Saved myself $210

[Deitz Dittrich]

Argh, now I know why its a bad idea to own as many rod/reel combos..

Cleaned and stripped 7 combos tonight.. Guess that saves me $210 if I were to send them in.. WHich is nice.. And I know they were done right.

Only about 20 to go.. Argh!!!!!!

[Presco]

Was just looking at my rods and reels the other day, wondering about getting 'em shined up nice for opener. What is the best technique to clean and strip your rods/reels? Feel free to answer when you take a break from your remaining 20.

For whats its worth, its probably best to keep the statement 'cleaning and stripping your rod' to bass forums, saying that outloud sounds really dirty and I've been giggling about it since reading it.

[goblueM]

deitz i'll take a few off your hands, that way you won't have to worry about storing, transporting, or cleaning all those combos

[mww24]

i did 4 and thought that was a huge chore. good luck.

[cjac]

Argh, now I know why its a bad idea to own as many rod/reel combos..

Cleaned and stripped 7 combos tonight.. Guess that saves me $210 if I were to send them in.. WHich is nice.. And I know they were done right.

Only about 20 to go.. Argh!!!!!!

Garage party for reel maintenance at the Dittrich household is in order..... Really "reely", we could bump off a lot of reels with a mass essembly line! Talk about economy of scale.....

[Deitz Dittrich]

Not all that easy to explain how to do it.. I dont do spinning reels and I dont trust myself, you can really mess a spinning reel up in a hurry if you dont know what your doing. Yet, they really are not that complicated. Baitcasters are pretty easy, and I dont do a full break down, but I can.

I grab a handfull of q-tips, Rubbing alcohol. Take the side plate off the reel and remove the spool. With the rubbing alcohol I'll clean the spool shaft and the edge of the spool. I'll then clean the inner rub rail of the anti-backlash. THen I will pull most of the puffy part of the q-tip and clean the inner spool shaft hole on the handle side of the reel. Then a drop of oil on the inner spool shaft bearing, a teeny drop of oil on each of the anti backlash pegs. Then take off the tension knob on the clutch, and a drop of oil on it...Done.. I then spin the reel as fast as I can.. re-take off the side plate and re-clean the inner rub rail of the anti-backlash to remove any extra oil that came off the pegs..

[EBass]

I seem to have extra parts left over when I clean my baitcasters. Yes it's sad

[Craigums]

I seem to have extra parts left over when I clean my baitcasters. Yes it's sad

I did a couple baitcasters and got over confident so I tried a spinning reel. I had an extra part when I was finished lol

[Gardiner14]

I seem to have a part left over every time i clean a spinning reel. Any body else try to take the bail off to clean or am i the only one dumb enough to do that? Because there is a little spring in there that is near impossible to get back in.

[going4it]

Yes I did it on one and that was the last time that I did it. What a pain in the rear to get it back in there just perfect. Took me about 30 minutes, the rest of them I left that part alone. Did get a broken piece of metal out of a different spinning combo though. I think a 40 inch toothy critter did that to the reel.

[Ray Esboldt]

I have two heavily used Shimano Calcutas that I have never cleaned unless you count rainwater. They both still function reasonable well, so I ain't messing with them. One is on its 16th season and the other is on its 15th season. The last baitcaster I took apart is still laying on the shelf behind me in pieces.

[kt]

If you go to utube, shimano has a couple videos about cleaning baitcasters. One is pretty much what Deitz mentioned the other is a complete cleaning.

[delmuts]

I made the mistake of taking the bail apart ONCE too! Spinning reels are usually simple. As always. Have the schematic for that reel just in case!

For rods. Take a damp towel and wipe it down. Then use a Q-tip to check for any chips or cracks on the faces and inside of each guide and the tip. One other thing i do with my rods is take a return address label; trim it down so it will fit on the reel seat, and be covered by the reel. Just in case!

[RumRiverRat]

You are supposed to clean them?

[BassNut33]

I will continue to pay Wayzata Bait and Tackle to clean mine, If I did it myslef I would still be paying somebody to fix my mess.