RustyOlRanger4x4

im going to get me a new fishing reel here soon (spinning reel) and im curious what are the advantages and disadvantages of front drag and rear drag ive never used a rear drag before so i dont know anything about it and i sometimes have problems adjusting the front drag on my current spinning reels especially when a fish is on and im reeling and trying to adjust but give me ya`lls opinions. thanks,sean

JoshKeller

Front Drag pros-
- smoother
- better choice in better reels
CONS- Needs adjusted every time you change spools

Rear Drag pros-
- Easier to adjust while fighting a fish (set it right in the beginning and dont touch it again)
- Better in low end reels
Cons- Not as smooth
- Rear Drag reels are generally a little heavier

Carpmaster

I agree with josh, but it really has a lot to do with preference also and what feels good to you like on my sedonas i like the feel of the rear drag best, and i think with that model it is as every bit as smooth as a front, my spirex salmon reel is super smooth.

TheRick

Josh is right on, I prefer front drag reels as long as I make sure to set the drag PRIOR to catching a fish but if you catch the errant big northern while fishing for walleyes then it is easier to adjust the drag in mid fight on a rear drag.

skeeter 7MM

Rusty, I believe the problem lies in setting the drag up appropriately for the fish you are fishing vs the FD vs RD. The fact the RD is more easier really becomes moot as most don't dare touch it while fighting a fish for fear of losing it! Something to consider is a drag is used not only to protect from allowing a fish to go over the line breakage point but also to play(fight) and keep the line tight through the thrashing, jumping, pulling, head shaking, etc they do when trying to unhook themselves. Plain and simple no matter the size or species you want the drag to be zinging in most cases as it will result in more fish landed. I just want to qualify obviously you don't want it become an all day battle for a 1lb trout but with the proper drag setting when that fish is most fiesty and hardy it should be able to muster an uninterrupted short duration run. As we know fresh water fish are not built to sustain long duration battles, they are short and swift. This inlies the reason for setting your drag appropriately to work not hinder your experience on the water. In all honesty I rarely touch my drag once I have set it up for the action that day. If I am fishing walleyes on a shelf I know damn well that their is a better than average chance at some point I am going to hook up on a pike lurking for lunch so while he may peel more drag than the average walleye the fight is only lengthed for a relatively short time while allowing me to properly fight and land a larger fish on light line and no leader! If I were fishing pike I reset my drag appropriately, sure I may catch a walleye, perch what have you but my main target is hard pulling pike and am geared to that fish. Incidentally I suggest always setting a drag to peel at 2lbs below rating but in many cases my drag peels around the halfway point. It becomes personal preference and where you fish, obviously if fishing heavy cover or timber areas you don't want the fish getting entangled in the junk so one must set the drag higher and basically horse them out of the garbage. However when finesse fishing there is absolutely no need to horse a fish and bring them to the shore or boat full of piss n' vinegar.

If your drag is to low or to tight, land your fish than set the drag up to a better setting before latching onto another fish is all that is required (regardless of FD or RD most do this way anyhow). Of course buy what you feel is the best the advantages or disadvantages to either system usually add up to personal preference vs functional for most anglers.

krueger

skeeter 7MM
What is the point of having your drag set so loose that a one pound trout or walleye can strip off line for a run. Then on another fishing trip for pike, set the same reel with a stronger drag setting. Did you know the faster that you can land a fish the better off its surival rate when you release it. IE, there is no reason to fight a fish to the point where its exhautesed if your just going to let it go. I pretty sure the drag system is not for letting the fish run, it is for preventing ur line from breaking. Really though if you want to reel your fish in more than once, then just back reel on your spinning gear. Another problem from letting fish excessily take line from a spinning reel is that your line twist everytime that you hear that zing.

skeeter 7MM

Kruger as I mentioned obviously you don't want to set it so light to have an all day battle on 1 pound trout but setting it so a fish can peel drag if mustering a small run vs being horsed in no way causes higher mortality rates in catch and release. When a small fish is horsed in via line it often comes with his mouth wide open swallowing water into his gullet, this fish will go to the bottom but will hardly be in great shape. The drag will speel when the fish of a certain size has a pull in the opposite direction above the drag setting, one can use many techniques to turn the fish or avoid long duration runs, it is better/easier to let the fish do it quick burst than gain, gain, gain vs putting constant pressure and stress on the fish against there will. I would hope most would understand that a 1lb fish pulls harder than 1 pounds of pressure on your line and that more often than not the reason for a break off is b/c of a fisherman putting additional strain on the line coupled with the fishes pressure, a drag set properly will prevent this. Even if a fish does strip a bit of line it will hardly make the fight or play that much longer to cause additional stress, especially if your set up properly. That was really my point before.

FYI, my spinning gear has 6-8 mono threaded on the spool, this is for small perch/trout right through large pike. I do change my drag for the species and conditions, however in most cases my drag for 8lb test is set to peel at approx 5lbs pressure. I use my drag a lot and yes I need to respool but I also land a heck of lot fish that are much bigger than the rather light line I use.

BTW I also practice catch and release and am quite aware that the more stress you put on a fish the worse off they are to survive but in the case of a small fish the extra fight is nill or min. at most vs just plain old cranking and skipping him across the surface. When it comes to the big fish you will need drag and the importance is when handling, I usually unhook or even cut my line on truly large fish...the last thing I want to do is over handle or pull the fish out of the water to remove a .35 jig. Tell me how you unhook a fish for release that hasn't even played a little without handling them? My fish I simply put my hand under the belly(keeping them in the water at all times), then unhook with my pliers and slowly revive them until I feel the pressure built up in the rear portion of the tail, finally a slight grab of the tail and I am soaking wet. I never use treble hooks and always barbless, this includes my crank baits. As your aware a single hook and no barb is best for catch release which also requires a tight line to land fish. I also am sure that some of the fish do or will die, as such I don't fish all day and hammer the crap out of them I use the 1 and 5 rule, meaning every 5th fish counts towards my daily limit, if I keep fish it is not included in my 5. For an example: if I keep 2 walleye and my limit is 5 per day, I will catch n release 15 others than call it a day.

What is your method of catch n' release?? No need to answer just pointing out many other factors to consider when practicing catch n' release.

I don't fish bass very often and am not sure what is considered the best for this fish, however for Pike, Walleye and lake dwelling trout I have no problems landing or releasing any of my fish. I mostly spend my time chasing fish that are much larger than my line rating so maybe that is why I use my drag and have become accustom to spinning on an extra spool of line per year.

I am not sure if we have a difference of opinion or I never worded it right in my first message, most likely the later but in any regards we are entitled to our own opinion and if you see a problem in my practice for catch n' release I welcome yours or any thoughts. I certainly am not above critism or finding better ways to ensure those big notherns and eyes are their for my kids and later in life grandkids to catch

krueger

skeeter 7MM
I dont have any problem with your method of catch and realease, it actually sounds text book. All I'm saying is that one should not have to reset his/her drag setting if it is set properly to start with, regardless of species or size of the fish.

For instance, if a smaller fish musters a small run on your spinning reel with your drag set how you prefer then that fish will use X amount of energy and take X amount of line from the spool. Now imagine the same fish one of my rods, with my drag set to prevent my line from braking, if the fish mustered the exact same run. The fish still would have used X amount of energy but would not have taken any line. Thus you would have to fight the fish longer untill it was landed or my fish would have more energy when released.

From your post it seems that i didn't make clear that i'm not talking about horseing small fish in. I also diagree that small fish that are horsed in, swallow water into thier gullet which harms thier health. Everytime a fish strips off more line during the fight there is that much more line that one will have to fight the fish back for plus all the energy that the fish used up to muster that burst. So actually that would cause additional stress to the fish.

For bass, I basically lip them and take the hook out then put them back in the water.

As for walleye and trout, I play the fish to the boat, then usually without touching the fish unhook it with pliers. But if the fish is hooked deeper than the outside of the mouth. I grab the fish with my dry hands and squeeze it pretty hard and then drop it on the floor of my boat, then i step on its tail and rip on my line until the hook rips out. After that i throw the poor thing like a football as far as i can with as much trajectory as i can muster back in to the water. Thats my method of catch and release.














P.S. I just jokin bout the later part of my catch and release method.

skeeter 7MM

Kruger, no your right one doesn't have to reset their drag but I personally do at times dependant on the technique or species I am fishing. As I mention most times I set it and leave it alone, just there are times I do change it slightly(ie: ice fishing or if I use spinnerbaits for shallow running big pike with my spinning setup). I mentioned the lengthened fight is next to nill for smaller fish and on big fish become moot for me using lighter line. Since I fish peridominantly large northerns for S&G's, I have become used to the zing of the reel and maybe my thoughts should have been qualified more in the beginning.

As mentioned I never expected an answer to my questions, but felt I was being schooled on Cn'R and just had to let you know I have been on a few boats before!

I believe we maybe talking from different prespectives based on the fish we chase, niether one is wrong just different.

Best of luck on the water this year!