How much drag do you need for redfish fishing?
You need a reel with at least 15 pounds of drag when you target larger redfish around structure like docks and bridges. You only need 5 to 10 pounds of drag when you are targeting redfish on open grass flats or off of the beach.
Drag is the amount of friction that your reel can exert on the spool as line is being pulled from it by a fish. It makes sense that you may need more drag to pull a big redfish out of some sort of structure.
It also makes sense that you will need less drag to control a redfish that is hooked out on an open grass flat or anywhere else that has no structure for the fish to run to and cut the line.
Choosing the correct reel with enough drag to do the job is an important consideration before you set out to target redfish.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. I have been fishing for redfish, snook, speckled trout and just about every other inshore species of fish for more than 40 years. Sight fishing for tailing and cruising redfish is one of my favorite things to do.
In the article below, I will talk about how to set your drag properly so that you can catch a ton of redfish regardless of where you are fishing for them.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about catching redfish with top water lures.
You need a reel with at least 15 pounds of drag when you target larger redfish around structure like docks and bridges. You only need 5 to 10 pounds of drag when you are targeting redfish on open grass flats or off of the beach.
Drag is the amount of friction that your reel can exert on the spool as line is being pulled from it by a fish. It makes sense that you may need more drag to pull a big redfish out of some sort of structure.
It also makes sense that you will need less drag to control a redfish that is hooked out on an open grass flat or anywhere else that has no structure for the fish to run to and cut the line.
Choosing the correct reel with enough drag to do the job is an important consideration before you set out to target redfish.
I am a FISHING CHARTER CAPTAIN. I have been fishing for redfish, snook, speckled trout and just about every other inshore species of fish for more than 40 years. Sight fishing for tailing and cruising redfish is one of my favorite things to do.
In the article below, I will talk about how to set your drag properly so that you can catch a ton of redfish regardless of where you are fishing for them.
Let's get started.
Watch the video below to learn more about catching redfish with top water lures.
How do you set the drag on redfish reel?
Redfish can be caught from Texas around Florida and all the way up to the inshore waters of New Jersey. I think that the record redfish was caught around New Jersey and weighed close to 100 pounds. They are often tireless drag pullers once they realize that they are hooked.
This is a very geographically diverse species of fish so many fishermen can get a crack at them if they know how to target them. They are one of the most popular inshore species for anglers to target because they fight hard and taste great.
Tidal creeks are my favorite places to find redfish but any structures like docks, bridges, marsh grass shorelines and shallow grass flats with sandy pot holes are also good places to start looking for them. BUT you really need your reel drag set not too tight and not too loose or you can't efficiently catch redfish.
The easiest way to test the drag on your reel is with a weight. Let's say that you have some 5 pound and some 10 pound dumb bells that you workout with.
Tie your line to the 5 pound weight and lift. As you lift your rod tip, crank down your drag clockwise until you can lift the 5 pound weight off of the ground. Stop cranking the drag down at that point and you know that your drag is set to 5 pounds.
If you are fishing for redfish around some sort of structure like dock pilings, then you might want to set the reel drag to 10 pounds. Just repeat the process with a 10 pound dumb bell.
You can repeat the process with any other objects that you know how much they weigh if you want your drag set to another weight. You probably won't ever need to set your drag higher than 15 pounds for a redfish unless you are targeting the HUGE bull redfish.
How much drag do you need for a redfish using different pound test fishing lines?
Many fishermen use as a standard guideline for setting drag 1/3 of the fishing line's breaking strength. In other words a 6 pound braided or mono filament line would require the drag to be set at 2 pounds of pressure.
That guideline will work just fine but I like to fish for small fish like a 1 pound speckled trout some days and other days I might be targeting a 100 pound tarpon off of the beach.
I like to have my drag set just right for those different extremes. My go to formula for setting drag pressure to the pound test of fishing line that I am using goes like this:
- Less than 20 pound test fishing line gets the drag set to roughly 20% of the breaking weight. (20 lb. line = 4 lbs. of drag)
- 30 to 50 pound test fishing line gets 25% of the breaking weight
- 80 to 130 pound test fishing line gets 30% of the breaking weight
*Those guidelines above will give you a basic idea when you are deciding what drag setting to pound test ratio that you want to use the next time you want to catch some redfish. It is very subjective so do whatever works the best for you.
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I am usually fishing with 10 pound braided line for snook, redfish and speckled trout with 3 to 5 inch paddle tails. My drag pressure is set at roughly 2 pounds of pressure for that style of fishing.
If I was fishing for redfish or snook around dock pilings then I would go up to 15 or 20 pound braided line and increase my drag pressure accordingly.
When I fish for 100 pound tarpon off of the beach my braided line is 50 to 80 pound test. I like to crank my drag down so that I don't over exert the tarpon while I am fighting it. A tarpon will fight to the death so the faster that I can get it caught the less chance there is of it dying.
I often start with a lighter drag setting when I hook a large tarpon and then gradually increase the drag pressure to get the fish landed as quickly as possible. Towards the end of the fight my drag setting might be as high as 40 percent of my line strength.
You can figure out what works best for you once your really get into catching those redfish.
I wrote another article on this website all about the best tackle for catching redfish. You can read that article by clicking right here.
Conclusion:
Redfish are one of my favorite fish to catch. I am usually fishing for redfish, speckled trout, tarpon and snook when I am fishing for fun. Sight fishing for these fish is a blast and can be enjoyed by just about any fisherman in the Gulf of Mexico all the way up the Eastern seaboard of the United States.
You just need to have the right environmental components to find tailing redfish. You need clean, shallow, moving water, baitfish and a hard bottom. If you can find those characteristics, then you have a decent chance of finding some tailing redfish to catch.
Hopefully, you can figure out what the best drag setting will be for your next fishing trip to get on some redfish. Just make sure that you match it to your line strength and you will be good to go. Not too tight and not too loose.
I hope that you enjoyed this article and I hope that you catch a ton of redfish the next time that you go fishing.
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