I went to the coast last summer and went wade fishing in the surf. After the trip was over I had several problems with my reel due to the salt water corroding the bearings in my reels. Any suggestions on how to keep this from happening would be appreciated.

As soon as you are done fishing rinse your reel with fresh water and put a fresh drop of oil on each bearing. Thats all I have ever done..

Thanks I'll try that when I go fishing in a couple of weeks.

I just use warm soapy water (Dawn) and then let her dry over night. In the morning I will add a smidge of oil and use cue tips if needed to clean any hard to reach places.



-Z-

**the real answer is that you can NOT protect your reel. My dad used to say, "Saltwater could find a way to corrode plastic if it wanted to."

the short answer is to: 1)keep it out of the water and the spray from the crashing waves. 2)wash it everyday that you get in from fishing on the coast.

Like -Z- said use warm soapy water (Dawn) and then let her dry over night.
I use Dawn on my boat also. Dawn is acidic and will get rid of all the salt!ALL of it!

Anyone heard of putting a reel in rubbing alcohol after the soapy water to displace the water?

I open the reel up and scrub the inside with a mixture of simple green and water with an old toothbrush. Simple Green is a degreaser and it really removes all that old oil and grease that has salt and sand caked inside the reel.

I fish out of a kayak most of the time so you can bet my reels get put to the test. My “go to” reel at the moment is a Chronarch 50 MG, so you can imagine how that thing would hold up if not cleaned well.

Once I have scrubbed out the inside very well, I rinse the entire reel with warm water. Let it dry and put grease on the plastic parts and oil on the metal parts. I learned this method of cleaning reels from a few of the Shimano pro staff fellas. I have a Curado that has been used on the coast both wade fishing and kayak fishing for four (4) years and it still feels as smooth as the day I bought it…

I fish the coast year round: I have penn reels and curado's..

Save yourself some time and money,as crazy as this is going to sound get you some vinegar and some rubbing alcohol.Mix them together 50 / 50 in a spray bottle and use that on your reels everytime you get thru with them for the day....you will be surprised..your reels will stay as they came from the store..when you go to store them (when not fishing) spray them down with wd-40 and they will last you a good while..

Do you mean just spray the exterior? What about the inside? Flushing the bearings out?

Take the reel apart.To be point specific--take the reels apart place all of your components into a mixture of hot water and Dawn..let that sit for about two hours..
Then use the vinegar/alcohol spray bottle/rinse all components off with regular water.Then spray them completely down with wd-40.Put them back together.Last step,get you some tubes of Penn oil for your gears and levelwind(small amounts)You will have some reels that will last you longer than you would ever believe.

I grew up on South Padre,,I have dealt with saltwater fishing for the last 42 years of the 47 I have lived--I have never known to care for rod and reels other than the way I listed..this example came from my Grandfather from the early 30's and we use the same cleaning process today.
The vinegar/alcohol solution is from the 30's --the penn oil/wd 40 were added to the mixture as they came into the market.

If you just spray or rinse off the outside, you will NOT be happy after pulling your nice reel out of storage before your next trip. It will feel and sound like a box or rocks. I know from experience. If you are fishing from a pier or boat, you might be ok with a rinse/spray, but defiantly not so if you are wading or in a yak.

Think about it… When you are spraying or rinsing something, where do you think all that salt h20, sand, and grime ends up? Inside the reel! The more you spray/rinse, the deeper that gunk ends up inside the bearings and inner parts of the reel.

Open the reel up and clean everything with a degreaser. Let it dry. Lube everything up with grease and oil (not a lot), like I described above. I have been applying a light coat of Corrosion X to the inside and outside of the reel by spraying a little on a rag and wiping the reel down.

You will have a reel that feels like it just left the shelf once you are finished with this process. Don’t knock it until you try it… Trust me.