Reel cleaning - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

slobslayer · 05-18-2012, 04:11 PM

How to you guys clean reels after each use? I hear a lot of mixed ideas such as rinse, dont rinse, wipe down with some sort of salt away. Since i started kayaking my reels really take a beating and i want them to last a long time. Product names of sprays or cleaners and grease would be helpful! Thanks..Plus i fished today and caught nothing worth sharing. The pictures are of the reels I take on my kayak if that helps at all.

Dave k · 05-18-2012, 04:58 PM

I just spray the reels with some salt away and then give the rods and reels a light rinse. Never had any issues.

I do however stow everything below deck (the beauty of the rod pod) unless its super flat to avoid any chance of dunking or getting sand in the reels.

JeffB · 05-18-2012, 06:00 PM

Defiantly rinse them off in cool water to get off all that salt. Also if you fish a lot, about once every couple of months you wanna pull them apart and clean them. And in emergency situations when I dunk a reel, I shoot WD-40 up under the bottom holes to keep the salt from sitting in. Then once I get the chance strip it down and service it. It's really super simple. Once you do it a few times, it goes pretty quick. Just remember a lot of oil and grease is bad.

I have took guys reels that would not turn anymore and made them like new again. Once you tear it apart pull the bearings out and shoot them up with WD-40, you will surprised the dirt that holds inside. Also take a old stiff tooth brush and scrub it all with WD-40. Before you wipe it all down good once your done. Lube grease and put back together. Important not to leave the WD-40 and excessive amounts of reel oil. They are made to bust rust and lube, however left too long, it can cause rust. Asking any Marine on here who is use to seeing young Maraines get there M16 spotless, the lube up to much when they put them back into armory. A month or two later when they pull it out, the inside is full of rust.

This is what I do, I hope it helps. Everyone has there own way of doing things and this is how I do mine. I took me a few trips to figure out how to properly manage my reels like this. Freshwater reel bearing do not hold up well in saltwater, espesially Shimano baitcasts. Its imparitive to maintain them properly for sure. I went through a handful of bearings in a few months time, rinsing my reels off after every trip. Once I figured out the technique I used now, I have not had to replace a bearing in almost 2yrs using the same reels. Even the conventional reels manage to get a little saltwater inside them. Again I hope this helps out a little bit.

slobslayer · 05-18-2012, 07:04 PM

Ya thanks a lot. I just got a new curado 300e yesterday and I wanna make sure I treat It properly

slobslayer · 05-19-2012, 12:47 PM

Thanks a lot for that info. We need to fish together sometime I fish SD bay quite a bit and don't have any fishing buddies and the guys I have met and fished with turned into me giving a fishing seminar

taggermike · 05-19-2012, 01:39 PM

I give all my gear a rinse down in the yard wit the hose or in the shower. I use a light misty style spray and them wipe them off with a towel. Now and then I'll open them up and make sure they are lubed and give a little TLC to the bearings. The level wind worm gears and the pin in the line guide can get corroded in fresh water reels so I try to rinse and lube that area frequently as well. Mike

oneyedeer · 05-21-2012, 11:02 AM

I get one of those spray bottles and fill it up with hot water. Open up the sprayer so its a mist. Spray it like 10inches away once water is dripping from the reel. Just do a wrist whip. Do that on all sides and wipe it down with a clothe. I don't use a hose because you don't want to push the salt inside the reel. The water needs to be at least warm so it can break down the salt. I always leave a sprayer in my car. By the end of the day the water inside the botltle is warm enough.
For my bait casters, calcutta and curado, I will do the above then I will take a couple of qtips and go through the eye wear the line pass, lol don't know what its called. Then I would open up the left side of the reel to remove the spool. Run the edges of spool and where the spool sits. I don't use any chemicals there because shimano supposely perfectly spaced the spool even a lil oil or grease will effect the free spool. I do run a lil reelx on some of the metal parts on the outside. Oh also take the qtip to line guide track too and put a lil lub like reelx or factory lube. One year maintainace or complete dunk is totatlly different and refer to alan tani website

05-18-2012, 06:00 PM	#3
JeffB Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: La Jolla Posts: 1,216	Defiantly rinse them off in cool water to get off all that salt. Also if you fish a lot, about once every couple of months you wanna pull them apart and clean them. And in emergency situations when I dunk a reel, I shoot WD-40 up under the bottom holes to keep the salt from sitting in. Then once I get the chance strip it down and service it. It's really super simple. Once you do it a few times, it goes pretty quick. Just remember a lot of oil and grease is bad. I have took guys reels that would not turn anymore and made them like new again. Once you tear it apart pull the bearings out and shoot them up with WD-40, you will surprised the dirt that holds inside. Also take a old stiff tooth brush and scrub it all with WD-40. Before you wipe it all down good once your done. Lube grease and put back together. Important not to leave the WD-40 and excessive amounts of reel oil. They are made to bust rust and lube, however left too long, it can cause rust. Asking any Marine on here who is use to seeing young Maraines get there M16 spotless, the lube up to much when they put them back into armory. A month or two later when they pull it out, the inside is full of rust. This is what I do, I hope it helps. Everyone has there own way of doing things and this is how I do mine. I took me a few trips to figure out how to properly manage my reels like this. Freshwater reel bearing do not hold up well in saltwater, espesially Shimano baitcasts. Its imparitive to maintain them properly for sure. I went through a handful of bearings in a few months time, rinsing my reels off after every trip. Once I figured out the technique I used now, I have not had to replace a bearing in almost 2yrs using the same reels. Even the conventional reels manage to get a little saltwater inside them. Again I hope this helps out a little bit. __________________ If you're looking for me I'm

05-18-2012, 04:58 PM	#2
Dave k Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 110	I just spray the reels with some salt away and then give the rods and reels a light rinse. Never had any issues. I do however stow everything below deck (the beauty of the rod pod) unless its super flat to avoid any chance of dunking or getting sand in the reels.

05-18-2012, 07:04 PM	#4
slobslayer Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Santee Posts: 384	Ya thanks a lot. I just got a new curado 300e yesterday and I wanna make sure I treat It properly

05-19-2012, 12:47 PM	#5
slobslayer Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Santee Posts: 384	Thanks a lot for that info. We need to fish together sometime I fish SD bay quite a bit and don't have any fishing buddies and the guys I have met and fished with turned into me giving a fishing seminar

05-19-2012, 01:39 PM	#6
taggermike Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: Chula Vista Posts: 1,589	I give all my gear a rinse down in the yard wit the hose or in the shower. I use a light misty style spray and them wipe them off with a towel. Now and then I'll open them up and make sure they are lubed and give a little TLC to the bearings. The level wind worm gears and the pin in the line guide can get corroded in fresh water reels so I try to rinse and lube that area frequently as well. Mike

05-21-2012, 11:02 AM	#7
oneyedeer Senior Member Join Date: May 2011 Location: Orange County, ca Posts: 684	I get one of those spray bottles and fill it up with hot water. Open up the sprayer so its a mist. Spray it like 10inches away once water is dripping from the reel. Just do a wrist whip. Do that on all sides and wipe it down with a clothe. I don't use a hose because you don't want to push the salt inside the reel. The water needs to be at least warm so it can break down the salt. I always leave a sprayer in my car. By the end of the day the water inside the botltle is warm enough. For my bait casters, calcutta and curado, I will do the above then I will take a couple of qtips and go through the eye wear the line pass, lol don't know what its called. Then I would open up the left side of the reel to remove the spool. Run the edges of spool and where the spool sits. I don't use any chemicals there because shimano supposely perfectly spaced the spool even a lil oil or grease will effect the free spool. I do run a lil reelx on some of the metal parts on the outside. Oh also take the qtip to line guide track too and put a lil lub like reelx or factory lube. One year maintainace or complete dunk is totatlly different and refer to alan tani website