Do you all unload your drags from your reels when they are not in use? I wasnt sure if keeping the star drags cranked up is gonna cause any damage while not being used or even the spool tension as well.  Don't want to cause any damage as these reels are not getting  any cheaper.  Thanks, Lee

Well, I have read that it is not necessary to loosen the drag, but I do it anyhow.

 

I've been doing it in recent years, but never did for yrs.  I don't think its a big deal.  

I do not unload the drags, typically.

A guy on this board who works on reels told me to do it and I did. The problem with that is the next time I went fishing, all my BC reels had too little drag on them.

I've always loosened them if they're not going to be used for an extended period of time, but that's a pretty rare occasion. 

I'm pretty sure I'd forget to tighten them back before fishing, because I'm so used to having them tightened and ready to go from the previous outing. I'd figure it out on the first hook set (i.e., too late).

16 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

Well, I have read that it is not necessary to loosen the drag, but I do it anyhow.

 

X2

That makes me feel better because I havent been and the one I was really worried about was my punching set up which is locked all the way down. But in the off season I might still do it .

In general it's not necessary but I wouldn't leave them on lockdown indefinitely. 

Allways 

 

Mike 

I do it on reels that I fish locked down, and at the end if the season, what can happen, and some reels are more prone than others, is you can compress the washers, and or have them stick together. If you back off and the star comes loose right away, it might be time to look at it. Drags play such a small role in LMB fishing that it's normally not an issue.

 

I always have. Just made sense. I'm now replacing drags washers on some old reels and one old ABU, I'd picked up at a garage sale for 5 bucks (and affixed to a kiddie rod), had the drag not backed off. To get usable drag the star had to be wrenched down really hard. Upon opening her up I found the main drag washer flattened, even curving against the inside edge of the gear. That's being remedied today.

ALWAYS, it´s a habit that comes from the times when drag pads were made of compressible material ( cork, felt, compressed cardboard, leather ), the drag was provided by compression and friction, so if you left your drags tightened the material will be left compressed and by the time you needed it there would be not much of a drag left just because your pads were left paper thin; in most modern day baitcasters drag pads are made from non compressible materials and in practical terms you don´t need to back off your drag, but still there´s a chance that drag pads could stick.

I back of the drags during the winter when they will sit for a good 3 to 4 months. Not necessary to have all that pressure on the drag stack. I do not do it between outings though as it can be quite easy to forget to tighten it down and miss a fish.