Using drag to your advantage

HOOD OUTDOORS

As a licensed professional fishing guide, Michael Acosta shows you how to find them. The Granbury resident of 30 years has been fishing all of his life, and has been a licensed guide since 1998.

So how do you effectively use your drag on your reels? Taking folks out on the water with a variety of fishing experience prompted this article. Hopefully some of this information will help.

When do you use drag? Most every reel available on the market today has a drag system. The drag system is a setting on a reel that will allow line to go out with a certain amount of force pulling on the line. This force is usually adjusted to prevent line breakage and/or equipment damage in most cases.

The drag systems on my reels are extremely important in catching fish. A smooth drag system to take the surges from fighting fish is what I am counting on. Most of my fishing is open water fishing so it is not necessary to “horse” the fish to the boat. A relatively loose drag is sufficient for open water fish. You don’t want it so loose that you overplay the fish, but loose enough to not put excessive stress on the line size you are using. You can check the drag by pulling on the line to verify sufficient resistance.

There are cases where you do want to “horse” in the fish. Typically, this is when you are fishing where there are trees or other underwater snags where the fish will break you off if they run too far. In this case, you may want to upsize your line test or go to the braided version as well and tighten the drag some.

Drag systems on really large fish caught in the ocean are even more important as some of the fish can pull harder than you can. In fact, some captains know what the actual setting is on their drag is in pounds-force. This force is typically set based on the individual using the reel as well as equipment capabilities.

Inexperienced anglers typically continually reel even though the fish is taking line. This is OK for most bait cast reels, but you can save some of your own energy by allowing the fish to run when it is running and reel when the fish gives you a chance. I typically get the comment that the reel is not working when the opposite is true. The reel is performing its job and the drag is set to allow the fish to run so as to not cause line breakage. If you are using a spinning reel and you reel while the fish is taking line, you are only twisting your line. With a spinning outfit, it is preferred that you do not reel when the fish is taking line, otherwise you will eventually have a twisted mess.

When a fish is on, it is best to maintain tension on the line at all times. Keeping tension on the line is the best chance you have to make sure that the hook stays in place. For big or little fish, this is good advice.

Many folks like to lower the rod tip (pumping action) so that they can gain some line back similar to what you see offshore anglers do to bring a big fish in. This is a good method, but if you are to reel down on a fish, make sure you keep the line tight. If you give the fish some slack in the line, the fish has an opportunity to get free by shaking the hook/lure loose.

I typically use 15- to 20-pound monofilament with 15-pound fluorocarbon leader material for most of my live bait fishing for striped/hybrid bass fishing. I like to retie and replace leaders after each fishing trip to minimize losing fish. I will also retie and check lines during the day if needed. The drag systems on my reels are critical to allowing the equipment to function and to land fish without line breakage. You will learn over time where to set your drag to get optimum performance.

HOOD COUNTY

FISHING REPORT

The weather has been hot and water temperatures are approaching the 80-degree mark. A little temperature relief and a little rain would help. Anglers and pleasure boaters have been out in numbers on the weekend.

Sand bass and small striped bass continue to be good to excellent on slabs and live shad fished from Indian Harbor to Blue Water Shores. Limits of sand bass have been common. Crappie reports are also good near deeper structure and docks. Channel cats are good on cut shad and shrimp in the backs of creeks. Large blues and yellows are good on cut shad mainly fished at night. Black bass are good in numbers with an occasional big fish to seven pounds. Largemouth are good near main lake points on soft plastics and crankbaits.

OTHER AREAS

Traveling to other reservoirs is still popular despite the rising fuel costs, though many are trying local waters to help conserve costs. Operating costs for vehicles and boats are skyrocketing, as you all know. Lake Whitney striped bass limits continue to be good on live threadfin shad fished mid-lake to the lower ends. Possum Kingdom Lake is boasting on big striped bass on live shad fished from near Hell’s Gate to the dam. White bass are good from the Peanut Patch to Hog’s Bend on PK.

michael.acosta@att.net | 254-396-4855