I am curious of what pound line you use on your plug rod for winter runs? I usually run 15 or 12 it matters the clearity of the water.
This summer I grabbed the wrong reel and instead of 15lbs line I had to use my calcutta 251 with 8 lbs line. Well, we got one fish in the last hole that slammed and took line like a mad man. Thank goodness that the drag was loose but tight enough that there was a good hook set, we got it in.