Shimano rear drag reels.

[dan lewis]

I have four Shimano reels, two front and two rear drag models. Two weeks ago while fishing the Detroit river we got out on a cold morning, about 26 degrees when we started to fish we both discovered we had no drag! Both were rear drag models, one an Aero 2000, the other a Symetre 2000. No matter how tight we tightened the drag we could spool the line off with very little resistance. We switched to other reels and proceeded to fish. About 11 0'clock when the sun was high I picked up my rod and discovered the drag had returned, as had my partners! The reels worked fine all day but the next morning when it was cold the same scenario repeated. Any ideas what gives? Appreciate some feedback. Thanks Dan

[RocFish]

I had the same problem, but it only happened occassionally. I use SpiderWire on mine. I found that I needed 10-20 yds of mono on the spool first then the SpiderWire. No problems since then.
If you are using mono - no clue..
Good Luck ..... RocFish

[Starfish]

Two possibilities. One-- as Rocfish mentioned, superbraids will slip if they're spooled directly on a reel. It's worse in cold weather, maybe the metal of the spool contracts more than the spectra fiber? A simple fix (on the spot) is to spool out all the line while trolling, and put a small piece of electrical tape over the spool knot. Doesn't take much, the line cinches it up pretty well when you reel up.

The other thing I've experienced isn't loss of drag, it's loss of antireverse. If instant anti-reverse reels are greased instead of oiled, they sometimes will freeze up and lose their antireverse in cold weather.