I ain't never had drag slip on the hook set, very few slipped drag while fighting & then it was only a turn or two of the spool.

 

The only time I've had fish take a decent amount of drag was catching Bull Redfish in the 25-30# range. 

3 hours ago, dodgeguy said:

Yeah I know what it does.

righty tighty...

I've never had a bass reel that I thought needed more drag. 

Very few bass rods can withstand more then 8 lbs of pulling/lifting force without breaking!

Don’t believe? Try lifting a 1 gallon jug of water that weighs 8 lbs. You say that isn’t the issue it’s bass freight training you by fighting and pulling drag to get into cover or you pulling them out of cover. If you use a rod to pull with 8 lbs is still it’s force limit.

Tom

On 1/26/2023 at 9:32 PM, Ryanralston07 said:

What are the reels you guys have with over 15 pounds of drag? Must be stout!

Revo AL - F (17 lb) for frogging and Tranx 400 (25 lb), Revo Beast 60 (29 lb), Tatula 300(28.7 lb) for swimbaits.

On 1/26/2023 at 11:28 PM, FishTank said:

I have the Abu Garcia Winch and it is rated at 24lb of drag but it's kind of joke. I have smashed the drag down and it was no different than say my Calcuttas or 2012 Antares but its more than what you would get out of a Curado or any Daiwa that I have.  

 

I could also the same with Lew's BB1 Pro I have.  The drag was kind of hit and miss out of the box. I have since taken it apart and added a small amount of grease to one of the washers that was dry. It's smoother and less sporadic but it's not near its rated 20lbs of drag.  Overall, I am pleased with both the Winch and the Lew's BB1 Pro but the drags on both seem to be not much different than anything else.

 

With that said, I never would use all of the drag a reel has. No need to. I have never seen a fish run that the reels I have couldn't handle when the drag is set properly to the pound test of line I am using.  As far as heavy cover goes, I do set the drag higher but again matched to the line I am using. If it's braid, I set it more to its mono equivalent in diameter. 

 

There are several videos with the Barbie challenge (see the one with the Sturgeon) but this one makes me laugh every time and shows me that drag ratings are overblown. She might have 4-6lb mono with about 6lbs of drag.

 

 

Love that video. Children laughing and happy just make life better.