I got a new rod and had to thread line thru all the guides.  I like to loosen the drag and pull line neatly as I proceed.  
 

well. Third cast today with a weighted Texas rig.  “Tap tap tap”. I set the hook and brrrreeesh the line comes off the spool and my hook doesn’t bite deeply. The big bass went airborne and I saw my bait fly free. 
 

it took the second bite to truly realize the situation.  Duh. Lost a good fish. The second one I manage to get to the kayak after frantically tightening the drag. 
 

haha.  I do this all the time.  

1 hour ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I got a new rod and had to thread line thru all the guides.  I like to loosen the drag and pull line neatly as I proceed.  
 

well. Third cast today with a weighted Texas rig.  “Tap tap tap”. I set the hook and brrrreeesh the line comes off the spool and my hook doesn’t bite deeply. The big bass went airborne and I saw my bait fly free. 
 

it took the second bite to truly realize the situation.  Duh. Lost a good fish. The second one I manage to get to the kayak after frantically tightening the drag. 
 

haha.  I do this all the time.  

done that a few times, scrambling to tighten the drag.

My dumb thing I used to do was to have my thumb resting on the thumb bar while setting the hook. The result?  Bird’s nest on hook set. First few times it happened, I thought it was the reel. So I bought a new one. Surprisingly, it was broke too!  
 

I finally realized it was me. At least the I had 2 rigs. Maybe I wasn’t so dumb after all!

Which is why I never ever loosen my drag!

 

After cleaning my reels I tighten the drag & never touch it again.

Forgetting to tighten down the drag use to be the big one.  Now I tighten down the drag before I leave the house for a trip.

Every winter when I put my boat/equipment away, I loosen all my drags so nothing "takes a set".

So, like above, forgetting this in the spring.

I did the opposite.  I used the put my thumb on the spool, tighten the drag all the way, and reel, to get rid of a backlash method.  It worked on the backlash, but I forgot to loosen the drag afterword.  A while later I hooked a double digit bass, and it made a hard run.  No worries, I was in open water, then snap.  I like my drags tight, but a little give at the right time can save the day. 

You people and your drags……… 

It’s a real drag to forget tightening your drag, man! A real bummer! 

I remember last year forgetting my fish grippers when I jumped on a buddies boat.

This eliminated throwing jerkbaits that day even though it's a high confidence bait for the water we were fishing.

 

With age I've become less of a risk taker...,..I refuse to bury a hook in my hand. Lol

I always forget to check my FG knots until I end up throwing a bait off or having the knot fail on a hookset... As great of leader knots as they are, a full day or two of constantly going through your guides will wear em down.

13 hours ago, Darth-Baiter said:

I got a new rod and had to thread line thru all the guides.  I like to loosen the drag and pull line neatly as I proceed.  
 

well. Third cast today with a weighted Texas rig.  “Tap tap tap”. I set the hook and brrrreeesh the line comes off the spool and my hook doesn’t bite deeply. The big bass went airborne and I saw my bait fly free. 
 

it took the second bite to truly realize the situation.  Duh. Lost a good fish. The second one I manage to get to the kayak after frantically tightening the drag. 
 

haha.  I do this all the time.  

I always reset my drag before I cast my first cast