How To Maintain and Store Your Fishing Reels Between Trips

I have a lot of people who come to me asking how I maintain and store my fishing reels, rods and gear between fishing trips.  This is an important part to fishing as it’s going to affect your level of enjoyment when you’re out on the water fishing.  If you haven’t prepared adequately you’re going to end up with under-performing gear, missing essential tools and just an overall feeling of frustration. I have a process that I try to stick to when preparing for fishing trips.  This includes not only the initial preparation but also what to do when your fishing trips end.  This article will help to create a process that works for you that will improve the overall quality of your fishing trips.

Preparation

Not many of us like to prepare their fishing equipment the night before a fishing trip, however taking these simple steps can help stop most headaches when you go out on the water.  Make sure all your reels are in working order and ready to go by doing the following:

• Test cast each reel to see if it needs oil on the bearings and the worm gear.  I don’t recommend oiling your bearings between each use.  This is overkill and will create a lot of unnecessary oil buildup that will lead to slowing down the bearings and shorter casts.
• Clean any dirt or dust on your reels.  Use a wet microfiber rag and clean the grime off.
• Check the line on your reels to make sure you have enough.  Too much or too little line on a reel can affect the casting performance. 
• Check your leaders and line ends to make sure they aren’t frayed.  The worst thing to have happen is to lose a fish because of a frayed line.  This is easily corrected by just trimming the damaged line off the reel and starting with a new couple feet at the end.
• Have all your rods together and rigged prior to taking them on the boat.  Since this causes you to have hooks exposed,  I recommend purchasing some clear velcro hook protectors.  They are easy to just slap on and help with the transportation of your rods without snagging the hooks on everything in the car, boat, your clothes, your friends, etc.

Cleaning and Storing Between Uses

There are several different types of saltwater fishing styles: 1) Boat fishing 2) Surf Fishing 3) Pier fishing 4) Wade fishing. Wade fishing and Surf fishing require additional steps that I will outline in a section below.

When you take your rods off the boat or out of your car and are ready to store them here are some tips on what to do.  These steps apply to all types of fishing that you do.

• Set rods/reels in a place where you can easily get to a hose.  Lightly spray a fine mist on both the rod and reel with a nozzle.  If you don’t have a hose, then wring out a clean rag with freshwater and wipe down both the rod and reel.  When finished, take a clean dry rag and dry the rod/reel off completely.  
• Let your rods/reels dry completely before storing them.  When you think about it, every cast you make brings saltwater back into the reel.  This means the line itself is going to be wet with saltwater and this will get on the spool and onto the outer reel components.  So letting a rod/reel dry completely is an important step. 
• When the rod/reel is dry, I recommend spraying it with a reel corrosion inhibitor like Reel Guard from Ardent.  Reel Guard has been proven to prevent corrosion of the main areas of the reel such as the worm gear and other metal components on the exterior of the reel.  This is a good habit to get into so the next time you pull the reel out it isn’t going to be fused together or have a lot of salt buildup on it.  You just lightly mist the Reel Guard on the reel and let it dry. 
• Protect your reel with a cover.  These are cheap and are made to fit both casting and spinning reels.  I place a cover on all my reels to protect them from dust, dirt and debris that could get on them when storing.  This is because I keep my reels in a garage closet, which is not as clean as an interior climate controlled environment.  Adding a reel cover is also going to protect the reel from any bumps and drops which will happen.

Protect your fishing reel with the easy-to-apply, spray-on Ardent Reel Guard Corrosion Inhibitor. This reel spray prevents salt and mineral buildup, making it perfect for saltwater anglers. Dries clean with no residue. 16 oz. Prevents salt and mineral buildup Perfect for protecting saltwater reels Dries clean: no residue

General Cleaning and Storing Tips

• Ideally, you should store your reels indoors in a climate controlled environment if possible.  This is the best storage area for a reel because the humidity indoors can be controlled.  
• Place a silica-based desiccant within the cover of your reels.  This might sound like overkill but it can help create a drier environment for your reel.  If you live on the coast or in a humid area and can’t store your reels inside, then try this out.  These little packets are everywhere. They do wear out over time, so replace them every 3-4 months.

Wade and Surf Fishing

Boat and pier fishing are the easiest types of fishing when it comes to cleaning and storing your rods/reels between use.  This is mainly because your rod/reel is not typically going to come into direct contact with saltwater which has corrosive minerals, and perhaps sand and grit.  These two types of fishing use the basic steps to cleaning and storing your reels.  Wade fishing and surf fishing, however, have additional steps that are covered below. 

In addition to the steps above, I recommend the following when wade fishing and surf fishing.  When back onshore or back in your boat, take a clean, wet towel (with freshwater) and wipe down each rod/reel you’ve used.  Both wade fishing and surf fishing cause a large amount of saltwater to build up on a rod/reel even after just a dozen or so casts.  I recommend wiping these down before moving from one location to another or even after a couple hours in the surf.  In my experience with cleaning, maintaining and repairing reels, this is the #1 cause for a reel to corrode and to need maintenance or repairs.  Taking a couple seconds to wipe the rod/reel down immediately after use will greatly cut down on your corrosion or maintenance issues.    

Things to avoid or just plain not do

I’ve had people recommend soaking their reels in a bucket of freshwater or some who like to drench a reel with a hose and soap.  There are a couple reasons not to do this. Most reels are not watertight.  Baitcast reels have holes in them that will allow water to get into the gears and bearings.  Spinning reels are a little better in that the interiors are somewhat sealed but they can still get water into them.  Some soaps can dissolve lubricants that reels need for protection to work properly.  So don’t completely flush a reel with water as it’s going to lead to eventual corrosion and water damage.  Also, don’t flush a reel with a hard stream of water that can drive sand and grit into the gears and bearings or use soap on them.  Be gentle when using a hose to clean your rods/reels and when you do you will keep them working and looking great!  

I hope that you got some useful advice on how to Maintain and Store your fishing reels, rods and gear.  Just remember that when you’re out there fishing you’re going to have a much better time with gear that is working properly and is there for when you need it most.  

Thanks and keep those lines tight!