I’m fairly new to FFishing in the Salt & I just got back from a Bonefishing trip in the Bahamas. i knew I had to clean everything up well before putting it away for the next trip , so I just rinsed everything off in warm tapwater. I was putting the equipment away in the basement when I came across one of those old aerator foot massagers my wife had from years ago. I got a brainstorm & filled it up with warm water & dropped the reels & snippers & anything else metal in it & turned it on. I let it go for about 1/2 hr & then took everything out & put it away to dry. When I dumped the water there was some sand in the bottom. This was after I thought I had flushed everything well enough. I dried all the reels & spools & lubed them up again but was wondering what was enough. What do you guys do after a long trip in the salt. How do you clean & protect your equipment. I’m keeping the foot massager handy for the next trip but wonder if it’s overkill.
I like to spray everything down with SALT-X and then rinse with fresh water. It has always worked well for me.
For reels, I follow the manufacturers’ recommendations. Some recommend against soaking reels since it might result in saltwater getting into the works, other suggest it and some do not give guidance on this. I have had some reels that I soaked according to manufacturer’s guidance develop corrosion in some internal parts.
Personally, I strip off the line and lightly spray with warm soapy water and rinse again with a light spray. I use a tooth brush to get salt residue in nooks and crannies. I only re lube if the manufacturer recommends this as part of the maintenance. Some reels only need to be re lubed every few years, if ever. I some some people with Billy Pate reels 30 years old that have never needed to be re-lubed. My Abel reels have not needed it after seven years. My old Orvis Battenkill reels get re-lubed once a year.
The I pull the lines through a rag dipped in warm soapy water, then through a rag with fresh water.
I wipe down rods with a a rag dipped in warm soapy water and use the tooth brush around the guides, especially around the strippers which seem to be much more prone to developing corrosion.
A trick I learned that really helps prevent salt residue from adhering to reels and rods is to wipe these down with a light furniture polish. This causes water to bead up on the surfaces and shake off or wipe off easily. I like to use Lemon Pledge Wipes for this to apply polish to the interior and exterior surfaces of the reel, except where any drag material contacts the frame or spool. I wipe down the rod too. I typically do this two or three times a year ( I fish saltwater year round).
I think the foot massager is an outstanding idea
Pretty sure there’s one up in the attic…
I’ll give it a try
I clean my stuff pretty well at the end of the season (now), and yet there’s always salt build-up every spring when I break the gear back out
Can’t see that it would make it any worse