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Originally Posted by Uncle Russ
Jep: I cannot speak for all Venice captains, but Captain Eddie on our trip a year ago, did in fact set the drags very low--I'm thinking about where Louis said--certainly under 20 pounds--and we were all using our own gear. I think (although he can correct me if I am wrong) that his concern was mainly to avoid pulled hooks. And in fact, we had only a couple out 15 or 16 hookups--and I think all of those were on a rod that was set quite a bit higher. Our success rate in landing those fish was phenomenal--and I don't remember any given fight lasting even 20 minutes. (of course, no tuna was over 75 pounds, either.)
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Maybe I responded too quickly because of an instance in which a headboat capt reached over my shoulder to test and reset the drag on my B2-665 reel as I was successfully bringing in a 90+ lb YFT. He said it was set at 40# (it wasn't and he couldn't have known if it were b/c you cannot pull much more than 20# on one wrap of 60# spectra barehanded w/o drawing blood and he didn't). I had not missed any tuna on that trip and I didn't lose that one. But I do recall a time when, while kite fishing, I intentionally tested and lost a hookup on a much larger YFT by using 40+# of drag--and the Capt let me do it b/c it was my choice. It was a good learning experience . . . seeing that in moderate seas a YFT could pull me across the deck and up to the rail. Of course, I got him to the rail, too.