I have a Shimano Citica and Quantum accurist pt that I may need to clean in the near future. Do ya'll take it in or do it yourselves? I really would love to try but not on these two reels.

I cleaned my own and then started my reel service business...check my website in my sig...I will be glad to service your reels if you decide to send them out

Its up to you really. You can send it in for professional cleaning once a year. Cost about $25 a reel or less. Not much for once a year thing.

You can also do it yourself and you can really break it down and clean whenever you need. Clean the bearing with mineral spirit..acetone etc. If you have a untrasonic then its damn easy to clean. A old toothbrush etc. Other then that you just need grease and oil. If your doing it for the first time. Take your time. Record the process and take pictures.

I do it myself for most of the time. Since I keep my reels in check every fishing trip. Its always in top condition. When I buy a old reel or a reel that really need a pro service. I just spend a bit of cash and let them handle it. Ill take over after that lol

Now the real question is.. Does those reels really need a pro service. If you clean them and it still freezed up or not smooth at all. Let the pro handle them and do a better job a maintain them afterward.

Im like snake I started cleaning my own and now I clean them on the side for others as well. Its really not as bad as most people make it. Plenty of you tube videos on it as well. Do a little research and go from there. Its always good to have the parts diagram of the reel. It points out every little part and piece and gives you a general idea of where and how it goes on the reel.

I have mine professionaly done once a year.

I do my own, but I do also work with the best repair center hands down @ SW Parts

Take it in.

Back in the day I would clean my own. All my reels were The Ambassadeurs, and I was very proficient in taking them apart and doing my own cleaning and repairs. Now since I'm older and have enough money and less free time, with these newer reels I pay to have someone clean them.

For anyone in the Houston Area, I would recommend Daves Tacklebox in Rosenberg. Nice guy, and has done some great work on every reel I've brought him. He's a retired police officer.

http://www.davidstacklebox.com

I'd like an honest reel-cleaning expert to weigh in on how often a modern reel with synthetic lubricants would realistically need to be cleaned when:

1. The reels are only used while fishing from a carpeted bass boat. (In other words, not owned by a bank fisherman or hauled in a muddy jon boat.)
2. The reels are never hauled to the lake on the boat deck or in the bed of a pick-up. (Transport inside rod box.)
3. Each reel is "one of many" on the various rods the fisherman uses. This means annual hours of use is a lot lower than if the fisherman had only one or two reels.

My personal opinion is that some reel cleaning goes overboard given the use model that many bass fishermen have, but maybe not for some other styles of fishing or species.

My rule of thumb for my personal reels is whenever they are visibly very dirty and nasty, especially in the levelwind, or when the performance of the reel starts to drop or Im getting bearing noise, etc. No need to clean them once a year if you barely use them. It really just comes down to use and using a little common sense when you are using the reel and inspecting it. You should be able to tell when its ready for a good cleaning! Just my .02 though.

I fine some instruction on how to take it apart and then just oil her up and close t back up then go fishing.

I do all my own reels..

Schematics, pictures, videos whatever you need to help you along your first few times. After that repetition will have you tearing them down and slapping em back together like a pro in no time!

Watch some videos, ask questions and learn to work on my own gear...in the end, they are just fishing reels.

Addendum: I learned this mentality from worrying about denting and scratching guitars that cost me $500-1500. That's nothing to many guitar players, but in the end, I realized, they are just guitars, tools to be used to make music, and damaging them while learning may happen, just like fishing gear, just some metal and string.

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