Remove braid from aluminum spools for storage?

[Recoil Rob]

This year I made an investment in tuna gear, a large Stella, a large Saragosa, a Spheros and a small Seigler.

I was wondering about storing them for the winter with the braid still on them? In the past my older chromed Penn spools and some smaller aluminum spools could show signs of corrosion with line stored on them .

It's takes a while to spool these reels properly with braid, sometimes they have to be sent out to do it properly. Will a good rinse of the braid suffice or must I remove it for the winter and respool next spring?


thanks,

Rob

[Brewcrafter]

Rob - Your gonna get a lot of advice on this one, most likely from folks with more experience than me. But here is my take.  When the reels were originally spooled how was it done?  I know that Alan (who I have sent reels to for spooling) will put a light coat of grease on the spool.  Elsewhere on this forum are folks that will talk about using chapstick/candles/carwax etc to put a coating on a spool before lining it up.  My take: if you a very thorough about flushing your gear post trip, you should be fine for a season or two even without coating the spool. - john 

[Recoil Rob]

John,

I spooled them myself. I put a coat of hard carnuba wax on the spool, then some Dacron filler and then braid.

So I should be OK with he Carnuba?


thanks,

Rob

[Dominick]

I think Alan uses wax, not grease.  When he gets back from fishing he'll probably weigh in on this issue.  Dominick

[Jigtosser]

Rob,
You should be good.
I know some Longrangers who are really into the spectra/corrosion issue on their spools.
Wax is good, I use a product called Breakfree myself.
It is a CLP firearm product that works very well.
At some time depending on use, you should unspool your reels, check your spools for corrosion.
Then wash the spectra in freshwater, large reels are a pain!, then let dry.
Re wax your spools, respool your spectra and your good. My 2 cents anyway...
I probably should check all my reels this winter, Thanks for the question!
Dan

[Cor]

I've only started to use braid 4 years ago and never removed it, other then the topshot for periodic replacement.
Ill remove the line on one of my reels at the end of this season and check it out.   If I remember ill give some feedback.

I've never coated the spool with anything either, but I do rinse my rods and reels after most trips, but probably not that well that  it would remove or dilute salt residue on the spool.

[thorhammer]

That's a great question. If one has acess, what I do is normal washdown after salt use, then asap the next time I'm on freshwater I troll back a couple hundred yards or whatever off the saltwater reels. Kind oif a pain but I only do once a year probably. This rinses everything out and lets me check line condition too. I will attach big diving plug or something on the end and reel it in at 5-6 knots to get tension on the braid- I leave it in rod holder so I can guide on properly in X patterns. Sounds like overkill but the rigs will be around when I'm long gone I hope.

John

[Jim Fujitani]

Just my $.02:

Using hard wax, or any impenetrable barrier would normally protect against normal corrosion on a metal spool.  Sea water will corrode the metal spool if allowed to be in contact over a period of time.  Braided spectra does not, itself, corrode.  The weakest link Rob, is the dacron.  Dacron absorbs sea water much faster, and holds on to it longer than Spectra.
If sea water got down into the dacron, it will damage not only the dacron, but also allow corrosion of the metallic spool unless the spool and line are dried off.  Will it be okay for a while?  Yes.  But not on a continual basis.

Some people have never "washed, dried, and respooled" their spectra.  I've read posts where some have gone 10 years!  I personally, "wash, dry, and respool" spectra about every 4 seasons.  I haven't used dacron in over 15 years.  I have broken old 80# test dacron with a bare handed snap.
 

[boon]

I have a friend who treats his gear pretty rough, he owns a fairly wet boat and never rinses his gear down.

I pulled all the braid off one of his reels recently and there was no sign of corrosion. Modern quality anodising is pretty good at protecting the metal.

Personally, I just give the spools/braid a really good rinse after each trip.

[oc1]

You see spools with what looks like a bathtub ring of corrosion around the top layers of line, but shiny clean below that.  It seems like water may only work itself down about a quarter-inch into the layers of mono or spectra.  Water will work itself to the bottom a spool of old natural fiber line like linen because it wicks water much better.  Of course, if you have a screaming run and are nearly spooled by the fish, then you have a spool that is wet to the bottom at the end of the day.
-steve

[thorhammer]

You see spools with what looks like a bathtub ring of corrosion around the top layers of line, but shiny clean below that.  It seems like water may only work itself down about a quarter-inch into the layers of mono or spectra.  Water will work itself to the bottom a spool of old natural fiber line like linen because it wicks water much better.  Of course, if you have a screaming run and are nearly spooled by the fish, then you have a spool that is wet to the bottom at the end of the day.
-steve

I pray for the day my International gets spooled to arbor n(as long as I stop him there!) I will happily go troll 500 yds off in freshwater afterwards

[Brewcrafter]

Steve has a great point.  How many of us regularly get really deep into their spools?  My oldest gear (Central Coast Rockcod stuff) was all originally spooled with dacron, and as I have gone through and refurbed and respooled some of the really old reels they do exhibit pitting in the chrome around the outside portion of the spooled line.  Similar to what Jim reported, I too have taken old 80# Izorline dacron (I'm talking 20 years) and the stuff at the top of the spool would snap with a good pull.  And I remember back in the day it was common for my depression-era Dad to spool line from one reel to another with the express purpose of getting the section of "used" down into what became backing and the center part that had never seen light of day into the top section (thank God we never got spooled by any fish back in those days  ) I knew there was going to be a LOT of great input on this thread!  Truthfully, for Rob it gets down to this: periodically despooling your line and cleaning everything will certainly NOT hurt anything (nobody on this thread said this is a bad thing, and hey, if Cal Sheets offers it then it must have some importance).  And I think everyone here agrees that putting some kind of coating on the spool (wax, chapstick, light grease, etc) is a good thing as well.  But I think beyond that it becomes a product of "how well I sleep at night".  And by that I mean, if I'm going to be on a trip and worried about the condition of my line or my equipment - then it's going to affect what I'm doing, and it would be worth it to just deal with it and get some sleep, and don't let anybody tell you that you are "wrong".  And since Rob is really asking about preserving the life of his reels in his original post, for me the answer is that thorough freshwater rinse and air drying (easy for me, Inland SoCal where I am at is basically a desert environment) does the job, and my reels and line are fine.  The other cool thing about Rob's situation as I understand it - his investment in some very nice reels is primarily offshore quality spinners - a situation where (and I don't own any of those reels) might be as easy as also popping off the spool and giving it a good freshwater soak, then greasing/lubing drags as necessary for reassembly.  So much good info, hopefully we are not giving Rob a headache!

[CapeFish]

I use braid for backing on all my multiplier reels and they get dunked in the sea and the heavy tackle reels run into the backing when the sharks are around. I only replace the mono topshot of 200m when it gets frayed, sometimes this can be several times a season. A while back I got spooled, the backing had been on the reel for a couple of years, maybe 5? Great way of inspecting your spool condition  and coughing up the cash for 600m of new braid backing! No sign of corrosion at all on the spool.

[SevenYearsDown]

Before spooling with braid I wipe the spool with Boeshiled T9. It gets used regularly in saltwater (by me or loan to friends) and I just pour some fresh water over the line to wash it a bit.

[basto]

i know they are only good for use on smaller reels, but this is one situation where plastic spools have an advantage.
Greg