Smooth drags the key to fishing success

Dave writes this morning, about fishing at Texas reef off Terrigal on Saturday:

Josh stayed inside Sydney Harbour. Disappointing result:

Gee this season has been tough. Without salmon and carp to fall back on, I’d be in a padded cell by now. Thankfully, November is nearly here. That’s the best month for kingfish, going by my diary. Here’s one we downrigged at Mugs Reef off Manly, this time last year:

I’m upbeat about what’s coming because the strong currents and relentless bad weather this winter have an upside. That is, way less fishing pressure, on offshore species. Not just from us rec fishos but from the pros and kingfish drop liners, too. I’m noticing that the few kingfish that are being caught are a good size. Here’s Denis Harsany on Friday:

As we say in Scouts, be prepared. The last thing you want is, after a long dry spell, to slip up when the rain comes. Get everything prepped. Make sure your boat trailer tires are properly inflated and your lights are working. Grease the wheel bearings and check the trailer brakes are adjusted. Run a tissue through your rod guides to check for cracks. Replace tired braid and mono on your reels. And most of all, make sure your reel drag is super smooth. Because once you’ve hooked up to the fish of the summer it’s all too late, to fix a mistake. Here’s how to give yourself the best chance for a big one.

Carbontex. It’s the name for the hardest, smoothest, and most reliable fishing reel drag washers ever invented. Some expensive high and reels come pre-fitted with carbontex drags. But most don’t. Check the bodgy brown factory washer installed in the Daiwa 40H, compared with its black carbontex replacement:

The good news is we’ve made it super simple and cheap to retrofit your reels with carbontex drags. It doesn’t take long to do and, at around $3 per reel, it’s a cheap way to give you the maximum chance of boating a big one. Here’s how to do it. Firstly, order a sheet of carbontex from our website. Only $22.50 and that includes delivery anywhere in the world:

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1. Undo your drag knob, remove the circlip, lay out the drag washers in order:

Here’s a short how to video:

2. Clip one of your old washers to the sheet of carbontex, using a bulldog clip or similar:

3. Use your power drill to punch a centre hole:

3. Cut around the outside of your washer, using an old pair of braid scissors:

5. Grease the washers then wipe the excess grease off. It will stay in the cross hatching:

6. reinstall drag washers in the correct order:

Simple.
Easy.
Effective.
One thing to mention? There’s a lot of bodgy discount carbontex around, on eBay and the like. Mostly, it’s sandwich material. Check this pic:

See the white line, in the sheet on top? That’s fibreglass. A super thin sheet of carbontex has been glued to each side. Sold on eBay. No good.

Now check the bottom sheet. That’s our product. No white line. 100% carbontex, all the way through.

Give it a try? Best and cheapest tackle upgrade you’ll ever make. Super smooth drags are a joy. Two sizes available but it’s simple to decide which is correct for your reels. Spinning reels mostly use 1.0mm thick, and baitcasters use 0.5mm. Click here to buy a sheet which should do around seven average size reels:

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Thanks for reading and wishing you a big summer on the water
Andrew Hestelow

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