by Allan Simons

Can you recall the last time you bought your fishing reel, how happy or rather ecstatic you were? And then can you also recall the time when you found out just before a fishing trip that it is not going to be of any help, you rather discard it and get a new one? One reason for the fishing reels losing their functionality is due to the lack of maintenance. The fishing reels are made up of some very delicate and complicated parts and they need to be attended to. It is not as difficult as you have assumed already. Let us make it easier.

Maintenance of the fishing reels actually depend on how often they have been used or what conditions they have been exposed to. Saltwater causes the maximum damage to any reel; it corrodes the metal in the reel and makes it weaker and weaker until ultimately it wears off. In this following article we will learn how to maintain this particular fishing tackle. When servicing your reel, you will need certain basic tools, disassembly, lubrication etc. You will also need to prepare a work area, preferable a table, an old white towel, to put the parts on while you clean them, which allows you to see your parts better.

Spanners, needle nose pliers, assorted size screwdrivers are the basic tools that you require. The local tackle shop can help you with the other handle nuts or overhead reels in case it is not included in the box. Take your reel to the work area, disassembling it carefully and placing the little parts out on the white towel. Now squirt every greased part with degreaser. Clean thoroughly inside and out, use a coarse bristle paint brush. After you are done with wash the parts individually under running water. And set them out on a towel to let them dry out.

The bearings of different reels come in different configurations to be careful while cleaning them. If you notice rust on the bearings you need to replace it. Be it a circlip or a roller clutch, handle them gently. After they have dried thoroughly, give them a squirt of some saltwater repellant and to make them look as good as new. Now the time has arrived for you to reassemble the pieces and put them back together. Lightly grease all the parts; remember not to use a huge amount of grease - it does not work that way.

Take a fine paint brush and then grease all the moving parts, like the pinion, the drive and the oscillating gear and allow a good coverage on the gear tooth. Take a rag with a little degreaser will suffice. You have just completed maintaining your fishing reel. Your fishing gears also need some attention time and again and just leaving them as it is after a fishing trip is not a good idea at all. In fact if you are not maintaining them properly, they would give away sooner than they ideally should. In order to keep your fishing reels in good shape and condition, it is important that you attend to them once in a while.

About the Author

Allan Simons is an expert angler from Australia. He is also an accomplished author of various articles on fishing,fishing tackles, fishing trips, fishing safety and other such articles.