A couple of my reels that I just took apart and cleaned and lubed (with schematics) are now sort of struggling with bigger fish. The handle turns but the spool doesn't. The drag isn't locked all the way down but it isn't loose either. Is this just how the drag works? Or did I mess something up?

Did you put those 2 curved washers back together like this ()?

Yeah I did. I'm starting to think I'm just not used to catching bigger fish and had my drag too loose. But it didn't feel THAT loose.

Are you spooled with braid? If so did you use backing ? Did you grease the drag? If so did you use a drag specific grease ?

I'm going to take them apart again because I may have greased the drag. I didn't think about that. Is a greased drag recommended? Or is it just preference?

It depends on the drag system. A carbon drag can be run either way but greasing won't do anything really unless you're fishing big, hard running fish.