How to Clean & Maintain a Fishing Reel?

Fishing is a fun activity that people from all age groups can indulge in. Just as you take care of your sports equipment while playing your favourite sport, similarly, you must take care of your fishing equipment often. Your fishing gear is the most important tool used during fishing. It is important to treat fishing gear with care and make sure that they are kept clean and functional for your next fishing trip. Fishing trips usually take place planned or spontaneously. The next time your pals plan a fishing trip, the last thing you want is to miss out on it because your fishing gear is not ready. 

Today, we present to you tips to clean and maintain your best fishing reels which are very important fishing equipment.

Basics of cleaning your fishing reel.

If you want to keep your fishing reels clean, do a thorough cleanup. We recommend cleaning your reel every 5-10 fishing trips. This only applies if you are fishing freshwater. If you go into salt water for a fishing trip, you will need to clean it after each end. As you know, fishing in salt water wreaks havoc on metal parts.

Here’s a list of tools that you will need to use while cleaning your reel.

• A pair of screwdrivers
• An old toothbrush that you will need for scrubbing
• A toothpick to reach out into smaller areas
• A pair of tweezers to work on tiny bits that get stuck in the process
• A wrench
• Some cotton
• A cleaning solution. A boat cleaner is ideal.
• Reel oil

The first thing you will need to do is to remove the reel from the rod. This entire process that follows suit requires you to have a lot of patience and a streaky hand.

• Begin by removing the fishing line from the spool. You can also secure the line with masking tape so that the line won’t get tangled up later.
• If you have a spin cast reel, you will need to take it apart.
• Start by removing the reel cover and remove the spinner head and the spool. Your small wrench will come in handy here.
• After getting the spinner head spool out of the way you can start removing the center shaft. Once this is done, take out the crank handle, clutch ring, washers, and crank bearing. Make sure you place them well so that they do not get lost on account of being tiny pieces. These are the parts that you need to clean out using your tweezers. Take them out one at a time as you come to them, place them on some paper towels or your Post-it notes, and label them in order, so that you are not confused about how to assemble them back later. There’s going to be a good number of little, delicate parts in here.
• Once you have taken apart everything you can now use your toothbrush to clean things one by one. Use your cleaning solution and gently scrub out the inside of the reel assembly. Once you finish with the larger parts, you can gently clean the smaller parts with the same brush.
• Use a clean rag or wipe everything down after you are done and place them in order. Pick them up with your tweezers and take a good look on every side to make sure they’re clean all over.
• Make sure you lubricate the parts before you reassemble everything. Ensure that you use proper reel oil or reel grease to prevent corrosion. Begin with greasing up the crank and the shaft. After this, you can start with the pickup arms, the washers, the center shaft, the bushings, and so on.
• Apply some reel oil on the handle knobs, the kick lever, the ball bearings, the clutch ring, and the spool release. Check to see that everything is moving the way you want it to.
• Follow the numbered directions that you’ve marked to put everything back together. 

While the above steps should do the trick we recommend cleaning the other components that support your reel in order for the cleaning to be thorough. 

Bail and spoon: The bail joint is one of the most used parts during the fishing season and needs your attention. The opening and closing action should always be consistent and smooth, and using a lubricant here can help with regularity. Add a few drops of lube to the line spool to lightly lubricate the inner bearing.

Reel handle: Break down the reel handle by first removing the fastener that holds it to the reel. Remove the handle and again use the multi-use lubricant on the reel head, handle, shaft, and rotation seat. Make sure that you do not skip the joint where the handle folds against the reel body.

Rod body:

Once you are done with the cleaning process and maintenance on the moving parts, wipe away any excess lubricant from the reel and other components of your fishing rod. Make sure that all visible screws are tightened using the appropriate screwdrivers.

Cleaning your fishing reel is a very important step that you need to take to maintain the functioning of your rod and reel. Periodic cleaning is essential to increase the life of your rod. Make sure that you clean your rod every time you use it in salt water. Salt water must never dry on your rod and reel as it will damage it over a period of time. At least a proper rinse down with water is needed after every fishing trip in salt water.

Make sure you follow these tips and keep your fishing reel clean and usable at all times. Avoid getting carried away with a good catch and neglecting the hygiene and maintenance of your fishing reel and rod.