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Max reel drag for 2-4kg graphite rod


savit

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Recently while fishing soft plastic for bread&butter species at my local estuary at night I hooked some  "brick" with fins. Half of  2/0 jighead snapped and rod tip cracked within a fraction of second while setting the hook. It is appeared that there was about 3.5kg drag set on a reel - more than I normally  use with that rod (Murphy's Law). 

Just wondering what Max reel drag would you set for 2-4kg graphite rod - presuming the rest (reel, mainline,leader etc etc ) will handle that and no high-sticking.

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10 minutes ago, Berleyguts said:

What breaking strain line were you using?

8lb or 12lb braid - breaking strain is higher.  Might be a bit too high for  2-4kg rod, however fish deadlifting required. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

I generally fish a Shimano 1000 sized reel with a rod of that class - usually maxes out around 3kg of drag, though I don't go full drag. 1.5kg is heaps! (Pull that off the to by have using a hand scale and you'll see!).

As you say, you need to deadlift, I think deadlift anything bigger than a large bream or whiting is asking for trouble on that rod. Any chance you can walk the fish over to a landing?(beach, bank etc..).

Over the Xmas break I hooked into a 60cm kingie whilst wading at the beach, using a Shimano Catania 2-4kg 7' + 1000 Sedona on 8lb braid - used about 1.5 kg of drag. Was truly terrifying, watched my spool (admittedly about 75% full) yoyo between near spooled and 50%. But took my time and landed it by walking it through the water and then gently onto sand (grabbed the 12lb fluoro leader when I was close). 

 

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Most of the catches  - 35-45cm flatheads,  its more than ok for deadlifting with 2-4kg graphite assuming reasonable rod angle -from my observation. The longer it spends in the water or dances  in the air - the worse are chances for the leader if the lure is deep in the mouth.

Walking the fish is possible however not close. I just use 2.4m tele net  on an extended arm  - if the fish is too large for deadlifting - it is not fun at low tide however doable.

So, lifting the fish is not the problem, I just want know how much pressure(drag) 2-4kg graphite can safely handle.

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The old rule of thumb from back in my ANSA days was the maximum drag you would set was half the breaking strain of the line. That was long before braid ever existed, so I would say if your rod is designed for 2-4kg then set the drag somewhere between 1 and 2kg. That's plenty of drag to cope with the fish you mention and if you do catch a larger fish use your net! 

If you want to check what 2kg of drag feels like, fill an old 2 litre milk bottle with water, tie your line to it and try lifting it. You may be surprised just how much pressure that is.

Edited by Green Hornet
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17 hours ago, savit said:

Most of the catches  - 35-45cm flatheads,  its more than ok for deadlifting with 2-4kg graphite assuming reasonable rod angle -from my observation. The longer it spends in the water or dances  in the air - the worse are chances for the leader if the lure is deep in the mouth.

Walking the fish is possible however not close. I just use 2.4m tele net  on an extended arm  - if the fish is too large for deadlifting - it is not fun at low tide however doable.

So, lifting the fish is not the problem, I just want know how much pressure(drag) 2-4kg graphite can safely handle.

Thanks - I think to answer your question, I would theoretically go no more than the max rating of the rod (in this case 4kg) and never let the rod bend beyond 90degrees. I think even with 1.5kg of drag, I could impart a fair amount of pressure that would break the rod if I high sticked.

There are ways to manage this - point the rod down and towards the fish, dip in the water if you have to, just don't deadlift with the amount of drag, don't bend backwards (in effect high sticking) and be aware of where the fish is so that you can relieve the bend if the fish starts going ay an extreme angle. Given your elevated position, you need to be careful of the bend that will already be there as opposed to fishing from the sea level.

 

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Thanks for the thoughts guys. As suggested - finally today I measured the drag I usually use, and the one that  was likely used when I snapped  the rod. No 2lt milk bottles at home,  so I just used various combinations of  1.5l water bottles and sugar packs  in a woolies bag - as a weight. So it is appeared that  I usually use aprx  1 1/2 kg drag  on a 2-4 kg graphite rod, while rod tip snapped below 2 1/2 kg drag during the mentioned session. The angle (when setting the hook) might went beyond 90 degrees due to elevation and the bite relatively close to the shore. The drag was high as  the reel was used on heavier rod on a previous session and drag was not checked again on a current(lighter) rod. I usually pay a lot of attention to all that stuff during night fishing,  however sometimes the half of brain already sleeps while the other half still wants to fish.

I thought the rule of the thumb was max drag at 1/3 of breaking strain of the line, or that was later - when graphite rods were invented ? 😁.

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3 hours ago, savit said:

Thanks for the thoughts guys. As suggested - finally today I measured the drag I usually use, and the one that  was likely used when I snapped  the rod. No 2lt milk bottles at home,  so I just used various combinations of  1.5l water bottles and sugar packs  in a woolies bag - as a weight. So it is appeared that  I usually use aprx  1 1/2 kg drag  on a 2-4 kg graphite rod, while rod tip snapped below 2 1/2 kg drag during the mentioned session. The angle (when setting the hook) might went beyond 90 degrees due to elevation and the bite relatively close to the shore. The drag was high as  the reel was used on heavier rod on a previous session and drag was not checked again on a current(lighter) rod. I usually pay a lot of attention to all that stuff during night fishing,  however sometimes the half of brain already sleeps while the other half still wants to fish.

I thought the rule of the thumb was max drag at 1/3 of breaking strain of the line, or that was later - when graphite rods were invented ? 😁.

Generally, 1/3 the breaking strain for strike drag. You can tweak it up a little during the fight, if necessary but sometimes it’s safer to just apply extra pressure with a thumb (overhead) or finger (threadline). Not wise to deadlift if you can help it. Use a net, or hold the rod horizontal so you can move the butt back beside your body then grab the leader and trace the fish. Back off the drag a little when you get the fish close. Sounds like you high sticked it. I’ve done that twice on graphite or composite rods and learnt the hard way. Glass is more forgiving.

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Thanks all

Deadlifting  (or landing/netting) is not really an issue with 2-4kg graphite rod - 5 years at same spot, same rod, same reel and probably same fish (due to plenty  of C&R). It was mentioned just to explain why I fish with heavier lines. The rod snapped at strike due to heavy fish. So the question was about opinions how much max drag   2-4kg graphite rod can handle without highsticking while setting the hook.

I tried other rods over time in the past - 3-5kg graphite  and slower  2-4kg glass and composite and went back to 2-4kg graphite  as 3-5kg graphite was too stiff/heavy for most of my light lures, while 2-4 kg slow glass and composite could not set the hook properly(and most fish was lost near surface)  I have not tried yet fishing with my 'new 3-4kg graphite  rod" LOL - it is only 5 inch shorter than old  2-4kg.

So, probably I just keep using same old 1.5kg drag  as 2.5kg was obviously unsafe.

 

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I still reckon angle of rod is important and to that, how you strike. it sounds like you are using small lures/hooks if 3-5kg was too stuff, so it's not like you need to swing the rod back like you are lining up to hit with a baseball bat! 1.5kg or 2.5kg both are fairly strong drags and I imagine suddenly setting the hook to a dangerous angle would mean snapping the tip in both instances. 

 

My advice if you want to keep deadlifting is:

* Know the limits of the rod, keep the "max bend angle" in mind as you set the hook, play the fish and then deadlift.

* Go for the heavy drag if your line supports it. If you keep the above point in mind, there's nothing stopping you from laying on the hurt. When deadlifting, lay off the drag at that point. The reason why I say this is even with 10kg drag, as long as the rod is not continuing to bend further and further to a tighter angle, the only issue would be that you would need to compensate with a shallower angle. Imagine putting on that much drag and simply pointing the rod at the fish (or even slight bend), the line would still pull, the rod will not break. But if you suddenly whip the rod , it will reach an angle too tight and will snap at that's point.

Edited by anthman
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