CyberAngler

My buddy said I had to, "warm up the drag" on a Penn International 30 before I actually set the drag. I just bought the reel. Anyone familiar with this procedure?

Never heard of this. Dont think its true.
Call the Myth Busters

i`m not with myth busters, but we routinely warm up the drags before setting the drag. when things get warm they expand

ali-bye wrote:My buddy said I had to, "warm up the drag" on a Penn International 30 before I actually set the drag. I just bought the reel. Anyone familiar with this procedure?

He is correct.
The drag tends to be sticky before it gets warmed up. You will notice as you warm it up it will smooth out. That is when you should set the drag. Once you set it, mark it with a peace of electrical tape to show where you want it for strike and also where you want it to be during the fight. I use white tape and sharpie. Set it before every tournament, if you don't tournament fish you should be able to set and leave it all season. Penn was a great choice.
Catchem' up.

New to this forum, where the hell is spell-check?

I am not the most educated nor the most knowledgeable man that ever fished the waters but, I highly recommend we go to the reel manufacturers for their opinion.Most of the good quality stuff out there now use teflon drag washers which eliminates the need to pour a bucket of fresh water on the reel during a fight as in Pappa H`s day. One thing for sure:this isn`t going to replace reel time experiance. Back in the day as they say,my reel drags got sticky when they got hot.