Quote Originally Posted by jszymczyk View Post
I will say with confidence that 99% of people waving a fly rod will not ever NEED a high-tech drag, and don't have even an inkling of a clue as to how the resistance of their fly line in the water affects the resistance a hooked fish fights against, not counting the reel's drag system.
I have an affinity for pre-war click pawl reels. I use them on two handed rods with which I will fish for steelhead. One of the tricks to landing large, brawling fish like a 2 or 3 salt wild steelhead weighing into the upper teens with a click pawl reel is to allow the line "belly" into the current. The fish will tire quickly pulling a large amount of line that the river is pulling against the fish. During this "fight" the angler merely maintains the line bellied in the river and waits for the fish to tire enough to be landed.