Do we REALLY need a small spinning reel with huge factory drag ratings?

[Leprechaun]

I think not. Watch this vid - I find it interesting.

 

[longcast]

I think not. Watch this vid - I find it interesting.

Very interesting video. And very true.

 

[captmike28]

I think not. Watch this vid - I find it interesting.

He certainly makes some good points and that was a nice visual of what is actually happening.

IMHO, if you are having to push your reel to the max drag setting on whatever setup you use, you probably need to change and move up a notch on your tackle choice. Pushing your drag system to the max too much will certainly wind up damaging the reel in the long run. I'm sure many of us, me included, have seen this happen.

Also, not surprising that "deceptive marketing practices", like the specification race, are as much a part of fishing gear as many other products.

Thanks for the insight, Lep.

 

[Roccus7]

I’ll present another question like yours, Does anyone really need 5 outboards to power their boat?

The answer to both our questions is because somebody will gladly spend money they don’t need to, and boldly proclaim, Look what I got!!

 

[MakoMatt]

I think he makes a good point for most inshore applications. One exception would be slow pitch jigging. Although spinning reels are not the norm for this, there are people who do use them. Here is where you may benefit from more substantial drag. The “purest” slow pitch jiggers use the rod primarily to help impart the action to the jig…….. the free falling flutter. The rods aren’t designed to put pressure on the fish by way of resistance of the rod bending. You fight the fish pointing the rod tip at the fish, and let the reel winch the fish in. I do a fair amount of slow pitch jig fishing. I do not particularly care for that “purest” way of jigging, but sometimes I do. And if the rod can’t help you get that fish off the bottom you had better have a reel that you can winch it away. This is especially true down south playing with the various grouper’s & snappers

 

[MakoMatt]

After a bit of thought I don’t agree with some of the position he’s taking on this subject. Not to throw the baby out with the bath water as he does make some interesting points, however I think there is more to this than meets the eye, or at least his eye.

He begins by using an example of how are you ever going to bring in a 10 pound Redfish with 3 pounds of drag? In a perfect world that’s an easy question. A 10 pound Redfish in the water doesn't have any weight so you could reel it right in no problem. Additionally, in a perfect world, using his testing methods, tying incremental 1 pound weights to the line, and using 3 pounds of drag, once you add anything over 3 pounds you could reel until the cows came home and you would not gain an inch of line.

But fish fight, they get caught in currents, and at times their bodies can catch water much the way a sail catches wind. All these things and more can present resistance, and this is when drag becomes your friend. A fish can exert more pounds of pressure fighting than its out of water body weight. As most of us know this can be particularly true when the fish realizes something is not kosher with what it is trying to consume. At the same time they are making this initial run you are trying to set the hook. Drag is your friend here too.

Now this is not to say for inshore fishing for the species he described we need anywhere near 20 pounds of drag, but I don’t agree with 2-3 pounds of drag either. I don’t scale set my drag for inshore fishing reels, only my offshore. I use what I guessing most do, and that’s by feel. Experience is key to this feel approach. It has seldomly let me down. Additionally, proper handling of the rod will help avoid the bend he was showing in the rod from dead weight. People don’t fish holding the rod at 90 degrees to the water like he was doing in his test.

In closing, fishing is not as clinical as he makes it out to be. As I have been known on occasion to yell at a crew member when fighting a fish…….. BREAK HIS F’ING JAW!!!