Drag settings

<fake engineer; bs=full>
It all depends on the coefficient of drag the hull of your kayak is exerting against oncoming current conditions. If your drag at strike is set at 25% of line break strength, but your kayak is exerting 5% of 1nm relative to the humidity in the upper strata of your targeted water-column, then it is highly recommended to either increase OR decrease your preferred drag percentage. </engineer>


Seriously though, I farted around with a drag scale when I got my first lever drag reel. Now I do it by feel. (not that it helps you any) The kayak helps buffer the drag and personal preferences also have a lot to do with it. I like to fish good parabolic rods and keep my drag a bit lighter than others I know. I haven't been even close to spooled yet, but it'll be a crazy story if it does happen.

I loosen my drag way up when I store the rod and reel. Then, I forget it is all the way loose until I hook my first fish so I adjust on the go while fighting the fish. After landing the fish and killing it I am so pumped up I forget all about the drag. Then I hook the next fish and go through the process again. If I am salmon fishing, I land the fish kill it, then go home because I have my limit. I remember to loosen the drag all the way again when I put the rod away. The next time I fish, I repeat the process. Works every time.

I think most are missing my point. I understand setting the lever drag to line standard. Kardinal84 may have given me the right direction. With kayak fishing you fight 2 issues. The kayak it's self acts as a drag then you have line strength. I fish 65 lbs spectra and the drag is strong enough to flip the kayak at 33% line setting at slight bend in the rod. This is the reason for my question of how "kayaks" set their drag.

Thanks for all the other in put as it was all great info.

I guess I do it different than that even.   

I keep my drag light enough to pull line with just 2-3 fingers.  The lighter the line, the lighter I preset the drag.
As I get a fish on, I will adjust the drag to each fish on how it runs.  If I need to slow down a fish quickly, I can thumb the spool on a bait caster or, finger wrap and add drag to a spinning reel spool.

It would certainly be a different story if I was bank fishing (yuk) or on a bigger vessel, but with a Hobie I can chase a running fish with the Mirage drive to make up line until I find the happy spot for individual fish. 

This seems to have worked really well for me so far.

Agree and is how I have been doing star drag reels I just have no experience with lever drag now that i have felt how quick lever drag responses it scared me. Not in losing fish but flipping the yak when it runs. Until now I have fished a Penn Squal and loved it. The star drag is what I am accustomed to using and set light then adjust up.

Light drags for kayaks ...
You can't put more than 10 pounds against a fish anyways. Set for 2-6 pounds in the salt depending on what gear you are fishing.

+1 on keep it light.

I tend to bear down on the spool when lifting a larger halibut if my light setting is too light to break them off the bottom or keep them moving.   I have seen a couple of mid -size halibut just TAKE OFF when they feel the bite of the harpoon, and the lighter setting keeps me upright even as they bolt.   I do use a lever drag AVET with 60# braid, and the AVET has at least 16# of drag, but I tend to use half or less - sometimes down to quarter setting.

A few years ago I watched a 120+ halibut sink an A2 (16" dia I think) buoy after getting stung.    It was on my power boat, sadly, and the buoy was rigged to run down the anchor line on a large ring.    Not only did it keep the buoy down for more than a half minute, it dragged the 20' boat laterally around the anchor about 30 to 40 degrees of rotation.    Powerful.   If I had experienced the same run in my kayak with the settings I had used on the power boat, it would have been a hell of a sleigh ride if I managed to stay upright.   

Beyond the drag, I tend toward rods with a bit more flex as well, just to get a bit more play and less power at the end of a long lever.   

I thought we did get your point.  I thought the answer was: set the drag very light no matter what gear you're using or what platform you're fishing from - not just because you're fishing from your kayak.

I don't set the drag to a percentage of line weight rating, I set the drag to where I can work the lure or the bait rig without having line pull out against the drag.

Not being snarky, or at least not trying to be snarky, was there a different answer you expected?

I set my SGs @ 8-12% regardless of platform and adjust as necessary from there.... <snip>

And that's 8-12% with the lever about 2/3 forward.

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Are you using the SG version prior to the one with the strike stop button?   I'm thinking to set the drag to about half what it came with in the strike position.   If I should ever need more I'd need to release the strike stop and lever down.   Tough thing is the model SG I have comes with adamant instructions to not adjust the drag button unless the lever is in free spool.  Not something I'd do with a fish on.

I thought we did get your point.  I thought the answer was: set the drag very light no matter what gear you're using or what platform you're fishing from - not just because you're fishing from your kayak.

I don't set the drag to a percentage of line weight rating, I set the drag to where I can work the lure or the bait rig without having line pull out against the drag.

Not being snarky, or at least not trying to be snarky, was there a different answer you expected?

I set my drag differently for different species from different vessels.
When fishing from a power boat for tuna I set my drag as high as possible without breaking off. Those drag settings would be pointless out of a kayak.
So yes fishing from a kayak does change how I set my drag.

I think most are missing my point. I understand setting the lever drag to line standard. Kardinal84 may have given me the right direction. With kayak fishing you fight 2 issues. The kayak it's self acts as a drag then you have line strength. I fish 65 lbs spectra and the drag is strong enough to flip the kayak at 33% line setting at slight bend in the rod. This is the reason for my question of how "kayaks" set their drag.

Thanks for all the other in put as it was all great info.

If you keep your rod tip inline with your bow as much as possible by bracing, peddling with rudder control you can't flip a yak as I can see it also if you have good balance... Now I have never put a tuna or halibut in my yak but if you flip your yak with just a fish then I guess "we're going to need a bigger boat" would be a safe assumption. I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, the drag is to tire the fish without breaking the line, your rod, your back or your reel. But hey I use a 5 ft penn mariner broomstick with 80 lbs braid in the salt because I'm grocery shopping not looking to play a fish.

I set my SGs @ 8-12% regardless of platform and adjust as necessary from there.... <snip>

And that's 8-12% with the lever about 2/3 forward.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Are you using the SG version prior to the one with the strike stop button?   I'm thinking to set the drag to about half what it came with in the strike position.   If I should ever need more I'd need to release the strike stop and lever down.   Tough thing is the model SG I have comes with adamant instructions to not adjust the drag button unless the lever is in free spool.  Not something I'd do with a fish on.

My SGs are pre strike stop models. They also require you to be in free spool before rotating the drag button. When I said "adjust from there" I meant move the lever accordingly, not adjust the drag button.

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I've thumbed my reel before to back the lever to free spool and adjust the drag knob.   Gotta be quick, and I wouldn't want to attempt it without a gloved thumb on braid spooled reels.   

I set my SGs @ 8-12% regardless of platform and adjust as necessary from there.... <snip>

And that's 8-12% with the lever about 2/3 forward.

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

Are you using the SG version prior to the one with the strike stop button?   I'm thinking to set the drag to about half what it came with in the strike position.   If I should ever need more I'd need to release the strike stop and lever down.   Tough thing is the model SG I have comes with adamant instructions to not adjust the drag button unless the lever is in free spool.  Not something I'd do with a fish on.

My SGs are pre strike stop models. They also require you to be in free spool before rotating the drag button. When I said "adjust from there" I meant move the lever accordingly, not adjust the drag button.

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Thanks.  The new SG arrived with 20lbs on the drag. That's more than I wanted, so I've adjusted it to be what I want at the strike stop.