Setting drag while using a down rigger - and reel maintainence

My question is whether the drag on my reel is working properly. I have a Daiwa Accudepth Plus-B Line Counter Levelwind Fishing Reel (Silver, 47).  I should state I'm newbie in terms of experience with a conventional reel.

Yesterday, I was using my down rigger with a 4 pound ball. When I get to the desired depth I reel in enough line to get a good bend in the top half of the rod.  To do this I need to engage the gear, take it out of free spool, and tighten the drag just enough so I can get the desired bend in the rod.  Lucky me I hooked in to a 12 lb salmon and during the 10 minute fight not once did my drag "give" line out. 

It would help considerably if the reel gave out line because holding the rod across my body is uncomfortable and I don't want to lose a fish because of too much line tension.  After each day of fishing I water mist my rod and reel.

Thanks

Did you put any backing on the reel?  I have the same feel as you and didn't set it up right.  Costed me a 36"+ Halibut.

Most people fish for salmon with the reel set around 3 to 5 pounds of drag.

Note that you have to measure this with the line running through the guides and the rod lifted, because that adds drag.

If you don’t have a scale, you can just tie your line to a weight on the floor. To put it in simple terms: if you can lift a 2 pound weight with your rod, but can’t lift a 5 pound weight because the drag slips, your drag is in a reasonable range.

If you have no cranking power when  the drag is set like this, then there something wrong with your reel.

When I'm downrigger trolling, I set the drag on my level-wind trolling reel fairly high so I can get a good bow in my rod, and so I can set the hook solidly when I get a strike.  But as soon as I get a fish on the line, I reduce the drag, and then I constantly adjust the drag while I'm playing in the fish.  I want to the fish to be able to pull out line when it takes a big run, but I want to be able to reel in the fish when it isn't fighting hard.  If the fish rips off line too easily, or if I crank the reel's handle and no line comes in, I increase the drag a bit.  If the fish pulls real hard and no line runs out, or I feel like there's too much tension on the line, I reduce the drag a bit to let the fish pull out line.  If I crank the reel steadily and sometimes line comes in and sometimes the fish pulls out line, I feel  like I've got the drag adjusted about right.  When I'm pulling a fish towards my net, I may put my thumb on the line spool but leave the drag set fairly light, so if the fish spooks as I pull it towards my kayak, I can release my thumb and let the fish peel off some line.

I think it's just as important to constantly adjust your drag when playing in a small fish as it is when playing in a big fish.  For example, kokanee have delicate mouths, so I set my drag quite light so they can pull off line while they fight, and never develop enough tension on the fishing line to pull the hook out of their mouth.

Thanks for your suggestions guys.

Ok. I did a little testing and messing with my reel and this is what I found.

I considered SimplyCooks suggestion but wanted to be certain it was a user issue and not an equipment issue. 

I tested the drag via KPD suggestion...I started with known weights of 2.5, 4, 5.3 lb.  With the braid of my salmon setup( 8'6" Shimano Convergence Medium Fast) I attached this hook to a shopping bag with one of the known weights.  With 2.5lb weight the line didn't move. With 4 lb weight the drag would run if I lightly bounced the bag. With 5.3 lb weight the drag would run if I tried to pick up the shopping bag off the ground.  So, I guess my drag is roughly set for 4-5 lbs drag, right? What I discovered is at that level of drag the pole has quite a bend.  Not quite a a perfect "U" but somewhere near. And when I pull the braided line with my hand it takes some effort.  Also, the star drag setting is close to being maxed out.  When I checked the specs on the reel max drag is 15 lbs.

I guess I'm confused why a 12 lb salmon is not peeling drag off my reel when the reel, the day I caught the fish,  was definitely set for less than 4lbs, according the the above test. I don't believe I understand how drag works or how its rated.  And does having the clicker on make a difference with the drag setting? I personally like leaving the clicker on so I know when the fish is taking line. 

Pete, I considered your suggestion about reducing the drag once the fish is on the hook.  My concern is I may lose the fish if suddenly the line became slack. 

Thanks for your suggestions guys. 

If you're fishing with light line, it's helpful to test your drag so you know how to adjust it to a level which is some percentage of the breaking strength of the line.  For example, if you're using 6 pound line, you might want to figure out how to set your drag at a quarter of that amount, i.e. 1.5 pounds.

But I use 30 pound braid for my mainline, and 15-20 pound mono for leaders.  So a big lake trout or salmon probably isn't going to break my line.  I'm more worried about puling so hard on my line that I pull the hook out of the fish's mouth.

I suggest that you not worry about measuring the amount of your drag, and just adjust your drag when you catch a fish to let that particular fish pull out some line when it takes a run, but to let you reel the fish in slowly, with some spool slippage, when the fish isn't fighting particularly hard.  And I suggest that you adjust the drag whenever it seems appropriate while you're playing in a fish.

I wouldn't set your drag according to the bend you want in the rod when you put it into the downrigger rod holder.  If you set the drag too tight initially you could very well hook a big salmon and it'll pop the line out of your downrigger and attempt to take line out before you even have a chance to grab the rod and lessen the drag.  Then pop there goes a very big salmon because you set the drag too tight initially. 

The trick I use to set the drag light and still have a nice bend in the rod while using downriggers is to clip the line in, lower the weight/lure, place the rod in the downrigger holder, crank down as far as it will go (I usually have the drag set to about "half the bend" I want), then I pull line in with my hand and crank down at the same time.  That will give me a real nice tight bend ("U") in my rod and leave my drag good and loose and ready for the big salmon.

I wrote this really quickly , lemme know if you have questions

I wouldn't worry about a 12 lb salmon not pulling out drag.  I'm guessing your drag is fine.  Those HMB fish are pretty skinny.

Big tuna, I can completely visualize your technique.  My drag is set at 30% of line test at full.  30lb braid set at 8-9 lbs at full.  What I like about a lever drag is being able to adjust the drag tension to liking without messing with the initial setting.  Still, unlike you, have not landed any poundage worth noting but we know you got into some tall fillets this year....

Kpd’s suggestion is a good one.  I’ve done that before.  After a while you get a feel for proper drag just by pulling line out the reel by hand.  You don’t want to much drag on salmon.  But you don’t want to little either.   You don’t want to play a silver or small king to death.  Just keep working on it and you’ll get it dialed in. 

lol thanks Eddie,  I just got lucky up at Dux and Albion this year  ))  There's really nothing better in life then having a big salmon hit your line and the clicker start running...bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...

Also, I have noticed the "wild" fish (adipose intact) fight more than the hatchery fish.  So a 12 lb wild could take line out and run a bit, but a 12 lb hatchery won't.  But I have no scientific evidence backing up my claim.   I fished up in Sekiu, WA for a couple weeks and there it was definitely more noticeable. Unfortunately there you are not allowed to keep the wild fish, only the hatchery.  Whenever we would hook up with a fish we would make bets as to whether or not it was a hatchery fish and we were correct a good majority of the time!  It was truly a bummer to catch a big fish and then have to release it boatside. 

I have pains associated with my Penn Fathom lever drag.  In 2018 I lost three big fish while ground fishing due to my own incompetence and inability to adjust drag on a lever drag.  Possibly white sea bass or sharks, they were big and peeeeeling line off very fast.  It's too difficult to make fine adjustments to the drag.   Anyway, every fisherman has that story of the ones that got away and no one wants to hear them. 

Regardless I'll probably put the reel up for sale once the new Penn Fathom II star drags come out. 

My reel has incremental notches on a rail that help me, the previous reel of the same model had no rail and adjusting was certainly more risky.  Star drags are cool though for adjusting with that positioning on the crank.  Be well...