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Either a Penn or Shimano 50w2speed When you set the drag... is it callED the main drag the little wheel on the right side of the reel? They say you have to put it on free spool cause of the spring tension or what ever. Someone said set strike to about 25lb's and full is like 35lb give or take, so what happens when I am getting spooled by a 900lb bluefin? Can I crank down that knob so I can get max drag? I wana learn how to do this so I don't have to do the old polyball Heave Ho
The little knob on the right side is called the preset drag knob. You are supposed to turn it when the lever is in the freespool position. If you are fighting a fish and want to increase your preset drag, then the best way to do it is to thumb the spool (put your thumb on the side of the spool is better than putting it on the line), pull the lever back into freespool, tighten the present knob, push the lever back to drag position. This can occur within about 3 seconds or so if you do it quickly. Of course, you probably don't want to do it while line is going out if you can avoid that.
Or if you want more drag without tightening the preset knob, then just thumb the spool to appy more drag....again use the side of the spool and not thumb the line itself.
well,i'll try to explain,as well as i know.thats correct,that little wheel as you say is the adjustment.first,there are some factors that govern what setting you should chose.what lb.test line?what species?say you're using 130 lb.test mono.you should set the reel at 1/3 the breaking strength{i like to go slightly less}say 28lb.at strike and 35lb.at full.to set the drag,make sure you only turn that knob in freespool.you will need a good scale,with a slide indicator,another words,when the scale is pulled ,and you stop, the pointer or indicator will show where the last reading was.put the rod in a holder, advance the drag lever until you feel a notch.tie the scale to the end of the line and have some one pull until the spool starts turning,check the scale if it started spinning at say 20lb.s,back off the drag lever completely and turn that knob some until you reach your desired setting.but remember,never turn that knob unless the drag lever is in freespool.you could damage the reel.when a big fish is on and you have the drag at the 1/3setting you might have to back it off slightly as the spool is being emptied,a near empty spool creates more drag than the full spool that you made the adjustments on.so,with a half empty spool,you might have 42lb.drag.and then theres all that line in the water creates drag also.its my opinion that if you are going to use a 50 class reel you might want to spool it with braid,to increase spool capacity greatly.its expensive,but could save you from getting spooled,as the 50 class reels do'nt create the big drag pressures that are needed with say,using mono.hope this helps and good luck.
i was fighting a 255lb yellowfin and the drag was preset at 23/25lbs at strike and after going to full the mate was able to thumb the line and drop the drag to preset it again for more drag w/ 135lb line
i was fighting a 255lb yellowfin and the drag was preset at 23/25lbs at strike and after going to full the mate was able to thumb the line and drop the drag to preset it again for more drag w/ 135lb line
I guess it could be very dangerous if my fingers get tangled in a birds nest but I think as long as I have some pressure on it it wont nest and I can crank the drag down tight then put it on full in a few seconds. I hope this situation occurs cause that means I got one BIG tuna on the line
You can almost get a higher or lesser drag range by changing the orientation of the 4 washers inside the reel. These are concave washers inside next to the drag. Say you have 80# on a 50W and want 25#'s at strike but when you adjust the knob for 25#'s you loose the ability free spool. Usually changing the orientation will fix it. It goes from (((( to ((() to ()(), low to highest.
Set your 'strike drag higher than normal, but put some tape on the side of the reel next to the drag lever to show you where the 'normal' strike drag of 1/3rd line weight is acheived (i.e. somewhere before you get to the normal 'strike position'). This way you can get your sunset drag up much higher than it would normally be with the 1/3rd line weight drag set at the normal strike position of the drag lever. Put a couple of extra tapes on the reel also so you know what drags you are hitting as you bring the lever up towards sunset. You can use the process to sort of set your drag 'backwards' by setting your drag to the max you will require at the sunset position and then marking with tape the lever position for all the other drag settings you may want to use. This works better on some reels than others depending on the true drag range.
Put 80 on the reel, set the drag at strike at 27 - and chase the fish!
I have fought sharks to 400+ lbs with 50's - you can put a lot of pressure on a fish with 80lb line and a good harness.
You would be WAY undermatched against a 900lb giant with a 50 - period.
Tim
Tim
My thoughts exactly..............
80 pound mono on a 50w will stop 98% of the fish you encounter unless you are targeting Blue and Black Granders and Giant Bluefin and if you are targeting them you should be using 130s not 50s
You also have to remember that if you have set the reel at 25 strike (about 35 full ) with a full spool of 80, when you have lost eneough line to a fish to reduce the line/spool diamiter by a 1/2 the actual drag from the reel will be 70lb on full (maximum drag settings on reels are quoted with full spools)
this combined with the drag on the line in the water is likely to break that 80lb line (so you wont need that thumb pressure-not that it was ever going to stop a charging giant anyway)
If you ever loose half a spool of mono with the lever at full on 35 you will want to be backing of the drag with the lever to ensure you do not break the line ( plus chasing the fish, wishing you had an 80wide or spooled with 130 braid, panicking etc)
But as been said above many huge marlin and big tuna have been caught on 50 wides
whoops just noticed that marcus220 said the same about spool dia and drag etc
jdizzle the folks above are correct.if theres a fair chance you encounter a giant,your best bet would be at least an 80w.i filled my penn80w with 450yd.s of dacron and 600yd.s of 130lb. suffix braid with 100yd.s 130mono topshot.that gives me over 1250yd.s.my 130 has {i think}800 yd.s of 200lb.dacron with 150yd.s of 200lb.mono topshot.this should give you ample line and time to at least chase the fish down before he dumps all your line.some of the 50's{avet} can handle higher drag pressures,which can slow a fish down,but its essential you spool the reel with spectra braid to greatly increase the spools capacity.the down fall with using the smaller reel is you have less leverage when cranking and smaller spool dia.means slower retreival rate.i"m not sure how old you are or your conditioning.so lesson here is 50 class reel +giant tuna= an ass kickin!!
Also remember the more line in the water (off the spool) the more preasure you will be putting on the fish and line. Never increase the drag as the spool gets closer to being emptied actualy you should be backing it off of max drag..
And as stated in other responces if you are on a 900 lb GBFT with a 50 wide you are in deep chit and have little or no chance of being able to put enough preasure on the fish to beat it. A 900 lb GBFT will dump 500 yards of 80lb mono off a 50VSW before you know what hit it..
It would be kinda fun to watch thow... and worth the price of the rig and line that was on the rod
drag question penn int. 50w 2speed 
