Drag setting

[Pair of Jacks]

LOU Obi Wans—we have been reading veraciously all the TTPs you have posted; however, no one has mentioned drag setting. As experienced striper, hybrid, and walleye trollers we set our drag on clicker mode to sing one verse on the initial strike/hookup then we lock down the drag and set the hook.   If we are fishing late, fall through late spring we let the fish run and then bring them in. If it it’s summertime (warm water and air) we try to quickly land the fish to avoid over stressing the fish (we mostly catch and release).  
 

In three weeks we will make our first foray to LO (Henderson Bay) and would like your wisdom on drag settings and fish fighting TTPs.  We will be using various combo of sticks and spoons on downriggers and yellow bird planer boards.

 

Respectfully

 

PoJ

[fisherman21]

I will typically tighten my drag enough to where you won’t get any line pulling off the reels when you are trolling. You want is set so the fish can pull drag on the hit and when they are fighting without breaking the line

[Pair of Jacks]

Thank you!!!

 

Respectfully 

 

PoJ

5 hours ago, fisherman21 said:

I will typically tighten my drag enough to where you won’t get any line pulling off the reels when you are trolling. You want is set so the fish can pull drag on the hit and when they are fighting without breaking the line

 

[rolmops]

On 4/25/2022 at 10:12 PM, Pair of Jacks said:

LOU Obi Wans—we have been reading veraciously all the TTPs you have posted; however, no one has mentioned drag setting. As experienced striper, hybrid, and walleye trollers we set our drag on clicker mode to sing one verse on the initial strike/hookup then we lock down the drag and set the hook.   If we are fishing late, fall through late spring we let the fish run and then bring them in. If it it’s summertime (warm water and air) we try to quickly land the fish to avoid over stressing the fish (we mostly catch and release).  
 

In three weeks we will make our first foray to LO (Henderson Bay) and would like your wisdom on drag settings and fish fighting TTPs.  We will be using various combo of sticks and spoons on downriggers and yellow bird planer boards.

 

Respectfully

 

PoJ

What you describe would be good when trolling live bait. When fishing with lures you must set the hook at first bite or the fish will spit the the lure out and go elsewhere

[Sk8man]

I guess my take may be a bit different. When fishing live bait  e.g. still fishing you do set the hook after you are confident that the fish has the bait. e.g. lake trout usually turn the bait around in their mouth after grabbing then swallowing so you wait for the fish to stop the initial run then set the hook when they begin the run again. Browns sometimes carry the bait around a bit before getting it down their throat (e.g. bobber fishing) and rainbows often hook themselves by viciously attacking the bait and sometimes even jumping out of the water in the process.

When trolling I seldom if ever set the hook on trout or salmon and it applies to stripers and tuna as well in the salt water environment. One of the key aspects to this is to maintain very sharp hook points which I constantly monitor and sharpen as needed. Some require it right out of the package. As Fisherman 21 mentioned the initial drag setting is adjusted so that it maintains the line on the reel so that it doesn't play out with the clicker always on. I then increase the drag setting so that it requires a slight tug on the line to play out so there is some drag but not enough to impair the line if a hard hit. When the fish hits, the drag setting should be strong enough to exert some pressure on the fish so the hook penetrates; the rest is done by the rod tip when the rod is picked up and arched and the tip being maintained upward provides constant pressure on the fighting fish which in large part hooks itself. The constant pressure with no slack allowed is critical.

A lot of folks don't further adjust the drag setting while fishing the fish but I carefully  adjust it while fighting what I perceive larger fish according to to what is going on with the fight. I think a lot of folks that do an extreme hook set on fish lose a lot of them that way.

Edited April 27, 2022 by Sk8man

[Pair of Jacks]

6 hours ago, Sk8man said:

I guess my take may be a bit different. When fishing live bait  e.g. still fishing you do set the hook after you are confident that the fish has the bait. e.g. lake trout usually turn the bait around in their mouth after grabbing then swallowing so you wait for the fish to stop the initial run then set the hook when they begin the run again. Browns sometimes carry the bait around a bit before getting it down their throat (e.g. bobber fishing) and rainbows often hook themselves by viciously attacking the bait and sometimes even jumping out of the water in the process.

When trolling I seldom if ever set the hook on trout or salmon and it applies to stripers and tuna as well in the salt water environment. One of the key aspects to this is to maintain very sharp hook points which I constantly monitor and sharpen as needed. Some require it right out of the package. As Fisherman 21 mentioned the initial drag setting is adjusted so that it maintains the line on the reel so that it doesn't play out with the clicker always on. I then increase the drag setting so that it requires a slight tug on the line to play out so there is some drag but not enough to impair the line if a hard hit. When the fish hits, the drag setting should be strong enough to exert some pressure on the fish so the hook penetrates; the rest is done by the rod tip when the rod is picked up and arched and the tip being maintained upward provides constant pressure on the fighting fish which in large part hooks itself. The constant pressure with no slack allowed is critical.

A lot of folks don't further adjust the drag setting while fishing the fish but I carefully  adjust it while fighting what I perceive larger fish according to to what is going on with the fight. I think a lot of folks that do an extreme hook set on fish lose a lot of them that way.

Sk8man—many thanks for the comprehensive response.  We have and use our hook sharpeners constantly.  Yes we follow your TTPs for setting and managing drag.

 

Respectfully

 

PoJ

[Sk8man]

Best of luck out there this season.

 

Les

[whaler1]

Just get tight

[tuffishooker]

The drag setting works in combination with the stiffness of the rod ; set too frim risking a break off !

[Pair of Jacks]

8 minutes ago, tuffishooker said:

The drag setting works in combination with the stiffness of the rod ; set too frim risking a break off !

Yep…we get that for sure.  Same for stripers and especially the hybrids.

[Pair of Jacks]

22 minutes ago, Sk8man said:

Best of luck out there this season.

 

Les

Thanks Les… we are getting all hyped up about the trip.

 

Scott

[Sk8man]