Drag
Also called drag system, slip clutch
The reel's slip system. Set right, a strong fish pulls line out instead of snapping it.
Drag is a stack of washers pressed together with adjustable pressure. When a fish pulls harder than that pressure, the stack slips and line leaves the spool while your rod stays bent. It is the single mechanism standing between a good fish and a broken line. It matters more than any other number on a reel.
The rule of thumb is to set it to about a quarter to a third of your line's rated strength. With 10 pound line that is somewhere around 3 pounds of pull, which is far lighter than most people expect. Pull line off the spool by hand: it should come steadily, with effort, and without jerking.
Smoothness is what separates a good drag from a bad one, not the maximum number on the box. A drag that grabs and releases in steps puts shock loads into the line, and shock is what breaks it. Nobody has ever lost a fish because their reel only had 15 pounds of maximum drag.
Set drag at the start of the trip, not while a fish is running. Back it off a turn before you store the reel so the washers do not take a set.
Common questions
How tight should fishing drag be?
Around a quarter to a third of the line's rated breaking strength. On 10 pound line that is about 3 pounds of pull, which should feel much lighter than most beginners expect.
Related terms
Where this comes up
The guides that use drag and show it on real gear.
Drag is one of 206 terms in the glossary.
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