Drag setting

The drag has one job on a spinning reel: give line before the leader or the hook hold gives. Tap the reel and the water; the number is what a scale should read at the rod tip.

• Set it with a scale: rod up, line through the guides, pull until the drag slips and read the number
• Finesse on a 2500: 1 lb of drag with a 5-8 lb leader is plenty — a #1 light-wire hook only needs a sweep, and the fish pulls line instead of tearing out
• Grass on the same reel: 3-4 lb, because the Texas / weedless hook is heavier wire and the fish must come out now
• Above 3000 the leader is 12-40 lb: a quarter of it (3-10 lb) for bass, pike and muskie; an eighth for crappie, perch and trout whose mouths tear
• Never touch the knob mid-fight except a small tighten at the net; back it off fully for storage so the washers do not compress

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