I have a couple of Charter Specials that I only use for trolling or Deep water jigging for rockfish or halibut. These reels don't get used for casting. I am fishing in AK and usually in 80' - 200' if that matters. I have read here that the grease packed bearing last longer that oiled bearing but oiled have better free spin. In the use I mentioned would I be ahead just t pack them all. I have a bearing packer from Alan that makes it almost fun to pack bearings. Thanks. Ken
So far in the last 6 weeks I have serviced a Charter special 1000, a Senator 113, a Senator 113 HLW, and an Okuma Titus T20. So far they have worked since service. Prior to finding this site I hadn't serviced any reel.
I decided to experiment and see which works better for me. I did one with reelX and the other packing all bearings. After a season fishing them I will tear them down and see if I see a difference. I will also note if there is any difference in fishing them. Ken
Can't wait to hear your results Ken.
I think if the reels are getting splashed on regularly I would want to grease them. Especially since they are not being cast.
My reels get a little salt spray going out and returning to port in my open center console boat so I grease mine no matter what I'm doing. Quick fresh water flood at home.
I have zero reels with corrosion issues. (Alan drummed it into my thick head over a decade ago).
We'll see if it makes a difference at the end of your season though.
I think you are making the right call to go with Grease. Proper Marine Grease is amazing stuff in the saltwater environment when casting is not part of the equation.
The 2 things I try to always do at the end of a trip is rinse the motor with fresh water and rinse all rods and reels used on the trip with fresh water. I use a spray head set to mist and give them a good soaking while trying not to pressure water or salt into the inner workings. Even with my reels that I fished straight out of the box with no preventative servicing when I cracked them open after several years of use I had little to no corrosion on the inner workings. I did have some external corrosion where I must not have rinsed as well as I should have. I am going to guess I see little difference after a year. My uneducated guess is where I would see a potential difference would be after 4 or 5 years of usage and neglect with no interim servicing. You know kind of like I more typically treated my stuff before finding out how to do this myself. If I was sending out a reel to my son or son in law that wasn't used for casting I would grease it all as I might not see it again for years. Ken
I fished both reels on the 4th. We were dropping and not casting. I could really determine no difference between the 2 while dropping jigs. The only situation I had was when my wife was using the one with oiled bearings she ended up with a rats nest when it backlashed on her. I didn't see what she did but as an experienced husband I just continued fishing, asked no questions and let my son help her out. It was not a time for questions. For my use unless I see something unexpected at the end of the season I will just grease all bearings on these reels. I use a spinner for casting anyway. Ken