Preventive Maintenance of Your Equipment

[AKSkim]

Winter trout and steelhead fishing will be the order of the day for the next few months. The light weight rods and reels will be stowed along with the breathable waders.

Before I cleaned my (2-5wt) reels today for the winter, I stripped the line off them, placed them into a tub of warm water and some mild soap and let them sit for a bit. After a good soaking and sudsing I rinsed them twice in a bath of warm water, then a cool bath before removing them and drying them with a soft clean cloth. In my garage I have some wooded peg coat racks hung up vertically that I hang my rods on when not in use. They also double in the wintertime to hold my fly line. I stow all rods in their protective tube standing up right. In about a week (time permitting) I will take each fly line and clean them a second time using "Renew Line Tool" cleaning system and then restow the line till spring. Excessive? Yes, but if you look at the amount of money you spend on your line, taking care of it is a deal. I also look at my backing, if it has been on their for a while, I will replace it.

Tomorrow I will disassemble my reels clean them, inspect, re-grease and stow in their cases.

I also wash my rods in a warm water soapy solution, wipe with it a clean soft cloth and allowed to dry and then stowed for the winter. While washing them it gives me an opportunity to examine the entire rod from butt to tip top. Any repairs then could be made over the winter at my leisure. I read a post a while ago from a member of NEFF asking how should he clean his cork handle. I have yet to ever clean a cork handle. If I get fish slime on it, all's I ever do is just wipe it off.

Waders will be washed inside and out and hung up to dry before folding and stowed where I will not pile stuff on them over the winter.

Wading shoes, this year will be easy, I sent my "new" Korkers back to the company for a replacement pair.

The main reason I am writing this thread is to see what if anything some of you do for your equipment when put up for the winter.

As always, looking for a better way to take care of my equipment.

AK Skim

PS.
Happy New Year !

 

[Pete]

Re: Waders
Do not store near any electrical equipment (especially motors).
Ozone = bad for rubber

 

[Joe D]

Something I have done for a bunch of years is store spools and reels inside large size coffee cans... the big plastic ones that have been around the last few years work well.

I clean and then coil the fly line loosely around the outside of the can and then put the reel or spool in the can. Besides keeping things somewhat organized, the large diameter of the can helps prevent the line from getting the telephone cord syndrome.

AKSkim, good thread. I hope to pick up some useful tackle saving and time saving info. here!

BTW, I know quite a few people who apply auto polish or wax after cleaning their rods.

Happy New Year! :beer:

Joe

 

[AKSkim]

I know quite a few people who apply auto polish or wax after cleaning their rods.

Happy New Year! :beer:

Joe

Interesting thought, the use of auto polish on the rod. I have never tried it, but it is something to consider.

Thanks Joe.

AKS

 

[sushi]

Good thread!!!! you reminded me to do my yearly tackle maintenance. Thank you for sharing.

 

[labsrus2]

I have rolled my fly lines on a larger diameter spool for a few years after I clean them. I think it adds years to them.

Cleaning the rods is something that I always do after a hard season of use.

Reels get lubed a few times during the year.

Most maintenance goes into the flies and boxes as well as a good clean out for the vest. I am always amazed at what I find:rofl:

 

[RickW]

Winter trout and steelhead fishing will be the order of the day for the next few months. The light weight rods and reels will be stowed along with the breathable waders.

Before I cleaned my (2-5wt) reels today for the winter, I stripped the line off them, placed them into a tub of warm water and some mild soap and let them sit for a bit. After a good soaking and sudsing I rinsed them twice in a bath of warm water, then a cool bath before removing them and drying them with a soft clean cloth. In my garage I have some wooded peg coat racks hung up vertically that I hang my rods on when not in use. They also double in the wintertime to hold my fly line. I stow all rods in their protective tube standing up right. In about a week (time permitting) I will take each fly line and clean them a second time using "Renew Line Tool" cleaning system and then restow the line till spring. Excessive? Yes, but if you look at the amount of money you spend on your line, taking care of it is a deal. I also look at my backing, if it has been on their for a while, I will replace it.

Tomorrow I will disassemble my reels clean them, inspect, re-grease and stow in their cases.

I also wash my rods in a warm water soapy solution, wipe with it a clean soft cloth and allowed to dry and then stowed for the winter. While washing them it gives me an opportunity to examine the entire rod from butt to tip top. Any repairs then could be made over the winter at my leisure. I read a post a while ago from a member of NEFF asking how should he clean his cork handle. I have yet to ever clean a cork handle. If I get fish slime on it, all's I ever do is just wipe it off.

Waders will be washed inside and out and hung up to dry before folding and stowed where I will not pile stuff on them over the winter.

Wading shoes, this year will be easy, I sent my "new" Korkers back to the company for a replacement pair.

The main reason I am writing this thread is to see what if anything some of you do for your equipment when put up for the winter.

As always, looking for a better way to take care of my equipment.

AK Skim

PS.
Happy New Year !

AK old buddy, you sound like someone with a lot of time on his hands.

 

[Fly Tier]

AKSKIM,
Ive never opened and soaked any of my reels in any soapy water. On the conventional side, most manufacturers say when you rinse the reel after a saltwater trip, tighten down the drags.
For fly gear I would assume the same. My saltwater reels, each manufacturer, in their maintenance guide, suggest NOT soaking or spraying the inside of the reel with any sort of water. Hardy recently told me to open the reel, wipe it out with a Q-tip using rubbing alcohol, drop a little motor oilk on the ball berrings and close it up. For my other hardy, again, no soapy water, just some rubbing alcohol and a little oil on the gears.

Has anyone else used warm soapy water on their reels? I would check with the manufacturer before doing that.

 

[AKSkim]

Ive never opened and soaked any of my reels in any soapy water.

FT:

Thanks for taking the time to respond.

I believe you may have misunderstood my post.

I stated I clean my fly lines in soapy water, after a space, the next line I made mention of my reels (quote below)

"Tomorrow I will disassemble my reels clean them, inspect, re-grease and stow in their cases."

I did not intend to indicate that I wash my reels in soapy water.

Contrary to RickW's (and who are you calling OLD!!??? and if that is the case, you should respect your your elders!) I don't have a lot of time on my hands, but I do it when I visit here or watching the NFL. Multi tasking is no problem.

But I did disassemble my reels, wipe them down and applied grease where required. I did not drown them in any soapy water solution. Just a bit of TLC.

I hope this will clear up any confusion.

As always, keeping things in perspective.

AKS

 

[Fly Tier]

AK, I did misunderstand your post. When I read, "
Before I cleaned my (2-5wt) reels today for the winter, I stripped the line off them, placed them into a tub of warm water and some mild soap and let them sit for a bit. After a good soaking and sudsing I rinsed them twice in a bath of warm water, then a cool bath before removing them and drying them with a soft clean cloth."

I thought you meant, before you cleaned the reels, you stripped the line of them, then place them into a tub of warm soapy water... The "them", I thought, was your reels.

Maybe I should have read the rest of your post.

-FT

 

[Joe D]

The soap, no soap question is one of those debateable questions... depends which reel company you ask.

Most say to simply rinse the reel in warm water, but not under pressure so you don't force debris into the bearings and such. Others, like Abel suggest the soapy water rinse and then a fresh water rinse. I believe all recommend to back off the drag to prevent compression of the drag surface.

I always heard to never use petroleum based lubricants on the reel, and I think most manufactures recommend not using a petroleum based lubricant as well since it can damage the drag surface and also attract dirt and salt. Abel is an exception that I'm aware of as I believe they recommend using WD-40.

Personally, I use the fresh water rinse and just use the soapy water on the line. I usually use Penn Reel Oil for lubricant with good results. I know some who use lithium grease too.

Joe

 

[Joe D]

Does anyone use/tried Salt Away?

If so, please let me know what you think of it.

Thanks,

Joe