Can someone explain drag max and line weight?

[jimB]

I purchased the Daiwa Procyon AL 3000D spinning reel. I want to use it in combination with a Daiwa Ardito Travel spinning rod, but the only rod I can find is one that has a line weight of 6-15lbs. (medium power). My reel has a drag max of 22lbs.

I'm assuming drag max is the force in lbs. that the fish will exert on the reel when I snag it, and the line weight metric is for how much tolerance my rod will produce under pressure without snapping by how heavy the fish is in lbs.

Am I right to assume this?

Should I opt for a rod that has a higher line weight? There is an option for a rod that has a line weight of 8-17 lbs. (medium heavy). I might snag a pike, and I hear those can get pretty big, not sure how big, but I know they're in the lake I want to go fishing in. Or do you think I'll be fine with just

[Red Bullets]

Welcome to the jungle.

IMO only, I could be wrong. Please correct me if I am wrong.

A rod is not used to play a fish running fish. The rod is used to keep the tension on the hook set so the fish can't shake the hook. When a hooked fish wants to run a person should point their rod at the running fish and let the reel's drag do it's job, so the rod isn't really working when the fish is running. The reel's drag is.

Based on that theory a lighter rod can still handle a bigger fish if the reel's drag system is good. A 10lb. fish pulling on 3 to 5 lbs. of drag will tire quickly.

I was told this by a serious coastal fisherman years ago.

[akn]

I purchased the Daiwa Procyon AL 3000D spinning reel. I want to use it in combination with a Daiwa Ardito Travel spinning rod, but the only rod I can find is one that has a line weight of 6-15lbs. (medium power). My reel has a drag max of 22lbs.

I'm assuming drag max is the force in lbs. that the fish will exert on the reel when I snag it, and the line weight metric is for how much tolerance my rod will produce under pressure without snapping by how heavy the fish is in lbs.

Am I right to assume this?

Should I opt for a rod that has a higher line weight? There is an option for a rod that has a line weight of 8-17 lbs. (medium heavy). I might snag a pike, and I hear those can get pretty big, not sure how big, but I know they're in the lake I want to go fishing in. Or do you think I'll be fine with just

The drag max is the maximum amount of resistance you can set the drag to apply towards anything pulling against it. You don't have to set it to the max.

[Coiloil37]

What a can of worms. The reel might make 22lbs of drag but your not going to fish it anywhere near that in Alberta. If there was such a thing as a short answer, a medium power rod is a pretty good choice for a lot of fishing in Alberta.

Longer answer looks like this.


Rods have a a power and action. Some bend easier and some bend further down the blank. Line has a breaking strength and mono has stretch. Reels have line capacity and max drag limits. Most people like to land fish so usually we like to keep the hook seated in the fishes mouth which can include using direct bent rod pressure to keep tight line, line stretch and water pressure on the line trailing behind the fish.

Most of this isn’t applicable to Alberta but it is here for the fishing I do and I can lay it out easier if I apply it to big game fishing.

I spent this last year fishing 15kg mono topshots so I’ll keep it specific to one line class. The underlying braid was 50lb but the last 100m is 30lb mono. So being as it’s IGFA rated line it breaks at or below 15kg. So that is a ceiling. The rule of thumb is to set the drag to 1/3 the breaking strength of line. On strike I set my drag to 5-5.5kg. Any less and the line is still stretching and I won’t achieve a proper hook set in a marlins bony mouth. Any more and I risk breaking off at later stages of the fight when I’ve got 100’s of meters if line out. The rods I own with a 15kg rating bend an appropriate amount with that much drag applied to them. Fish strikes, rod bends a little, line stretches up to 30% then comes tight, hook sets (hopefully). Then the fish runs. I don’t try and stop them when they run because there’s no controlling them. I try and stay tight to the fish and chase to minimise the probability of being spooled. Back to what I said about reels line capacity. Mine hold 800-1400m depending on reel. My job is to clear the rest of the gear and start chasing ASAP before I’m spooled.
Now I’ve got to stay tight to the fish. I don’t point the rod at him ever unless he’s close, I’m tight on him and he’s jumping. The hook is being held tight by the bend in my rod, the stretch in the line and the water pressure on the line dragging behind the fish. As I start to put that line back on the reel the water pressure portion will be reducing and eventually not apply. That water pressure is also increasing the amount of pressure on my line and eating some of my safety factor on the breaking strength which is one reason I set the drag at 1/3. Also, as the line is removed from the spool and the working diameter of said spool gets smaller the drag goes up significantly. If I’m down to the last 1/3-1/4 spool of line I have to reduce the drag to prevent breaking off.
We fast forward in the fight and I’m back tight on the fish, he’s sounded and under the surface. Beyond the boat driving technique (more important then angler skill) I need to use to break him and make him come up, I now have the power of the rod at play. The rod needs enough power and backbone to apply pressure on the fish without folding over on itself like a wet noodle. Conversely, if it’s to stiff it won’t help me keep the line tight with its bend and it won’t apply as much pressure on the fish. It will also apply more pressure on me as a consequence of its overall length.
If I get to far from rated specifications the equipment doesn’t work well together. I’ve fished 24kg rods with 8kg line and I might as well not have a rod. It’s to stiff and doesn’t help me play the fish at all besides helping me keep the line over the gunnel or out of the prop. I’ve fished 24kg on a 10kg rod and it’s to soft to handle the amount of drag. Starting with strike it bends to much and doesn’t have the power to set the hook. Then throughout the fight it’s bent right over and doesn’t let me apply the pressure on the fish properly. Rod bend can also cushion the pressure applied to line. It’s more difficult to break line through a bent rod versus straight line pull.
Then you’ve got the sporting challenge of the gear matched to the fish. Go to heavy and you suck ALL the fun out of it. Go to light and it either becomes difficult or impossible. To hook a 20lb mahi on a rig like I’ve described above isn’t much fun. I would rather catch him on a spinning rod with light drag and let him jump and carry on. But to troll that spinning rod and hook a couple hundred kg billfish means he spools me in about 15 seconds and I never have a chance at landing him.

Back to Alberta where I spent most of my life. If it were me and I was fishing a mixed bag including pike I would have a medium to medium heavy rod, 6-8lb line and I wouldn’t worry to much about the drag because very few fish will even pull it. I never scaled my drag there, I just peeled some line off with my hand and set it based on what it felt like. From what I know now I bet it was 2-3lbs of drag. Set it so the fish can peel some drag before it breaks you off but not so light you can’t turn a fish when he’s ready. Pike can get fairly large but they fight clean, don’t swim that fast and won’t take much line. You get rigged up to dominate 30lb pike because you might hook one and you’ll take all the fun out of 18” walleye. Use a setup matched to a 18” walleye and you will still easily handle a big pike, it’ll just take a little longer and be a little more fun.

[58thecat]

max drag is the maximum force that a reel is designed to safely operate at. Line weight is a recomended range to safely use on a rod. The only one of these that is a set breaking point is the line so if reel is chosen with a maximum drag below this figure the line will not break even at max drag.


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[elkhunter11]

The line weight on the rod,is the line weight recommended for the rod, and there is usually a recommended lure weight as well. If you stay within the recommended line and lure weight, the rod will cast well and will perform as designed when fighting a fish. The max drag, is the maximum resistance that the reel is designed to produce, with the drag set to maximum. You can reduce the setting below this number, which you would definitely do with lighter line weights.

[Jims83cj5]

The line weight on the rod,is the line weight recommended for the rod, and there is usually a recommended lure weight as well. If you stay within the recommended line and lure weight, the rod will cast well and will perform as designed when fighting a fish. The max drag, is the maximum resistance that the reel is designed to produce, with the drag set to maximum. You can reduce the setting below this number, which you would definitely do with lighter line weights.

I’ll dumb it down even more
The line weight and lure weight is for when you are fishing. The line drag weight is fir after you hook a fish. If your rod says you can use 10-15 test line and you use 12. Don’t set your drag past 10lb or you will break your line on a hard run.your reel may be good for more but your line isn’t. You may want to match stuff up a bit better or you are wasting money buying more reel than you need