I recently posted a drag question and now I have one more. How many of you guys actually set your drag, and how many just crank "em" down as far as they will go?

Hootie

I definitely set my drag always, im sure majority of others with say the same

For frogs or heavy cover with braid, I crank it down. I set it loosely otherwise.

I set all of mine except my frog rod which is 65lb braid so not concerned about breaking it

Crank the drag all the way down no way never. I was just thinking about were to set my drag as a starting point. But I don't want to hear the drag on the hook set so it can be a fine line between a drag set too tight or too loose. Maybe hearing a little drag is ok at first. I use copolymer line.

I'm not sure what the guys do who are using braid.

I have a couple rods in lock-down.  I occasionally check my "feel" with a scale, especially with lighter lines.

Definetly pre-set my drags. If I need more I feather the spool...

 

 

Tight Lines! 

I always set my drag. I typically only use 8lb mono, so the drag is critical for me to fight any fish more than 2lbs.

Always set my drag at a feel where I can just pull the line of the reel without a lot of effort and just enough for you to give a firm tug.  That is how I set my drags by feel.  I learned this from a local pro. 

 

I do however lockdown more than normal when I flip/pitch and my frogging setup..especially in heavy stuff.

I always set my drag to let my line loose right before it breaks. Saves my butt on the occasions that I inadvertently hook into a catfish.

Mine are set. Only my froggin and punching drags are a bit tighter than the normal.  I never lock any of them down.

IMO the drag is meant to slow the fish down and tire it, not stop it dead in it's tracks and drag it in. My drags are always set by feel and in most cases no adjustment is needed, however it is not unusual to have a fish here pull out line on 20# max drag reel. The 15 or 20# braid I use isn't the problem, it's the knot and leader that can fail, I never lock down my drags. The key to landing powerful running fish is not line strength but line capacity, using the drag is essential for success.

I set mine by feel. I set them fairly loose since I use only briad, especially on my cranking rod. I've never had any issues that I can think of.

The only time I crank it down as tight as it will go is when I'm putting line on.  Other than that I go by feel.

I set mine just tight enough to not slip on the hookset. That changes significantly depending on if I am fishing a crankbait or a jig. I try and make it a habit to adjust the drag whenever I adjust spool tension since I do that every lure change. I think of it like this, I can easily and quickly adjust after I have the fish on but nothing I can do if I miss the hookup.

I did some research and instead of going by feel, I set mine 25% of the line's test lb.

For example:

10 lb line

10 x .25 = 2.5 lbs

I use an analog fish scale to measure 2.5 lbs. Others said you can set it at 33%. I'll stick to 25% for now.