When throwing your line out using brand new reel...

[branhap]

Be sure to check the drag before hand. I went on a guided trip a couple weeks ago down the N. Platte River. My first cast into the first seam, produced a monster hookup. Easily would have been the largest fish of the day. But I hadn't verified my drag setting before that cast, and the drag was way loose. As a result, it cost me a trophy size rainbow. So just a remember, before you cast, check the drag!

Other than that, it was a stellar day fishing!

Paul

[PA Dave]

I feel your pain. Today I managed to get my tippet snagged on my nail clippers (what a klutz), but not near the blade. I made the next cast and thought, 'I should have checked that for nicks..." WHAM! For a brief second and a half I had something nice on the line, and then it was gone, along with my fly and a few inches of tippet. I'll never know if it was a trophy (I'm guessing not, but I see all lost fish through a magnifier), but I know why I lost it.

So I will heed your advice!

[Uncle Jesse]

I have lost fish because I left the drag under tension and it was frozen when a fish hit also. So checking you drag is a good message from both ends of the spectrum.