How to Set Drag on Spinning Reel Without a Scale

Many people new to fishing wonder how to set drag on a spinning reel without a scale. Using a scale only adds another thing to the equipment that inexperienced fishermen have to manage, which complicates the fishing process.

People use scales for speeding up the process of the drag getting set, however, there are other ways to set the drag on a spinning reel. These ways are great for making a beginner’s fishing experience more convenient and successful.

Using a spinning reel serves as a sort of clutch that can determine the level of the resistance felt by the fish while pulling at the line. Thus, it is easy to see that if a drag is set incorrectly, you could easily be letting a chance to make a great catch swim away.

Here’s a quick guide to help you understand how to drag fish on a spinning reel without using a scale.

How to Set Drag on Spinning Reel Without a Scale

First, it helps to understand drag fishing and the things you should focus on before setting drag.

What Exactly is Drag Fishing?

When you’re ‘drag fishing’, instead of using a pole or a net you’re simply making use of a rod and a reel. ‘Drag’ plays the role of a clutch during fishing, using two friction plates inside the reel to help the reel to rotate back to prevent it from breaking when a fish pulls the line. 

Before Setting a Drag

Knowing how to set the drag on a spinning reel without a scale is essential, and in order to execute it properly, there are some things to keep in mind that would help make the process even smoother.

Understand Spinning Reel

Different reels have specific traits that determine the way the drag could be set. There are three-reel types available in the market namely spinning, bait casting, and spin casting reels. The reels differ in their line placement and the degree to which they are exposed. Spinning reels are fixed spool reels that feature exposed lines. 

Situate the Drag Adjustment on Your Spinning Reel

The position of the reel adjustment depends on the type of reel you’ve chosen. The drag adjustment on a spinning reel is a circular knob structure present on the front of the line spool. Tightening or loosening the drag then becomes just a matter of turning the adjustment settings either left or right.

Line Strength

Ideal drag should be set around 20% to 30% of the strength of your line. To prevent your line from breaking prematurely, you can also make sure that the line is new. The drag is usually mentioned on the package, however, if you feel the need to calculate it you can simply divide the line strength by four.

When to Set the Drag

It is great to set the drag before casting the line to avoid the hassle and inefficiency during the fishing process especially when there is a pull. Understanding your fishing equipment such as your reel type and line strength is what you need to do before you can act on how to set drag on a spinning reel without a scale.

Setting Drag on Spinning Reel Without a Scale

Here is a quick list of steps:

Testing the Resistance of the Drag

The resistance on a line should be one that’s neither too tight nor too loose. It’s essential to set the drag correctly. You should use the knob on the spinning reel to set the level of drag resistance properly so that the pressure feels ‘balanced’. To test the resistance, pull the line above the reel. If the resistance is too strong or too weak, you’ll have to adjust it. 

Judging Drag Resistance Without a Scale

When you hold the line in your hand right above the reel, you feel the resistance of the line. If the line is pressed too hard on your hand, the strength of the strain can feel as if it can cut your hand. This means that it’s too tight and that you need to loosen it. If the line is too light, and barely makes any indention on your hand, it’s obvious that it’s too loose and you need to tighten it. 

Loosening/Tightening the Drag

Understanding how to use drag on a fishing reel is crucial. Drags that are too high or too tight can be broken easily with one strong jerk from the fish. The pressure from a high line can rip the hook out of a fish sporting a thin mouth such as trout. 

Similarly, lightly set drag could make it more likely for you to get spooled or even have a weak setting of the hook, allowing the fish to spit it out conveniently. 

Keep in mind to keep your drag a little loose while dealing with larger fish, as you’ll probably have to struggle for a while before reeling it in. This is how to use drag on a fishing reel. 

As you have seen, knowing how to set drag on a spinning reel is something that requires some degree of skill development. For beginners, the best tip can be to practice frequently. Knowing how to set drag for catfishing, or even fishing for trout isn’t enough. 

You also need to make sure that you practice enough to help develop your skills so that you would never really need a scale to judge the drag while using a spinning reel. 

Conclusion

Fishing can be a really exciting experience which should not be over-complicated by amassing extra instruments.

If you understand enough about the ideal pressure, you can easily know how to set drag on a spinning reel without a scale.