drag setting on cranks

[ccm]

Do you prefer the drag to slip a bit for crankbaits or crank it down tight with casting equip? After losing a few too many on RC 1.5's it got me thinking

[1Stratos]

A tight drag might be ok for smaller fish but if you catch a hog and she goes under the boat, chances are you're going to lose her. Don't ask me how I know. Loosen the drag a little.

[bigGUNS04]

i will keep the drag pretty tight...NOT all the way on all my CB...

IF i know its a good fish I have a pretty good habit of loosening the drag a bit...a slight bit.


one time I forgot to tighten the drag before i started fishing and ...lol...I set the hook on a fish and it felt like i had nothing there, freaking out I thought my reel broke or something...then i see the fish jump out of the water (3lb +/-) and I realized my drag was loosy goosy and right when I try and tighten it..it was gone..

[Revofisher]

I usually keep my drag somewhat tight with mono or fluro. Dont tighten it all the way down though. If you get a large fish on that can tear the hooks out of its mouth easy you can always back the drag off some of push the thumbar and let it run with your thumb pressure as the drag.

[ryanwood99]

keep it tight and after you set the hook get it the habit of loosening it and feeding some line out to make sure it will slip if the fish runs. You will lose way less fish.

[Ticman]

Do this. Take a one pound weight. Tie some string to it and hook your crankbait to it. Now lift it with your rod. Be sure to start at about a 90 degree angle and wind down first so you don't high stick it and break your rod.

Most crank bait rods can only handle a few pounds. Which is why you don't see most pro's swinging 5 pound bass in the boat when fishing cranks. If you time it right it can be done but I wouldn't recommend doing it a lot.

Unless I'm throwing really big cranks like a Manns 20+ or DD22 I rarely set my drag to more than 1 or 2 pounds. Like I said earlier if you want to see what a pound or two pounds feels like just hook a weight on and lift it up. I think you will be suprized how heavy it will feel.

I fish rattle trap style baits a lot and almost never loose a fish. Like it was already stated, fiddling with the drag after you hook a fish is going to result in a fish lost.