How much drag?

[Sumeeezy]

theres a lot of aspects to this. Faulty knots, bad spot in line, etc. I dont think I'll ever lock down drag anymore. I've lost a few fish on hookset, and whether it be from locked down drag or bad spot in the line, I'll never know. But what I do know is that a decent amount of drag (8-10lbs as said above), should be enough to bury hooks into a bass. 

[DrewManFishing]

Think I’ll bring this topic out of the grave, I lock my drag but I am wondering what others have been doing about their drags lately? 

[CG_Fishes]

All depends on the hook size. When I fish 4-6" hardbaits for river smallies I leave my drag super lose so that they don't pull hooks. For the most part with largemouth I keep the drag super tight, but use freespool with my thumb if they go for a run. I do the same with pike. If the hook is big and needs a good set I crank my drag, if it is light and easy to pull I keep it lose

[chevro1et]

Locked down for Beast hook baits, probably ~85% locked down for treble hook baits.

[WaterWolf44]

I do alot of pike fishing so i keep my drag a little on the loose side. Ive had pike hit so violently with a semi loose drag they snap my line. Im sure this is the case with other species. Then after the initial surge i adjust the drag accordingly.

[Swamp_Donkey]

Relatively loose and tighten as the fight progresses.  Thumb is always on the spool if I need to stop it in its tracks.  (largies, smallies and dildo fish mostly)

[BayAreaAngler]

I keep mine tight enough to where I have to put a little force into pulling line off the reel. If it comes off to easy tighten more if it feels like it’s a struggle to get off I loosen it. Never lock my drag there’s no need for it. Sounds like a great way to damage gear or lose a fish/lure locking it all the way

[jp_midwest]

depends on the hook and the hardwear that a bait has. im not locking my drag on a JC 178 with st 36s and a egg snap but i will on a arashi glide that has a decoy EX 120 lbs rings and gammi 1/0 2x hooks. i use it for pike so its got really beefed up hardwear  

[Morgan Y]

I crank the living daylights out of my Tranx, although with that being said I have a moderate fast rod that isn't quite parabolic but close to it, so that absorbs a lot of force. I also use braid to a 30 ft stretchy leader that also absorbs a lot of energy. I think that drag only comes into play when you hook gigantic fish that simply by mass alone put up enough resistance on a hookset or run to overpower your line or hooks like a striper or something else of which I have no experience fishing for (just a hunch on what would happen). Most of the time in my experience big bass will slightly bend a hook, maybe not at all if you get them on both trebles of a hardbait, and even if I flip them the whole system stays intact with nothing breaking or bending. With that being said I also haven't hooked a 10+ lb bass yet that I'm aware of (fingers crossed) which would really put my ideas to the test.

[rwp]

I run 50% of my lines strength.... Usually maxed because I run heavy line. I also fish in very heavy cover and can not afford to let the fish run.

I fish moderate action rods with 100+ feet of mono.

[Harshwaters]

Locked. 

[chefchris]

Locked 

[SumoNinja]

Pretty tight on all my swimbait setups except my lightest one that has 15 lb test only. Theres a little bit of play on that one for the big ones to make hard runs 

[BASS_SWINGER]

Literally take pliers and lock your drag down all the way only way

[Grizzn n bassin]

When I first started I was scared about locking, but I can’t tell you how many fish I lost from letting them take drag. for me when they turned their head and pulled drag  once I got em back around I’d lose them ALOT. Now I don’t give them any thing I lock it down and crank them in. Haven’t had an issue