Death from above/50wlrsa drag setting

[Knot Tell'n]

Curious as to a ball park drag setting for my planer rod. I typically pull a #8 planer at 6-8 kts.. I have never really gotten the feel for the initial drag setting. I usually go between strike and full on the reel and once hooked up go back to strike or a little less. This kind of luck can't last forever. Any formulas or ideas would be much appreciated.

[markc]

i have always been told to let the planer leak a little. i set my drag where its just at the strike line and lets the planer just leak out every once and a while.

[Glenn W]

8 kts on a planer is damn fast even on a little #8. In any event, it's really pretty simple: adjust your drag knob to the click where you lose absolute freespool, then back of a couple clicks--- you must have perfect free spool or the planer won't trip. As far as backing off the drag with a fish, you are correct in that this is very important as you will loose many a fish if you don't back off. I have found that the best way is to put a piece of tape where the lever should be to fight a fish. This way you don't have to worry abut going back too far and getting a hoora's nest.--- takes the guess work out of it. If you want the planer to creap or stay put--- it ain't exactly neurosurgery figuring this out.