I bought another Calcutta Baitcaster that was used but in good shape.  I spooled it up with braid, used electrical tape backing.  I set the hook on a good fish, but when i tried to reel it in, it was slipping.   I tightened the drag down all the way and if i pull hard on the line, i can pull some line out.  Do i need to replace the drag or is the braid slipping?

Did you keep a fair amount of tension on the line as you spooled it up? If so and you used backing, it may pay to take a look at the drag. There may be grease or oil that has migrated onto the pads. They can be cleaned, but a Carbontex upgrade is cheap enough and benefits almost any reel.

A few yards of nylon mono make a better backing.

If you just put several layers of electric tape on the spool to partially fill it then tied the braid over that... my first thought leans toward the line slipping.  It would be the easiest check.  Tie on about two layers of mono before the braid.

steve

I use masking tape instead of electrical with no mono backing, never a slippage.

I use masking tape instead of electrical with no mono backing, never a slippage.

X 2 but I use teflon tape.

I bought another Calcutta Baitcaster that was used but in good shape. I spooled it up with braid, used electrical tape backing. I set the hook on a good fish, but when i tried to reel it in, it was slipping. I tightened the drag down all the way and if i pull hard on the line, i can pull some line out. Do i need to replace the drag or is the braid slipping?

Easy way to tell is pull the spool out of the reel with the line still on. Hold the spool edges with one hand and pull the tag end of the braid. If the braid comes off then you need to re-spool tighter. If not then you probably have flattened out the 2 spring washers in the crank stack. They should look like this stacked...()

Good Luck & Tight Lines!!!

ok,, ill try and pull some line with the spool out, check washers etc.  ive never replaced tghe drag on a reel.  hopefully, it will be the line slipping.  i guess i need to put some mono backing or friction tape.

A few yards of nylon mono make a better backing.

This is the easiest thing to do unless you have a low capacity reel.

if the spool is turning while the line is going out, the drag is slipping. if the spool is not turning but line is still going out, the line is slipping. i'm much more inclined to believe it is the latter as electrical tape gets compacted and loses its gripability. a few yards of mono backing is much more effective. besides, electrical tape leaves gummy residue behind.

You don't even have to use tape if your putting on all braid.Some saltwater tuna chasers, just use car polish,and tie direct. The reason is because they don't want to get saltwater between the tape and the spool and have it sit there and corrode the spool.The trick is to put the braid on with 3 to 4 pounds of resistance when spooling.