Smooth Drags Are A Must

I’ve told the story before. My eight year old son asking if I could take his school friend John - who was obsessed with fishing – out on the boat. Dad came too and, as soon as I saw the rods and reels they had brought along, I recommended using our outfits instead. Their reels in particular were horrible blister packed chain store junk. One side of the spools showing bleached line. That’s usually caused by the rod and reel being rested against the garage wall after use - meaning the sun shines on the same side of the reel, every afternoon. The dad told me they would use their own gear and, the minute they hooked up to a king the reel drag stopped, started, jerked, and finally pinged the fish. His son was so upset he started crying and, at that moment, I promised myself I wouldn’t let this happen again. What about all the reels out there with tired drags? Not as bad as John's but still needing an upgrade. There is an answer:

Carbontex. Sheets of carbon fibre, used for upgrading your drag washers. Check the horrible worn out factory drag washer, in the top left of Steve Carroll’s pic above. Contrast and compare with the sheet on his little workbench. Carbontex washers will make your reel drag super smooth. It’s tough, it’s cheap, and it’s easy to install:

Here is how to get your reel drag working perfectly. Firstly, take apart your drag by unscrewing the drag knob, removing the circlip, and lifting out the drag stack. Very simple and very easy:

Measure the thickness of your washers. If you have a micrometer, use that:

But a ruler works pretty well too. If removing the washers is too hard, you can be confident that almost all spinning reels use 1.0mm thickness, and bait casting reels use 0.5mm:

Don’t get worried about it. One of the big benefits of carbon fibre is that it’s very flexible.

If your new drags aren’t exactly the same thickness, they'll still work.

If your new drags aren’t cut perfectly round, they'll still work.

Once you’ve decided what thickness drag is closest, go to our web page:

Carbontex Sheets $26

The sheet of carbontex is only $26, including delivery. With careful cutting, and depending upon the size of your reels, you could get maybe five or six done from just one sheet. A hole punch makes things fast and easy. But you can cut out drag washers using a power drill for the centre hole, and an old pair of braid scissors for the outer ring. Darren Boyd’s got his work station sorted:

If you have any troubles, give me a call or drop me an email? But you won’t. Christmas time is ideal for getting all your reels in tip top condition, for summer. And it’s pretty satisfying, knowing you’ve done it yourself. Thanks for reading and all the best to you and yours for a merry Christmas and happy New Year
Andrew Hestelow

Also in Tackle News