Setting/Testing Drag with a hand Scale

[Kahi]

When setting/testing the drag on a conventional reel at 1/3 the test of the line..do I pull straight on the line slowly till the drag clicks or do I mimic a fish on a run with a quick pull?

Or don it matter??

[BahamaLure]

Kahi, yanking on it will give you a false high reading on the scale, I have always set drags by walking away from the rod down the dock in a smooth steady pull.

[joeksr]

Kahi, yanking on it will give you a false high reading on the scale, I have always set drags by walking away from the rod down the dock in a smooth steady pull.

I'll go with that but I give it a few quick pulls first to heat it up a little. Doesnt take a fish running long to add a little heat.

[Big Jay]

Kahi, yanking on it will give you a false high reading on the scale, I have always set drags by walking away from the rod down the dock in a smooth steady pull.

I'll go with that but I give it a few quick pulls first to heat it up a little. Doesnt take a fish running long to add a little heat.

Both of the above.

Test it using bahama's method 2-3 times. Takes a minute for the drag to heat up. When you reach your desired setting, check it one more time to make sure its in spec.

[NJPete]

Giving the reels time to come up to temp is also important. Rather than just giving it a few good pulls with the drag set high, i like to let the reels come to ambient temp (on my boat, the salon is usually kept at a brisk 68 degrees) before i start to set them with a drag scale. Then its do a few pulls to warm them up and then use a slow and steady pull to make sure they come to the appropriate drag setting.

Also, its a good idea to "calibrate" the drag scale as well.

[CGMate]

you can easily heat the drag up by slacking the drag off a little, not all the way, and simply cranking the handle about 25 times. the friction will heat it right up.

[Patudo]

Having seen it done both ways I think you will find your own way - both the settings that you will use for trolling and fighting the fish and how fast you pull to measure them - over time based on your own experience on the water. The faster you pull the scale the higher the reading will be. You may find that a setting that gives you one third on a fast pull may read as one quarter on a slower pull. That was a good point made to calibrate the drag scale. It doesn't need to be IGFA certified but I would not trust some of the devices I've seen used to test drag!

I prefer to obtain my drag readings at walking pace.

[PurpleCedarPlug]

Should there be a bend in the rod as if you were on a fish or do you set the drag pulling straight out with no bend. After warming up the drag, I set mine straight out with no bend.Wanted to make sure I'm doing it right..

[Big Jay]

Should there be a bend in the rod as if you were on a fish or do you set the drag pulling straight out with no bend. After warming up the drag, I set mine straight out with no bend.Wanted to make sure I'm doing it right..

Yes, you should have a bend. Just have the person pulling the scale try to mimic the angle at which a fish takes off from the boat. That's all.