How to Set the Drag on a Conventional Reel

Learn How to Properly Set your Drag

Saltwater Conventional reel drag adjustment made easy.

There’s a bit more to setting the drag on a conventional reel than meets the eye. Anglers need to take a few things into consideration – trolling speed, fishing style, line strength, target species and reel settings all come into play.

While a lot of folks will just jam the lever as far in the corner as it’ll go, this isn’t necessarily the best way to do things. A great starting point and rule of thumb is to set your drag at 25-30% of your lines breaking strength. For example, if you had 60lb mono on your reel, you’d set the drag somewhere between 15 and 20lbs.

While this video primarily references setting the drag on Saltwater conventional reels, the same principles apply to star drag and spinning reels. Once we start making workout videos, we’ll address how to set the drag on a hand reel. 

Check out the video below and if you’ve got any questions about conventional reels, be sure to call, email, or live chat us. We are happy to help.

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