looking for a conventional real under 20 oz to fight stripers. Mainly fishing live bait around bridgers and lobster pots. any help will be great.

Shimano Torium 16
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sorry also lh and its more about there drags#

Wanna try out an Abu 6501? Also have a spare Abu Record 61 you could check out...

15# is plenty.

Most people use WAY too much drag.. most SHOULD know better...... consequently, they break tackle, straighten hooks and loose fish.. especialy at the surfs edge or at the boat where there is no cusion from the rod or line stretch... which in the case of braid, would be your shock leader .. after all.. that is why it is there ( or should be)... 1/4 the breaking strength of the weakest link ( usualy.. not always the leader) is plenty.... if you need more...apply the palm of your hand or your index finger( thumb on a conventional)... more big fish are lost each year because the drag was too tight or the angler panicked and tightened the drag than any other reason.. it's a fact... be more concerned with line capacity... Penn GTI series are great live line reels... and they are durable.. light and inexpensive... I've been pounding mine for about 10 years now and have yet to repalce a single part.... I prefer the lever drags... because i can set them up as a live line reel with the exact amount of resistance i want, yet set them to strike without worrying about changing my max drag setting...

Guilty^^
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15# is plenty.

Agreed. I think 12# is enough most of the time.

Measure the drag against the flex of the rod also. You won't believe how much drag 15# pounds is. You may break your rod !
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thanks guys im going to get my hands on a scale and give that a go and see were i stand after that. Thanks Ross i looked at a record nice real just is the drag question has me guessing.

Pretty much any reel you decide on will have enough drag for stripers. As stated above, you'd be surprised at how much drag 15 pounds is. And Rockfish9's post hit the nail on the head.
I'm one of those people who learned about setting the drag too high the hard way.

saltiga sa20 best reel around and smoothest drag

read #6 again.