Man...I really have had a tough time removing these...
I must have four or five fish hooks...I gravitated to using jig heads and straightening out the hook to give me a little more to hang on to as I was manipulating the tip of the hook under the tip of the retainer.
Most times I found myself just chasing it around...or on many bearings it would not get under the retainer no matter how sharp I had the hook filed. I flattened many hooks and sharpened them, still the same old issue.
While struggling one day, I looked around for another hook...and there was a box cutter. The cheap-o kind that was no more than 1/4" wide..with snap off blades. I grabbed it up, poked it in along side of the tip of the retainer and it slid right under it like it was made to do that!
I have never looked back. I am amazed at how quickly I can pop these retainers off....and as the tip wears a little, I break it and use the next new edge....
For anyone else that has a hard time like I was, give this a try........ ;)
Thanks for the recommendation. For me, I have never had much luck with box cutters, but it is probably me (how to hold, application angle,...).
gotta try that. sometimes the fish hooks just don't want to work.
One more thing I did not mention.....
My technique to remove the retainer has changed somewhat. I now pinch down on one side of the retainer with my thumb and using the tip of the tool about a quarter-inch from the other end, and in between the retainer and body, I rotate it counter-clockwise. It almost always pinches the retainer inward and pops out...
Just finished a batch of Penn Internationals and I wanted covers on the spool bearings.....this trick made quick work of all of them.
With the fishing hook, I felt lucky to get just one side and have tried cleaning bearings that way...but have always found them to not be properly flushed of old grease.
For smaller bearings I use Alan's bearing packing tool...but these are pretty substantial...and don't fit!