In a column last month discussing some routine offseason maintenance of fishing equipment, I suggested backing off the drag settings on your fishing reels.

At the grocery store last week, I ran into a friend who asked me about my reasoning for that recommendation. I explained it was a practice I adopted decades ago when I was first able to afford some top-quality reels. Back then, the drag systems of certain better models included leather or cork washers that compressed slightly as the drag was tightened. To maintain the resiliency of those components, some manufacturers recommended releasing drag pressure when the reel was not in use.

The practice of relaxing drag pressures during the winter hiatus is, therefore, mostly old school and maybe not really necessary anymore because I don’t see many current reels with cork or leather drag components. But doing so certainly won’t hurt anything, and being decidedly old school regarding most things, I choose to continue the practice with my own gear. Most important, I always want a reel with a smooth drag system that won’t stutter or hang up when I need it to perform.

Understanding how the drag should work is crucial to getting top performance from your reel and an invaluable asset when it comes to landing a trophy fish. Think of the reel drag as a safety valve or shock absorber that should be set to slip before too much pressure is applied to the line. Once a fish is hooked, there are only two reasons it gets away: the hook pulls free from the fish’s mouth, or the fish breaks the line. Of course, no angler wants to be the victim of either of those situations and a properly set drag can minimize those problems.

Regardless of how skilled one is at playing fish or how well-tuned your tackle, a certain (hopefully small) percentage of fish hooked will slip off the hook during the struggle to land them. Many of those lost fish are probably hooked relatively lightly to begin with and are likely to shed the hook despite how carefully the angler plays it. Even solidly hooked fish can tear the hook loose with a strong lunge against excess rod pressure. Unfortunately, this is most likely to happen when connected to a larger fish.

Break offs usually occur during encounters with larger fish as well and are due to angler error most of the time by simply applying too much pressure for the break strength of the line. A break off can also be caused by a poorly tied knot or a nick, kink or abrasion to the line, but I also consider any of those glitches angler error as well. Learn to tie perfect knots and inspect the first few feet of line for even slight damage frequently while fishing. Don’t let the biggest fish of the day, or the season, find a problem for you.

Properly adjusting the drag on any reel depends on several factors and your experience with a given rod-reel-line combination. Remember, the objective is for the drag to yield before a big fish breaks the line or struggles forcibly enough to rip the hook loose but be tight enough to exert sufficient pressure to control the fish during the fight. I don’t recall ever seeing anyone lose a good fish because of a drag set too loose, but I’ve watched dozens of folks lose big fish because the drag was set too tight. That’s probably because most improperly adjusted drags are set too tight rather than too loose.

The most obvious factor for setting the drag is the break strength of the line you are using. Basically, use a looser setting for light line and a tighter setting for heavier line. I tend to prefer lighter line for most situations, but even on those occasions when I opt for a heavier line, I typically set the drag much looser than the break strength of the line to avoid tearing the hook free from a strong fish. About ten years ago, I switched from monofilament to braided line on almost all my spinning and baitcasting reels. Braid is crazy strong compared to monofilament of similar diameter and has almost no stretch. Those characteristics necessitated using slightly less drag when fishing braid.

Taking time to understand the capabilities of your reel’s drag system is worthwhile for even the casual angler. A quality reel equipped with a high-performance drag system is a pleasure to fish with for any serious angler. A properly adjusted drag will not only make any day of fishing more enjoyable but can also be an invaluable aid to landing a hard-earned monster fish.