how many pounds of drag are you guys putting on the reels when using circle hooks, fishing for sails? 3.5lbs?
Enough to where the line will not come off the reel as you are trolling. The first bit of pressure they feel they are gone!
yep, should have clarified, whats the strike drag setting?
3.5 to 7 lbs. depends on who you ask. we keep it light.
BRAINSTORM
what pro said for trolling, what the brainstorm said for fighting. You would be astonished at the pressure that can be applied to light circles, but there is no need to. Strike drag really would be the worng term.
The storm starts stopping when the drops stop dropping.
-Theodore Geisel
Thanks Carla Dee, by the way, have you heard from Art Brown lately?
why would strike drag be the wrong term, you still have to push the drag lever up to the strike setting on circles, very slowly of course (even though you don’t keep it there while you are trolling).
Strike setting should be 1/3 of line rating.
I would recommend pulling a drag scale on all gear every couple of trips.
You shouldn’t ever have to go above strike on the stickfish around here.
quote:
Originally posted by SantiagoStrike setting should be 1/3 of line rating.
I would recommend pulling a drag scale on all gear every couple of trips.
1/3 of the line rating is what i’ve been doing for J hooks all my life…thought circles were supposed to be lighter, no?
Santiago- for j hooks etc you are correct sir. Circles are typically fished on lighter test lines(25-30lbs)dink bait fishing. We run 3.5 lbs at strike on the reel. While fishing its the least amount of drag to keep it from creeping off the reel(clicker on/off is debatable).
We recently went from 20lb mainline to 30lb mainline. The amount of in water drag b/t these 2 lines is very apparant. The 20lb really cut through the water while the 30lb seems to drag. You can really see it when you got a jumper and a large bow in the line. The significance of this is that the further the fish gets out, the more water drag there is, compounded with the change in ratio as the diameter of the reel changes while the line is coming off. Its counter intuitive but you should realy start to back the drag down when your fish gets way out there. A good Capt has already made the turn and you are now chasing the fish gaining line.
The light drag is to keep the hook in the fish- not necessarily to slow them down. We’ve caught a couple this year where the hook wasn’t even imbedded in the fish just kind of wrapped on the bill and not even in up to the barb… Probably would have pulled them off with 10lbs of drag.
George Carlin said it best, ‘Think of how stupid the average person is, and then realize that half of them are stupider than that’’.
What type of gear are you using that you can accurately measure 3.5# of drag at strike?
a scale might be a good first choice
quote:
Originally posted by SantiagoStrike setting should be 1/3 of line rating.
I would recommend pulling a drag scale on all gear every couple of trips.
You shouldn’t ever have to go above strike on the stickfish around here.
that would be incorrect for circle hook sailfishing if you set the drag according to that rule.
the fish stay on top with light drag.