I have a 6wt Pflueger Trion reel and an 8wt Bass Pro (budget White River Reel). The max drag settings on both of these reels feels very weak to me.

I am much more used to traditional reels where I feel the drag can apply a much greater presure on the line. The maximum tension applied by each feels too weak to even deter a novice fight. .....Am I missing something? Am I expected to manually control the drag also?

Thanks,

Tom

Palming is a method to aid the reel for slowing down fish. This method has been around when the only type of drag that was available was no drag. I use a click drag on my 5 weight for trout. If I need to slow down a bigger fish, I palm the reel.

On my disk drag reels, I generally err setting my drags on the light side that way I protect my tippet and fly knots. If I need a bit more drag, I palm the reel. If I need a lot more drag (as for a reel screaming Bonefish), I tighten the drag.

For 6 and 8 weight reels, the drag unit should be both smooth and powerful. The smoothness is important because a jerky drag can put enough stress on the leader to break a fly or a tippet off. Braking power is important because it's important to subdue a fish fast. Keep in mind that you don't necessarily need a drag that you can completely lock down. You probably need something that has more stopping power than what you own.

To answer your question, you are not missing anything. Palming a reel is extra insurance to slow down a running fish. Also you got what you paid for. There are reels out there that will have a better combination of smoothness and braking power.

Abelboy

I have a couple White River reels and you can set either one pretty tight, so I would say something is wrong. I have the CV2 and the old Conservationist (I think they now call it the Classic).

I'd call Bass Pro and ask them what's up or take it apart to see what might be going on.

This may be a stupid question but are you sure you have the appropriate hand retrieval ? If your reel is set up for a right hand retrieve and you have the line on for a left hand retrieve your drag is going to feel like it's not working.If you're just starting out and this is the case,don't feel bad,it happens a lot.
Best,
Steve

Yeah, stupid !

given the MTV generation, with a name like steveO you're probably experienced with stupid *G*