Hello,

I have an avet jx single speed and i need some advice about the drag settings. I was talking with a local guy at the tackle shop i frequent about king fishing and bottom fishing.

For king fishing he said my drag should be set for about 6 lbs. at strike position. When i set my drag with the adjustment wheel to this weight i can still pull out line by hand when i move the drag lever to the lock out position. it would seem to me that if i can do this when "locked out", there would be no way i could reel in a big king. i was practicing casting in my backyard on this setting with a 2oz. jig (no hook). When i was reeling it back up, skipping across the grass in my backyard it would come get stuck because the reel could not overcome the resistance when set at this drage level.

so if i set the strike position at this weight it would seem i would have a real hard time reeling up anything in the ocean. am i missing something? do you adjust the drag knob in mid-fight?

The second thing is for bottom fishing, he told me that once my bait hits the bottom i should lock out the drag so i can stop a grouper from running back to his hole. in order to do this i set my drag wheel at 9-11. is this comparable to what you guys do? just curious. thanks in advnace for your help.

Are you using a scale to set the drag? I've found that most spring scales have a "sweet spot" where they are accurate but at some weights they are drastically out of calibration. I have two scales that I've calibrated using certified weights and they are marked so I have a true drag setting.

I have disengaged my drag lever with a fish on and made adjustments but I don't like to do it. A educated thumb works better but make sure it's protected, Spectra burns hurt!.

I have been doing some research on kings for an upcoming Florida trip. The reason you need such a light drag is that trolling rigs often use very small hooks. Also, Kings maul and slash their prey, often causing them to be hooked outside the mouth.

I think if your jig cannot go through grass, your drag is less than 6lb.

Sounds like your drag is set properly for grouper

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Trapt in Arizona,

I second what Keta says, check your scales - I have 2 scales I haven't thrown away yet, but on 1 of them I have to max out my drag on an LX to show 7lbs, but on my scale I have check with a certified scale, well, there is a completely different story....

If "6 lbs" of drag doesn't get you through the grass, it is not going to get you through the water trolling. Remember, the numbers on the Avets pre-set knob are not measurements of drag, they are only reference numbers.

guys, thanks for the reply. i do realize that the numbers on the preset knob don't correspond to actual weights. what is was basically saying is that the guy who checked my drag is a king fishing expert who does the florida tournament circuit. when he set the preset it was by hand to what he considered the optimum drag for a kingfish at strike so the fish could take line and not pull the hook. the only problem was after i left the shop and i started my practice casting i realized that at that pre-set, when i attempted to reel the jig it couldn't pull through the grass and i could pull line by hand with the drag lever fully engaged.

so... it would seem to me that even though the strke drag was set "correctly", i can't reel in a fish with it set so low so i was wondering if i was missing something or if i just needed to increase the preset. the only thing is i hate to do trial and error when a fish is on if you know what i mean. thanks again.

You may very well be able to troll at the preset without pulling line. Trolling livebait is the norm for kings at speeds as slooooowwww as possible. One article even interviewed a pro (I think) who said only go as fast as you need to keep the bait from swimming back to the boat.


If at all possible, of course ask the guy that set it in the fisrt place.

a friend just picked up an avet and sorry to say , when the drags are in full , for some reason when you crank the reel it feel like im grinding on a fish. p/s no interest on avets.

Thats a no cost option Louie, you can't get it on Accurates <g>

Funny how alot of Avet questions on this board
turn into Avet bashing. The guy has a legit question
but for some reason this Louie guy has to thow out an
slam on Avet. It has nothing to do with the question just a slam.

Between fishinggeek and this louie guy they
probably could'nt catch a fish or tie a knot to save there lifes.

Read this - Now matter how much you bash Avet they will still out sell
and out catch Accurate 10:1. And no matter how much bashing they get from
you Accurate guys it will never make you feel better about buying overpriced
reels with sh!ty handles.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Angry Dad,

Settle down there Pa, them thar folks be joshin' wit ya'll.
yew done wanna be gittin yer knickers in such a fine twist ther lessin yew wanna go back ter bowlin.
Hell i can outfish ya'll anyho wita cane pole,kite strin anna safety pin... fo sho

angrydad, you are really somthing else ( in spoken english) IF YOUR LOOKING TO PICK ON ME OR ANYONE HERE , your in for some true value lesson on ( out fishing or tying knots ).


p/s keep the anger to your self fella.

avet bashing aside (which is inane by the way), i still really need to figure out how this drag should be set because actual pull weight aside, if the drag is set to what my expert tells me is the correct strike level, i can't pull in the fish when i "lock down" the drag.

so the original question stands, what would you guys do in the same situation?

1. increase the strike drag so you can actually fight the fish when you lock it down
2. keep it the same and then change it mid-fight

please keep in mind that this rod will be sitting in a holder hands off because i will be fishing another rod while this one is free-lining bait. thanks again

#1

feel the reel at fish strik and being new to the reel your gonna have to adjust the reel to perfection while the fish is still on. now when you catch a bigger fish you might wanna tighten down the drags when the fish is pullin harder. so keep in mind different fish needs different ajustment.

hoppr-

I would not take advice from this louie guy if your life depended on it.

He's saying to tighten the drags when the fish is and I quote "pullin harder" LOL

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Angry Dad,