Boating New Zealand — December 2017

110 Boating New Zealand

F

or years the rule of thumb for setting your reel’s

drag was one-third of the breaking strain of the

main line. This was, and generally still is, the default

‘strike’ setting for lever-drag reels used for big

game fishing, usually measured over the rod using

a spring scale. If the main line was 15kg breaking

strain, the correct ‘strike’ drag would be 5kg.

One-third is still an excellent guide for setting your drag,

especially if you use nylon monofilament. But most of the time,

setting the drag doesn’t have to be quite that precise: a bit more

or a bit less than one-third is okay, although erring too far on

the high side increases the risk of the line breaking, especially

if the line is old, worn or otherwise damaged. Knots weaken

lines too, sometimes by as much as 50 percent. Poorly tied or

unsuitable knots can reduce the breaking strain of the main line

by a considerable margin.

Most anglers, if they pay attention to drag settings at all,

set their drags by feel, pulling line off the reel and adjusting

the drag pressure until the resistance is ‘about right’. For most

everyday fishing applications, less is better than more, unless

you need an especially tight drag, say, to horse big fish away

from structure.

PE LINES

Braided polyethylene (PE) lines have changed the drag

equation somewhat. Many anglers using braided line

routinely fish much tighter drags than they would when

fishing nominally equivalent breaking strain nylon. PE lines

are much stronger for a given diameter than monofilament.

Most PE lines also over-test: they are much stronger than the

nominal breaking strain printed on the packaging.

A lot of PE lines do not offer up a breaking strain at all,

but are classified according to the Japanese system based on

line diameter. And while PE 5 roughly translates to 50-pound

breaking strain, PE 6 to 60-pound, PE 8 to 80-pound (37kg) and

so on, many PE 8 lines break at well over 100 pounds and most

PE 5 lines break at 60 pounds or more.

How much drag pressure is too

much – or too little?

How hard

should

you pull?

with JOHN EICHELSHEIM

THECATCH