After a long day of fishing, most of the time, we forget to clean our fishing reels properly. But if we don't clean the reels of the fish regularly the reels will become unusable.
This blog post includes instructions on how to clean fishing reels properly.
4 Steps to Clean Fishing Reels:
Step 1: Assemble the Tools
As reels are not like your regular rope you need special materials and tools to clean them. Before you start your cleaning session, you should gather the tools beforehand. You will need two screwdrivers, an old toothbrush, a pair of tweezers and a toothpick. You can stash them in a box and mark it as reel cleaners.
Normally we use Penn rod and reel cleaners, but you can use Ronsonol lighter fluid or green cleaning compound. A lot of products help remove the grease and oils from the reel. Besides these, you can use synthetic reel oil and the precision reel grease to make sure the reel surface stays smooth and slippery. Don't forget that the fishing reel is one of the most important parts of a fishing rod.
How frequent you clean the reel will definitely affect your performance. If you get randomly stuck while reeling in a fish, you know you have neglected your duty of cleaning the fishing reel.
Step 2: The Underside of the Spool
After you finish cleaning the reel don't forget to clean the underside of the spool. Undo the drag knob and you can easily slide off the spool. After you open the spool clean the underside of it.
Don't use force. You need to grease the main shaft lightly.
You need to make sure that the drag knob is loose. That way there won't be any pressure on the drag washers. Don't forget to use high-grade sewing machine oil. When you are done oiling clean of the excess with a microfiber cloth.
Step 3: Full Service
Every once while you need to fully service the fishing rod. This includes the spool, the reel, and the rod itself. Every machinery inside the component will run out of grease once in a while.
To keep them running and in shape you need to take out the machinery gently and oil the inside. Don't go pouring the device into an oil tub. It will end up destroying it. By doing this you will easily identify if any part of the gear is broken or not. If any part is broken make sure to replace that.
While greasing anything on the inside please be careful. Your carelessness can cause damage to a good machine. You don't want that.
Step 4: Cleaning the Rod
Let's not forget the big boy here. Every time I finish a fishing trip I always rinse the fishing rod with fresh water.
It helps the rod to get rid of salt and nastiness. But if you assumed that rinsing off the rod with freshwater is enough, then you are gravely mistaken. When you reach home you need to make sure you clean the fishing rod properly. You will hate it when you see rust building up on your fishing rod.
Your care won't be in vain. The gears will repay you by servicing you for a long time. You can clean the whole rod with freshwater but clean the rest of the parts with soapy water. The handlebar can get muddy. Before you jump off the website, I hope that you learned the importance of cleaning the fishing reel. It's one of the most important parts of a fishing rod. The performance of the fishing reel will affect your fish catching.
Don't be afraid to get a little dirty with the grease. You will get dirty so the rod can get clean.
