Well, except for the fact that the rod, itself, is a lever. And, it is a long one in this case where the hands are about 6' or so away from the rod tip.

So, set a 30 lbs. weight, a barbell plate, on the garage floor and attach it to your line . . . and try to lift it with a lever that doesn't flex. The actual resistance up near the hands would be magnified well beyond your lifting strength most likely. Archimedes tells us so.

With a heavy or medium heavy rod, it will act as a shock absorber flexing as you pull up but it will be limited to a resistance on the line well below its stated breaking strength if you are in that 30 lbs. range.

The only reason we would ever need 30 lbs. is for reasons more related to line abrasion.

Most of these posters here who lock down their drags really hard have no issues jacking fish out of cover.

Drag is used heavily by spinning tackle users who need to pull up and reel down on the line, not the way a bait caster works so much. And, drag usage is an imperative if you are fishing in salt water where it helps wear down the fish before the fisherman gives out.

Brad

I'll usually set the drag to slip when the rod has reached its maximum flex while using braid. The braid and rod you mentioned can haul anything you are going to catch in Texas out of virtually any cover on a straight pull. However, it's the initial violent slap in the line on the hookset that can either break the line or the rod, not horsing the fish to the boat. So, I want the drag to slip just a bit if I end up swinging too hard on the initial hookset; I can always crank it down more during the fight. But, that's just me.

Geez you guys are getting serious about it.

I just pull the line out from the reel, and feel for the right amount of tension. Just a little slip and its good to go.

That's funny. Yeah I guess I either tighten it all the way and then just use the thumb bar when the biggun runs, or I just do it simple like Fish Killer said. You guys do get pretty technical!
I also loosen my drag up all the way when I'm storing reels.

A 1/4 mile race?

I crank the drag as tight as it will go and play the fish with the thumb bar, thats for everything except my fairy wand and jerkbait rod.

Exactly. And I've been backing my drag washers off when I store my reels for a long time. Never leave them tightened down

Did that once. Lol. Lost a really good (or at least it felt good) fish with a no-so-spectacular hook set since the drag was almost all the way off and I didn't crank it back down. A GREAT feeling.... Feeling a jig bite go "POP" and getting ready for a gorilla hook set...then BOOM goes $40 worth of Tatsu Fluorocarbon line like a bowl of spaghetti. And the fish was laughing it's [censored] off as it swam under the boat. I heard it. lol.

Depends on the line and the hook. Most of the time it's pretty right were I can barely pull out line. I don't use drag I just thumb spool the fish. If u are using a smaller diameter hook u need to have a looser drag to keep from bending out the hooks.

Tight drag, stiff rod, braid, and a quick hook set can mean missing fish if you are not careful. I had that happen in Florida a month or so ago fishing with a guide on Toho. Fishing chatter baits and I kept setting the hook too fast with all the no stretch, no drag, heavy equipment he had. He kept saying "you have to let them have it a second after they bite it" which was weird to me. I like just a little give in the rod and a little drag slip on a hard hook set.

Exactly what I do.

I laughed a little bit

Haha. Nah. You'd have laughed your [censored] off. Trust me. I almost fell off the front deck, expecting a little resistance. Lol. The. The look on my face as I looked down to see a bass swim under the boat and then see my reel balled up. Lol. It was almost as funny as the day I slipped into the water and UNDER THE TRAILER at a Bassmaster tourney loading the boat and my PFD blew up like an airbag! All because I thought I left my iPhone on the front deck of the boat.
It was in my pocket. And ruined.


That was funny.

I lock it down in heavy cover but I am using 65lb or better and my hooksets are tame. I don't use braid other than that. If your one that likes to boat flip a bass from 20ft on hookset you should probably back it off so there is some give.