How To Clean A Fishing Reel After Saltwater Use?

Who doesn’t like fishing, right? People have different types of hobbies like gardening, hiking, reading, or fishing. It depends on their personality and choice most of the time.

After a long day catching fish in the saltwater, the first thing you want to do is open your tackle cox and clean your spinning reel properly.

But it is also essential to clean your fishing gear. It is one of the major tasks you need to do.

If you don’t clean your fishing equipment frequently, you will start seeing your fishing gears are not the same as before because salt residues and sand particles will slowly damage your expensive reel.

It is easy to increase the durability and lifespan of a spinning reel by taking good care of your gears so you can use them for a long time.

You May Be Thinking About How Frequently I Need To Do It?

The answer is you have to clean your gear after every trip. You cannot skip the fishing reel cleaning part. The best part is that the reel cleaning solutions are simple, and you don’t need so many expensive products to clean it.

Indeed, most of the fishing gears are made with high-quality and non-corrosive materials. So doing extra care is necessary.

In this article, I thoroughly researched the topic and tried to explain all the details step by step.

Do not rush and read the whole article to clear your doubts about cleaning saltwater reels.

A Few Tips to Keep Your Reel in Good Shape

Alright, now let’s talk about the cleaning method of a spinning reel after saltwater fishing step by step.

Above we have already said that the cleaning processes are simple and anyone can clean it with a few main things within a short time.

Just follow all the steps carefully:

  • Tighten the Drag

Before you do spinning reel cleaning, the first thing you have to do is tighten the drag so the salt, water, and sand cannot go inside the reel parts.

Then you have to turn the drag knob clockwise so the drags can compress with each other.

  • Freshwater and Soap

In this step, you need soap and a bucket of freshwater to clean your gear. At first soak, clean cloth into the water and soap, then carefully wipe down the reel.

Soap and freshwater mixture make it easy to remove all specks of dirt from the reel.

But one vital thing that needs extra attention while working with a spinning reel, you have to remove the spool to clean the inside key part of it. This part needs extra care because water can go inside this hidden zone and damage your product.

In this case, use cotton buds, toothbrushes, or any tool to clean the tight and sensitive areas of your reel.

  • Rinse the Reel

In this step, you need to be more careful because you cannot put the reel directly underwater and give much pressure to clean the gear. If you do it, then there is a high chance to enter the salt and sand particles inside the inner components.

The best suggestion I can give you is always to use a spray bottle for protection. Take time to rinse the entire reel and remove soap from all sides.

  • Dry the Reel

You can use a fresh dry towel to dry the fishing reel. First, wipe the entire reel with a dry cloth and then leave it for one to two hours to air dry.

  • Fishing Reel Lubrication Oil

It is another essential step in this fishing reel maintenance. Do not use any types of oil for your spinning reel. Only use the oil which comes with the gear and is recommended for it by the manufacturer.

You can take help from any professional before using it.

  • Protective Coating

To protect your expensive and clean spinning reel, you can use a protective coating. It is available in any market and online store.

Just spray some protective coating onto a fresh cloth and gently wipe the metal parts like the reel seat, the anti-reverse, the roller, the bail arm, and other portions.

This protective coating can give extra care and work as a shield against moisture of the gear.

Do not touch the reel after spraying the coating.

  • Loosen the Drag

This is the final step of this cleaning process. In this step, the main thing you have to do is free its washers from the pressure by loosens the drag of the reel.

If you want to increase the lifespan of your spinning reel, then after saltwater fishing, these tips can help you. Just adding some extra care can save your gear for years to a year without damaging it.

Some Extra Tips

  • Do not forget to read the guideline of the maintenance process after buying and before cleaning fishing reels.
  • Give extra attention when you are fishing on the beach so that the reel may not hit the sand.
  • Always keep your cleaning tools and freshwater with you. It can help to flush the product from time to time, and you can clean a fishing reel as fast as if sand hits the gear.
  • Try not to dip your reel into the water because water can go inside the interior components.
  • Do not give much pressure if it needs to disassemble if it’s submerged in water or sand.
  • Keep your products in a clean and dry place.

How to Maintain a Spinning Reel?

When you maintain your spinning reel on a regular basis, it will not require a lot of cleaning. Here are several effective ways to maintain your spinning reel.

  • Respooling Routinely

It is advisable to respool spinning reels as frequently as possible. If you are unable to respool regularly, at least do it once a month.

Remember that the more you fish with your reel, the more respooling you will need to keep it in good condition.

  • Keeping the Drag Loose

Most fishermen encounter problems with their drag washers due to their poor durability. By loosening the drag right after returning from a fishing trip, you can avoid this issue.

This also prevents the dragging mechanism from getting stuck in a tight position.

  • Cleaning the Exterior

There are a lot of ways to clean the interior of the reel after exposing it to saltwater. But what about the external part? Well, there is a quick and easy way to clean that.

Just spray a gentle mist of water on the exposed part. Then wipe it with a soft cloth.

A strict rule to follow is that the water cannot have a strong jet. Rather, it must be a fine mist.

  • Storing in a Safe Location

Many beginners make the mistake of storing the spinning reel in an area that is directly exposed to sunlight. Unfortunately, this can severely damage the reel.

When you will not be fishing for some time, choose an appropriate place to store the reel. You can cover the item with a cloth and then put it somewhere that sunlight can’t reach it.

  • Retightening the Screws

The last thing you want is for a screw to fall out of your reel and ruin your entire fishing trip. More importantly, it can be quite dangerous for you as well as your reel.

Hence, make sure that all the screws on your reel are properly tightened before setting out to catch fish.

  • Avoid Disassembling the Reel

Whether it is for cleaning or some other purposes, taking the spinning reel apart is not a wise decision. If you are new to reels, it may be overwhelming to put everything back together again.

Beginners feel confident at first, but then struggle to put together the reel since it is an extremely challenging endeavour.

However, if you still need to disassemble the reel, arrange the parts in the same order as you took them apart. As a result, reassembling all the parts is simply a matter of following the order.

Having a professional by your side can also be helpful in this situation.

What’s The Best Lubricant for Fishing Reels?

If you want to have an outstanding fishing experience, you must need to ensure you are applying the best lubricant for your fishing reel saltwater. Well-functioned and maintained fishing gear can help you to achieve this experience.

There are so many options you can easily find these days for your fishing reels.

Many companies are making high-quality greasing and lubricating only for this task.

This product will help to keep the moving part of the reel smooth and give long life.

Let me suggest some grease and oil names which are used for fishing gear.

  1. Corrosion-X Fishing Reel Oil.
  2. Lucas Product 10690 Fishing Reel Oil.
  3. Penn 2-Pack Fishing Reel Grease and Oil.
  4. Ardent Fishing Reel Grease and Oil.
  5. Yamalube Fishing Reel Grease.

Is Vaseline Good for Fishing Reels?

I am not going to recommend Vaseline for your expensive reels.

Before using it, let me inform you that this product, as a lubricant, turns into a liquid very fast.

It cannot take much heat, and it makes a soft mess. You cannot also use it on warm days because it will turn into liquid.

You will notice how fast the Vaseline starts running out of your fishing reel and making a mess.

So without taking any risk, use the products which are specially designed for these gears.

How Do You Remove Green Corrosion From a Fishing Reel?

Many people use a different method to remove green corrosion from a fishing reel. For example- some people use white vinegar and a toothbrush to remove them.

On the other hand, many people find it helpful to use a Penn Rod, toothbrush or the best Fishing Reel Cleaner to get rid of green corrosion from the fishing reel.

If you don’t want to take any risk, you can buy a new reel or send it to any reel service place.

How Much Does a Fishing Reel Cost?

It depends on how much money you want to spend on buying it. If you want to buy at the average price, it will cost somewhere around USD 112 for a new fishing reel.

On the other hand, if you want a high-quality reel, it can cost around USD 200.

You can find fishing reels between $50 and USD 200. There are high-quality and cheap-quality products available. It depends on what you want for you.

Last Word

Who doesn’t want to spend a lot of money by choosing the best reel to make our fishing hobby more enjoyable?

But the reel will not last for a long time; it does not get much attention from you.

In between all the fishing equipment, reels are the most expensive one. In this case, you have to give more attention to it and handle it carefully before and after cleaning saltwater fishing reels.

Salt and sand can easily damage your reel if somehow it goes inside the hidden zone of this gear. It can also consequently reduce the performance of it.

Do not worry. Read the manufacturer’s instructions first before spinning reel maintenance.

I hope after reading my article, and visiting this site you will find it helpful for your friends and family.

Thank you so much for patiently reading this article and staying with us from the beginning.

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