Just wondering how many of you loosen your reel drags after every fishing trip?

not every trip, I try to remember to loosen at the end of the season.

Depends on how long it will be before the reels get used again. If it's going to be 1-2 weeks I just leave them alone. If it's gonna be a month or more I will loosen them. 

I have never loosened my drags.  Then again, I fish with them constantly. When my drags wear out, I change the disks.

I used to but after forgetting to tighten them back and losing fish because of that I quit.

Set it & forget it ?

No need with modern carbon disks IMO. I don't even bother in the off season, and I've never had an issue.

Always loosen. If it's a rod I'm fishing often, more so because the last thing I want is to accidentally reel while rigged and snap the tip top.

I loosen my drag on all the reels.   I don't want to snag the line on something and break the rod, or lose a guide.

Always

Even if it isn’t necessary 

It takes a second to do and with a technique specific combo it takes even less to reset with no guesswork 
 

 

 

 

Mike

Always 

I don’t.  Never knew it was a thing. I’m so tired when I get home. 

Loosen all drags just prior to pushing my boat in the garage. 

I’ve heard that with today’s drag washers it’s not necessary. Out of habit I loosen mine after every use.

I don’t loosen mine.  I set my drag with a scale and when it fails to hold the desired weight I know it’s time to replace.  They seem to last about 30 years without loosening.

If you have a down season like the guys up north just loosen them once a year. Then at the start of the new season reset them. Drags that are set heavy will take a set if never backed off at least that was the wisdom of the past. 

I grew up loosening drags it’s habit today. The older drag disk and cup washers took a set with a week creating a high start up force. Just loosening the drag and give the line a pull to check smoothness before re setting the drag force.

Tom

I loosen them after every trip out. 

Ne'er.

I do. The drag washers will get compressed I'd left tight.

Even though I know it isn't necessary, I do it every time. It forces me to set my drag properly next time out.

End of season only.

Never, don’t know if it matters, but my drags aren’t set very tight anyway. Use my thumb, I know it’s not the most consistent or probably the best way. Back in the day, the drags never worked that well anyways. 

I loosen mine out of habit. Been doing it for a long time.

I always loosen mine when stored for the winter.