Through the many years of being a professional reel technician, there has been much discussion on drag systems, as well as some confusion on the part of my customers. Here I will try to clear up some confusion and explain a bit about the differences. There are basically 2 types of drag systems, wet and dry, and each has its benefits. Either way, there is nothing worse than a jerky drag system. Drags not working in top form can cause you to lose that fish of a lifetime.
“Dry” drags are drags that require no modification and are designed to be installed as is. What makes a drag a “wet” drag is the addition of a lithium drag grease such as the Shimano drag grease or
Cal’s drag grease. The confusion I see alot is fact that not just any old grease will work, it must be a grease that is made for drag systems. Putting any old grease or oil on a drag washer will destroy its smooth fish stopping properties, and simply will not work. Also, it must be understood that not all drag material is able to be modified to a wet system.
Some drag materials are simply made to be just installed dry, and some are designed to be used with grease. Others materials are designed to be used both ways, depending on the persons preference.

Lets for example talk about the carbontex drags made by Smooth Drag Co. in Oak Hills, CA. These are a fine example of a drag that can be either installed wet or dry.
When you choose a “wet drag system” what you gain is a much smoother start up, and overall smoother performing and longer lasting drag in my opinion.
Installing the carbontex drags dry with no modification will give you a higher top end drag setting, but over time, you will not have as smooth of a startup over the entire range of drag settings.
Some people for example that fish from the river bank for hard pulling fish may opt for a dry drag system, so they can really button down on the drag to try and stop a fish they cannot follow, and keep it from going over the break. I personally am one of the guys who likes a butter smooth drag, all the time, so my personal choice would be for the wet system.

In this photo, there are 3 different examples of drag materials.
Left: Carbontex drag material that can be either installed as is, or with the addition of drag grease.
Center: Drag material designed to be installed as is with no modification.
Right: Cloth drag material designed to be used in conjunction with drag grease.

Any questions at all, feel contact me 🙂

Tight lines and screaming (not jerky) drags to ALL!!

Its what you cant see that does a lot of damage. Regular maintenance on your reels is important if you want to extend their life. This is a customers reel that is fished in saltwater. Outside, the reel looked good, the customer does a good job of keeping the outside corrosion free for the most part. When the reel got to me, it was very sticky and near zero performance. The reel was destined for the trash can, but after a visit to me, its ready to be put back on a fishing rod and do what its supposed to do 🙂

LOTS of corrosion going on behind the scenes that you would never see. Slowly, this eats away at the parts inside and robs the reel of its performance. The salt water buildup forms a white powder substance inside. This in turn becomes very abrasive and eats away at the reel parts:

The main gear was corroded/fused to the main post, rendering any sort of drag or gear movement impossible. This was freed up, cleaned, surfaces polished, lubricated, and a new set of drags put in:

AFTER Reel Tech Service. Some pitting remain in the metal from the corrosion which is caused by the corrosion being on the metal for too long, but the reel is now clean, lubricated, and in great working order. Ready to catch fish again :):

Tight lines to all!!