Rod and Reel maintenance

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Foblander
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Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by Foblander »

Hi guys. I am curious to hear what you guys do to maintain your rods and reels after a saltwater fishing trip. I normally just bring them in with me to the shower and spray them down real good with warm water and let them air-dry. So far it has been close to a year and they are holding up and working well. I tend to buy reels under $75 since I'm in a yak and it's getting wet all the time. My favorite reel is actually a Shimano Sienna 2500 FD I bought for $25 dollars mated to a medium light rod. Lol I figure if it lasts me a year and it ever goes bad I can just pick up another one. :mrgreen:
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Fishbaitbilly
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Re: Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by Fishbaitbilly »

Don't under estimate the shimano sienna. It's cheap, and in all honesty, works just as well as my stradics. They all catch fish. When I get off the water I just throw them in my truck. Every year I change out the line roller bearings. The main thing is to repack your drag washers fairly often. IMHO, the shimano sedona is probably the best reel for the money, about $60.

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jsuber
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Re: Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by jsuber »

I love the Shimano Stradic, but it doesnt last long. Maybe two years even with lots of maintenance. Granted i was fishing 200+ days a year. I eexperimented with many alternatives and found a lot of pleasure using the Penn Batt II. Big leap over the Penn Battle. Works great and ive been using the same ones for about three years and just wash them down at days end. Stradic has bearings that would get a lot of salt flake and make some God awful noise. I replaced them with boca Bearings and was jaut buying bearings all the time. Buy one Penn Battle II and try it. Close to $100.
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GoodCall
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Re: Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by GoodCall »

Love Shimano's....I agree with Billy...the Sedona seems to be the sweet spot for the value. Stradic, Saros, etc obviously nicer and therefore more expensive, but the Sedona seems to give you enough of what you want in between a throw-away wal mart reel and a $300 setup. I have a few 2500's and have caught 50# drum on them with 20# braid. Great reels for only about $60.

But yea...just a quick freshwater rinse-off and letting them air dry is all i know to do. Maybe have them professionally cleaned every couple years
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Re: Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by GatorMD97 »

I rinse with low pressure after each outing and air dry. About every 3 months I give each reel a good oiling and clean out the drag washers too (remove spool and add a few drops to the main shaft as it enters the rotor assembly, remove handle and oil inside, the line roller bearing, and also the bail mechanism). I started noticing a lot of salt flakes building up so I bought some Salt Away and keep it in my truck; I squirt it on the reels as I'm loading up after fishing and then rinse when I'm home. This has stopped the salt build up that can setup if you don't rinse the reels for a while after finishing the day.
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SRAces
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Re: Rod and Reel maintenance

Post by SRAces »

I have 3 Shimano Sienna reels that I bought for my son to use. They work great. I fish primarily with Shimano Sedona 3000 reels. As mentioned above...great reels. I recently picked up the new Shimano Sahara F1 in a 3000 size. Works great. I rinse off all my reels with a shower setting on the water hose. I rinse the rods as well and just hang them up on my rod holders in the garage. I always make sure to loosen up the drag completely on all the reels when not in use.

As mentioned above, I do lubricate the reels yearly or unless an issue warrants doing it sooner on a reel.
Steve Stubbs
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