Avet Reels

[janines.fishtales@cox.net]

Question guys. I have an Avet reel, don't ask me what model it is , I don't know, it's silver and it works good! Is there a way to adjust that lever drag as you are reeling in a fish?

Janine

[Mahigeer]

Not really.

When the lever is toward you the drag is at least tension/setting. Away from you at its highest setting.

You can adjust the maximum setting by putting the lever in its free spool mode and turning the adjusting knob. It is EXTREMELY important on Avet reels for the lever to be in free spool before doing any drag adjustments.

All of this must be done before casting. During the fight the adjustment allows to set it to the maximum drag that was previously set.

[janines.fishtales@cox.net]

That's what I thought. I have had the reel for quite a while now and there was a serious learning curve, going from a star drag. I like it, but I am not sure I would buy another one. I do like a star drag. Thanks for the reply.

Janine

[ful-rac]

Originally Posted by janines.fishtales@cox.net

Question guys. I have an Avet reel, don't ask me what model it is , I don't know, it's silver and it works good! Is there a way to adjust that lever drag as you are reeling in a fish?

Janine

By "adjust that lever drag...." Do you mean change your drag setting or just tighten it up a little?? If you mean tighten it up a little, push the lever past strike towards full. To back off your drag, pull it back towards free spool.

To change your drag setting, make sure you change that while the reel is in free spool like was already stated. Be sure to set before you start fishing. Dont screw with the knob while your winding in a fish!

Another thing dont set it too tight and shove it into full, you will crush the pinion bearing. If you do you'll know right away.

[Cbad Mike]

Too complicated for me. I'm a star guy who likes the control. Personally I have never used a lever drag and don't see the benefit.

[bubblehide]

Yes, you can adjust the max drag while you have a fish on. But as Mahigeer stated, to do this, you must put the reel in freespool; which may give the fish enough slack line to throw the hook. However, what you should do is set the max drax to 1/3 of the line's rating, and never go beyond that. If you have a fish heading for structure, you can either stick with the setting, or thumb it, and risk busting the fish off, which it will likely do once it hits the structure.

[oneyedeer]

Its not that complicated....the lever is like your star drag but instead of spinning to adjust the amount of drag you are simply pushing the lever forward.....a nice lever drag reel you would get a gradual increase as you go up but the less expensive models you would feel a significant difference at the sweet spots, strike and full. For this reason you can use the same reel for different setups and not have to micro adjust. The advantage is you are in control of that range of drag pressure because if the preset knob. Second advantage is you know exactly how much drag you have vs. A stardrag you are going by feel unless you know exactly how many times you spin the star drag. There is the 33% and 25% rule for setting your drag. I personally like the 25% rule but for a lever drag I can get a pretty close setup of 25% at strike and 33% at full.

[CR Yaker]

Love this reel, Avet. It's all I use for everything. I always preset my drags before going out fishing, with a scale. I never set the drag for maximum listed settings. I try to stay a couple pounds under max setting at least (Note: With braided line now a days you can have more than enough line for length and strength below 1/3 and still max out the reel). Like the others said, during the fight just adjust the lever. Usually Strike is more than enough, but you always have that extra 5 lbs or so going to full if necessary. I've never liked star reels, adjusting on the fly is never a good idea in the heat of the battle even with a star reel. Plus the Avet's are made to take a beating in salt water, a plus on a kayak, star reels are going to require more maintenance.