't occur to me to tighten it up until AFTER I had a good fish slam a lipless crankbait. You already know the result.

This leads me to a parallel question about drags on spinning reels: Do rear drag spinners have any advantage over front drag models?

Harvey, from everything I've seen and researched it basically boils down to personal preference.

[bamabassman]

hmmmmmmmmmmmm interesting. i too never really thought about this. but now.......................

[bigbassfichen]

Good tip...ill give it a try

[Captmikestarrett]

Next thing you know you guys are gonna start cleaning and oiling your reels.. followed shortly by putting little neophrene nities on them and placing them gently on your spare pillow next to your head at night..

Come on guys be a man and abuse that reel so you can buy another with out any remorse...

Gosh...

Capt Mike

[Jrob78]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

Next thing you know you guys are gonna start cleaning and oiling your reels.. followed shortly by putting little neophrene nities on them and placing them gently on your spare pillow next to your head at night..

Come on guys be a man and abuse that reel so you can buy another with out any remorse...

Gosh...

Capt Mike

http://www.bassfishin.com/bassfishin...ad.php?t=24683

[dave]

Originally Posted by Captmikestarrett

Next thing you know you guys are gonna start cleaning and oiling your reels.. followed shortly by putting little neophrene nities on them and placing them gently on your spare pillow next to your head at night..

Come on guys be a man and abuse that reel so you can buy another with out any remorse...

Gosh...

Capt Mike

I've seen his reels. He's not kidding.