Maintaining Your Reels Article

[broadway]

                                           Maintaining Your Fishing Equipment


           Due to the increased cost of fishing equipment you’re going to want to take care of your investment.  There are many different beliefs on how to maintain fishing gear and they vary considerably.  If you don’t know how to work on your own reels then you’ll have to pay particular attention to this advice, it will save you money on extending services, or may prevent you from losing the big one.
        Fishing tackle, especially when used in saltwater is susceptible to the elements.  Anything from boat spray, submerging, extreme temperatures, and of course fish slime can all wreak havoc on your equipment.  You can however, extend the life of your tools, rods, reels, lures, line, and just about anything that takes the abuse your tackle does.
Some reel maintenance misconceptions are: submerging in a bucket of freshwater, rinsing off with high pressure hose spray nozzles, using caustic solutions, and not drying before storing.  This may work for some of your tools, but for the more delicate and less protected it will not.  These require a bit more TLC, but will pay dividends in the long run.  
        Let’s get started on the proper care of your most sensitive tool, fishing reels.  Reels are as precise and tempermental as it gets when it comes to angling.  Regular service maintenance of your reel depends on a few factors; the amount of use, exposure to extreme elements, or overstressing it’s capabilities.  The servicing schedule varies depending on where you are fishing.  If we can define “normal usage” as one to two times per week, then those who fish in freshwater should seek/ perform service every two years, whereas those who fish in saltwater can expect to maintain a service schedule of every six months to a year. When your reel is taken in for a servicing take a moment to write down the date and where it was serviced in case a problem arises in the future.
       To prevent corrosion on a reel one must get rid of ALL salt. Salt can build up under drag washers, bearings, and anywhere else you can think of.  Cold water won’t dissolve salt on it’s own, so there are two choices.  Most marinas don’t supply hot water so you can either take all of your equipment home and shower with it, or you’ll have to use a salt water dissolver (Salt Away, Salt Terminator, Salt X, etc.)  These solutions are meant to dissolve salts and put a protective film over the entire reel and line so salt won’t deposit as quickly.
          For most, rinsing off reels is a matter of shooting a garden hose on full blast from a foot away and calling it a day.  This will get the bulk of the salt off of the surface, however it will now be shot into all of the gaps and crevices that your hands can’t reach to dry it off.  This begins the onset of corrosion.  The same goes if you run it under your sink faucet or high pressure shower head.  Now knowing what a bad idea it is to rinse off reels with heavily pressurized water, you can conclude that submersion is even worse.
          The simplicity of this system isn’t the best part, the results are.  First, tighten your drag down all the way to help keep water from getting under the drag washers.  For the second step you’ve got two options; you can either use a spray bottle with salt dissolver diluted with water for a 20:1 ratio, or you can use a garden hose with dissolver in a mixing unit (sold separately) attached.  When rinsing you want to use a nozzle with a mist option from a few feet away.  There is no need to rinse after applying the dissolver.  It’s actually better not to rinse so you don’t wash away the protective film it leaves behind.  The next step that is often overlooked is drying!
          Shake the reel (or rod if the reel is attached to one) in efforts to free up the water from all the nooks and crannies.  Then take a lint free towel or chamois and dry thoroughly.   Lastly, back off the drags to prevent compressing your drag stack before storing.  What you’ve done is removed odors, prevented corrosion, helped prevent water intrusion, conditioned your line, prevented unnecessary services, kept up the appearance, and added years onto your reels life.
Rods, hook outs, pliers, and other necessary equipment can be cared for in the same manner, but may need to be scrubbed with soap and water.  Rods should be scrubbed with soap and water on a wash mitt from tip to gimbal to prevent corrosion on the guides and some reel seats, also to remove odors.  Other tools can be dropped in a bucket with either soap and water or dissolver diluted with water.  Don’t forget to dry ALL of your tools completely before storing.  Pliers, lip grippers, and crimpers should all be lubed with an anti- corrosive where necessary before storing.
        These simple steps will undoubtedly increase the longevity and decrease the cost of reel maintenance.  With all the blood, sweat, and tears that go into running a boat or being an angler protecting your equipment will give you the confidence needed to land that trophy fish!
I have no affiliation or vested interest what so ever with any of the manufacturers mentioned in this article.

Dom

I owed you this Pescachaser!

[Norcal Pescador]

Thanks, Dom!
Good basic info and I especially like the info on the salt removers. Guess I need to buy some. All this time I thought soap, water, and Carbontex washers solved all problems.
Rob

[Pescachaser]

Yo Dom:  It's amazing what you'll do for a stinking wrench .  Overall a great job.  From your lips to all the members of this site and those that drift in.  You're probably killing the reel repair business .  With regard to salt away; since I sold my boat I left the last can of SaltAway with the boat .  I didn't think to save it for my reels.  I used to resent paying $40.00 for a can to see it disappear from the bottle on the hose connection when I flushed the motor.  They don't sell it in small quantities.  I have to grub some from a friend of mine.  But all of what you said was good advise.  Dominick

[Alto Mare]

Dom looks like the top half of you is Italian, you would have been better off if your bottom half was. Very good info, thanks for putting it together. Nice job, Sal

[alantani]

doesn't he have a wrench already?   

[Norcal Pescador]

doesn't he have a wrench already?   

I know he does. But with all of those Senators, Dom needs one for each hand! 

[Nessie Hunter]

Boy Im in trouble here!!   Half Italian (Sicilian), Half Irish??      
Not sure what half is which?? lol Top or bottom?  

Excellent article, that should save a bunch of people repair costs down the line..

All my Saltwater & some of the freshwater stuff, has been Tani-ised, (I like that term!!).
For the past 5 or 6 years (thanks to Alan & Bloody decks articles)...
I do 5, 7 & 10 day Tuna long range trips and 'did' go to Cabo at least once a year..
Plus a lot of offshore/inshore stuff on Private boats...

I do the exterior rinse off (in the shower or  w hose) while im out, but when I get home I fill a bucket, tighten drags and soak em all for couple of hrs..
My thinking is that the saltwater gets inside & in the cracks & tight areas a LOT, and in all the cracks & crevices etc.
Riding in the Boat rod racks they get totally soaked at times for long periods...
The soaking dilutes or eliminates any salt deposits that form inside..
Set them out to dry & back off drags...
End of season I do a tear down & I have never seen any deposits at all. Usually just close em back up after touching up the bearings....  
Been doing that for at least 5 years now..   Works for me.....


.

[broadway]

Hey Guys,

        I'm glad you liked the article, and I hope it saves yas a couple bucks. 
Alan, I already have a wrench, and I use it daily... no need for another at this time. 
Rob, I was thinking about having a finger taken off so I could have one of the wrenches take it's place    Stay away from the soap cause it dries in your reel like it does on your shower walls.
Nessie,  as long as it works for you, keep it up!  I agree, if it has been Tani-ised you're much better off, but I've cracked open a bunch of reels recently and the ones that were submerged are in WAY worse condition than those misted with salt away and chamois dried.
Sal, you know better than that... If the bottom half was Irish I wouldn't be having so much company    Sorry IrishJigger
Dominick,  They actually sell salt away in a 4oz, 16oz, 32oz, and 128 oz. I recommend getting the big one and buying a small spray bottle for the tackle box.  You only need a tiny bit of this stuff.  I think the reel repair men will like this cause they won't have to waste as much time cleaning these puppies up.  If I killed the reel repair business what did Alan do to it?!
Thanks for reading it,
Dom