Reel maintenance is easy
By Larry Myhre

Keeping your fishing reels operating at peak performance is easier than ever, thanks to recent advancements in manufacturing. Many reels, particularly casting reels, are now make in a component system rather than a complicated series of parts.

"It's quite simple to maintain reels today," says Ben Secrest, Shimano rep. "Just keep them clean and lubed."

Keeping reels clean when fishing fresh water is simply a matter of wiping them down when you have finished fishing. Salt water fishermen, on the other hand, have to rinse the reels well in fresh water after every trip to prevent rust.

Lubing the reels is almost as simple.

"The main thing is to use lubricant which is designed for fishing reels," Secrest said. "You will need both oil and grease to do the job properly.

"Just remember this simple rule, 'oil on bearings and grease on gears,' and you will be lubing the parts correctly," he said.

Reel lubrication should be done once a year, at least.

"On a spinning reel, remove the spool and put a drop of oil on the drive shaft," he said. "When it comes to oil, think, ‘moving parts.'"

Reel handles should receive a drop of oil on the bearing surface as should the thumb bar slide area on casting reels.

"Centrifugal brakes on casting reels should receive a drop of oil in the raceway," he said. "This is where most of the noise comes from when you cast."

The drags on spinning reels should also be oiled. You will have to remove the retaining clip on the drags and most reels will have a series of drag discs beneath. The discs will likely be composed of ceramic, fiber and metal. Make sure you keep them all in order. Wipe them off with a rag and put a thin layer of grease on each and reassemble.

"Greasing the drag doesn't have to be done often, but it is important to make sure the drag will operate properly," he said.

Backlashes on casting reels is a fact of life, but a properly adjusted reel will prevent most of them.

"The spool must be as loose as possible for optimum performance," Secrest said. "But a beginner will have to have some tension on the spool until he or she learns to cast and control spool revolutions with their thumb.

"There are two tension controls on most casting reels," he said. "There's a big knob near the handle and another on the opposite side of the reel."

Most casting reels with magnetic casting controls feature a sliding handle on the side opposite the handle with readings from 0 to 10. Secrest says beginners should set that at 5 and then tighten the main spool control near the handle. When the settings are correct, you shouldn't have to touch those controls again, he said.

Backlashes come in a variety of degrees of seriousness from just a few loose loops of line to those that are so bad all of the line has to be cut off the reel and respooled with new line.

To prevent those "bad" backlashes, Secrest advises anglers to pull out a length of line equal to the longest cast they intend to make and then apply a piece of electrician's tape to the spool before reeling in the line.

"This will insure that any backlash you get will not go deeper than that length of line," he said. "It makes it a lot easier to pick them out."

While most anglers can perform the cleaning and lubrication of their reels, those who don't should have their reels serviced by a professional each winter. Keeping your reels lubed and cleaned, with occasional professional attention, should keep them running for a lifetime.

Source: http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/arti...1-reelmain.txt