Washing your reelsShare

Tekkai

Hi guys, do you wash your reels after every fishing trip and how do you wash it?

For me, I always rinse it with tap water, dry it and then oil it. But I dont remove the lines. Is it ok if I don't remove the lines but I just leave it there? Hope it doesn't spoil the reel.

FishingKaki.com

Ok, what am about to say is terrible.

I tighten all the drags and rinse them under water. 

The terrible thing is I don't remove the lines, in saltwater my last cast I try to pour freshwater as I reel in. I have never once removed the lines. But when I wash it I make sure I remove some line with it screwed to the reel and tap / hose + reel in. Tighten the drag and REMEMBER to understand tighten after. 

Romanion

I think you mean remember to loosen the drag after?

fishyDen

I use braid, fish mainly saltwater and this is my personal preference. I wash my reel after every trip. Before washing i tighten the drag so that water won't get into my drag disk. Then i run the whole reel under my shower head. Taking to wash all salt from the outside. Then change to tap and run just the line in the spool under a slow warm running water for 1 to 2 mins. I squeeze the line as it get soak under the running water. The aim is to get as much salt out of the line as possible. I try to avoid pitting on the spool due to corrosion. After the rinse, i cloth dry the reel, loosen the drag and leave it to air dry for the the next few days to ensure the line full dry.

After about 100 hours of use, i stripe, clean and re-grease/re-oil my reels. My reels are low and medium range so they are pretty easy to maintain.

oceanus

I normally rinse my reels after every trip with a gardener spray bottle instead of running tap, to minimize water being forced into the interior. After wiping dry, I remove the spools and soak them in tap water for a few hours before wiping dry. I normally place the reels and the spool outside for a few days to air dry completely before storing them back into their boxes.

Devilzken

This is my washing aft SW trip.
I will run tap water or shower head with warm water over my reel while maintaining the "fishing" position of the reel in order not to get any water into unwanted parts of the reel. Water pressure should b gentle and try rubbing all the area with your hands. Same time tighten the drag to prevent water from getting in. That is very impt as there are grease inside the drag you do not want to mix water and grease together.
Line will be unspool 1st before washing to make sure the spool is clean of any salt residues.
Wipe off any access water and shake the reel of any excess water might b stuck in the groove.
Air dry and put drop of reel oil on the metal parts esp the line roller b4 keeping.
Line will b soak in warm water for 1,2 days before leaving it to dry.
It's quite a hassle but to maintain the longevity of the reel, it had to b done within 1 to 2 days after fishing to prevent salt built-up.

For fw I jus rinse with water and do a full wash after mayb 5-10 trip depending