Being new to salt water flats fishing, what do you guys do to clean up your reels and lines? Do you just flush the reel with fresh water and let it air dry? What about the line and backing? I am a fanatic about taking care of my equipment and I welcome your advice on this subject. Thanks in advance, Andrew
JA:
First I rinse it very well with a hose or the tap. Then I strip the line down till I see backing and rinse again.(I only take the backing down to the bare reel every so often. Not every time.)
Then I soak it for a while in warm soapy water. (separate the spool and the reel for the soak) Dump the water and soak again.
Lastly I reel the line back in through a dry paper towel.
Once again separate the spool and the reel. Dry every bit of water you can see with a paper towel and then let the whole shebang air dry.
I throw almost everything into the pool. I dunk my reels about a half dozen times then use compressed air (can used on computers etc.) to blow out the water from all the hidden places. Take reel apart and lube. Place spool with line in front of box fan outside on the pool deck and in the heat of the day.
Pretty quick. If you don’t have a pool a 5 gal. bucket will suffice.
i do the same thing eponymous does
roger
princess anne, eastern shore of md.
Hi ,
I do everything the others have suggested but after the line is strpped off, the reel rinsed and dried, I wipe the reel down with a silicon treated cloth. The one I have has been in use for many years and I use it to wipe down my rods and line guides after each use. They can be found in most sport shops since they are used for wiping down guns, knives, cameras, tools and any other sports equiptment that might be affected by moisture or corrosion.
i rinse the reel after every outing, and at least once or usually twice a month i strip off line and backing, take everything off (including counter weight), clean with a soft tooth brush and soapy water, and then cover everything but drag surfaces with a light coat of superlube. as i put the line back on i clean it with line cleaner. at the end of the season i do the same but leave the line off and don’t wipe off any excess lube.
Questions like this often shame me. I should do what Epo does. In reality I take my spool off the frame and rinse both in tap water. I sometimes soak it all for a while (not good for the cork). Then I let it air dry.
Each year I strip the line off the reel and clean it.
I occaisionally oil it, especially when it tells me to. My reels seem to hold up well, so I guess I will continue to cheat on what I should do.
jed
Never should have made the above post. See what happened in the BLITZ! thread.
jed
I made this comment somewhere else on the site. I clean my line in baby shampoo and use Cortland line cleaner. I put some on a piece of old cotton teeshirt have someone reel it in while I clean the line.
Here’s where I work on my reel. once I clean the line and get it back on the spool, I check all the nooks and crannies for sand and silt. This is the real (no pun intended) enemy of your reel in my opinion and sand and silt happen in both salt and fresh water.
I then put a little Penn reel lube (just a dab) where the spool meets the reel.
Being a fanatic about cleaning your equipment is a good thing. It will save you money down the road, I think.
dc
Many men go fishing all of their lives
without knowing that it is not fish they
are after.
Henry David Thoreau
I tried brake cleaner this weekend from a tip from a previous thread and it cleaned up the working parts of my reel really well. I am not sure of its effects on flyline though so I kept it away from the spool. I am trying some silicone lube instead of oil. I plan on testing out tonight so I will see how the silicone works.
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
I’m not sure, but I’m afaid of silicone. I used the waterproofing stuff that is mostly silicone on a pair of boots many years ago. It ruined the leather. Anybody else try silicone on a reel?
dc