Hiya
It's best to compare apples with apples, so lets look at some reels in the same price range.
Shimano Toruim 20 and 30 BOTH have a MAXIMUM drag of 20lb's.
Shimano Stradic 6000 and 8000 BOTH have a MAXIMUM drag of 29lb's!!
All of these reels are in the same price class, so they can be directly compared.
The fixed spool reel has a stronger drag and offers far more versatility. You can drop 6-10oz sinkers to the bottom or cast 1oz plugs/spoons, all with the same reel. No worrying about overwinds when sight casting to fish (when ones nerves are normally shattered!!). VERY easy to cast HARD with when using braid.
The modern fixed spool reel, with the advent of braid has revolutionised the boating game!!
Now for some really SCARY figures:
Shimano Tiagra 80W, which is a MONSTER of a reel and one of THE best big game fishing reels, capable of landing ANYTHING that we fish for, offered 44lb's of drag.
Shimano Stella's 8000-20000SW spinning reels ALL offer 55lb's of drag!!!
Its all rather acedemic, as 25lb's of drag is the most one can use on a boat fighting stand-up style with a harness. Anything more and the angler will get pulled out of the boat...........
What does this mean for us local anglers. Well, you could buy a 8000 Shimano Stradic spinning reel, which comes with 2 spools. Load 50lb braid onto the one and 30lb onto the other. You can then use the same reel to fish off the surf for elf or cob, fish off the rocks for galgoen and other bank fish, fish off the boat for yellowtail, snoek, cob, geelbek, be it bottom fishing or throwing lures and even tackle big game fish like sailfish and striped marlin and even YF tuna!! REALLY very VERSATILE indeed!!