Drag style for 5wt

[shimloom]

OK, I am buying a new rod this weekend and thinking about a reel as well. I have fished a regular disc drag on 5wts but in all the time in using a disc drag or for that matter a C&P reel have I had fish take more than 5-10 yrds of line.

How many of you really depend on a disc drag for 5wt. trout fishing? I just got a Hardy Zenith 9' 4wt a couple of weeks ago and went with the Hardy 2000CC Ultralite. Thinking on getting the 5wt with the same model reel, Click Check Drag system. I am just wondering how many use/depend on disc drags for this class of fly rod/reel. Is the extra cost of the disc drag worth it or even necessary.

Craig

 

[sweetandsalt]

In many cases a drag is superfluous while trout fishing and a spring and pawl or "check" will do. If, however, you may wish to fish your Zenith #5 on larger rivers where bigger trout have room to run, then the drag mechanism aids in a quicker and safer landing of the fish to be released. So, while I happily fish a spring and pawl CFO on a 4-weight on small creeks, I do use the Hardy U DD 5000 on my Zenith #5.

 

[silver creek]

I use disc drag reels on my 5 wts.

There are two factors in my mind and you have addressed one of them, fish size. The other is how large the river is and how fast the water is. For a fast water large river, a good disk drag is very helpful.

Should you take that rod and reel to the Madison River, you could very well wish you had a disk drag.

 

[MoscaPescador]

I'm using a click and pawl style drag on my five weight. The important thing is that one knows the limitations of how that drag style will react in different situations.

If I know that I have the potential of 20"+ trout in fast waters, I'll err towards my six weight with a disk drag.

Dennis

 

[rockriver]

I agree with that and usually grab my 6 wt. when heading to those waters.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Agreed, know the limitations of your tackle and of your own skill development. Us "old timers" that grew up with spring and pawl reels which feature a "check" rather than a "drag" learned to use our fingers as a drag. Many a big Atlantic salmon has been brought to net with larger versions of such reels...and still are by traditionalists. I have convinced myself via experimentation on a wide variety of trout streams east and west that a "drag" built into the reel is a good idea. It protects the trout regardless of ones expertise in handling your tackle. A fly fisher that can bring an adult wild trout to hand quickly with a traditional spring and pawl reel can do so, using all his techniques aided by a reel with fine-tunable quality drag, even MORE quickly. As a primarily dry fly fisher who frequents larger streams, though I love 6-weights, I prefer 5-weight rods primarily because 5X and smaller tippets are handled better with the slightly lighter line weight. This is why I have frequently recommend reels like Hardy U DD and Nautilus FWX for river (not small stream necessarily) trout fishing.

 

[charged]

I don't catch as many nice fish as a lot of the posters here manage, but I think a properly tuned click pawl can perform equally as good as a many decent disc drags.

I fish both styles without hesitation, and I think my success ratio with either mostly falls down to my own technique, and capabilities.... rather than the reel I choose to fish. For me disc / or click is not something I put a lot of thought into. I'm mainly concerned with which reel of mine balances the rod the best, and happens to find (for lack of better terms), the magic sort of feel on the rod. Lots of times this is not the rod / reel combo I hope will match up aesthetically.

Admittedly, lots of you guys have many more years of experience than me, and that's why I keep reading these types of boards.... I'm still learning every time I have the chance to either get myself out, or read a new post.

A personal opinion is not worth much, when you don't know a guys history. I now have at least 30 click pawl's, and my most prestigious disk drag is a Lamson Konic, so this where my view points have been derived from.

 

[shimloom]

Some very good points made here. As usual I can count on the brotherhood to bring out the best advice. I don't fish big water like some of you in other parts of the country so I have yo decide by Sunday if I want to use my Guru 1.5. or get a Hardy DD ultralite or another CC. I guess I could take the Guru and see how it balances the rod.
Craig

 

[littledavid123]

I have Hardys, CFOs, Abel, Fin Nor and my favorite the Orvis Battenkill disc drag. It has a nice click, can turn the drag off and just palm the reel or rely on the drag. Two years of hard work and it still feels brand new, best of both worlds in my opinion and worth way more than its price.

Dave