What’s The Best Way To Clean A Spinning Reel After Saltwater Fishing?
- By: Luke Simonds
- on
- Found In: Fishing Secrets, Fishing Tips
You might learn something new on this spinning reel cleaning tip (I know I sure did while researching for it)…
But first, let’s talk about the one downside to saltwater fishing.
Yes, I openly admit that there is a downfall to saltwater fishing (but just this one thing).
It’s the fact that salt water can completely destroy fishing equipment (especially expensive fishing reels).
I’m afraid to calculate the amount of money I’ve lost due to salt damage to my fishing reels over the years, but the stack of old reels in the corner of my spare bedroom (aka… fishing room) will attest to it being a lot.
So this post will address the fact that we must make an effort to clean off our reels after every trip out on the water…
And we’ll dive in to some cool tactics that I just recently found while researching the topic today too.
But before reading on and/or watching the video below, please know that there are a bunch of different ways to clean salt off of a fishing reel.
I chose to explain the method below because it makes a lot of sense and most people have the needed items already so it won’t require any additional purchases.
How To Clean A Spinning Reel
Since there are many different ways to clean a spinning reel, let’s first cover what everyone seems to agree upon so you’ll at least not break the two most basic cardinal rules:
- Always do some type of cleaning to your reels after fishing in salt water whether it be a hose or a towel like I show in the video
- Never spray your spinning reels from the underside of the reel (if you hose off your spinning reel, make sure to hose it off from the top of the reel so the water has less of a chance of getting inside)
Now that we got those core rules out of the way, this video explains a cool method that should significantly increase the life-span of a saltwater angler’s spinning reels.
How To Properly Clean A Spinning Reel After Saltwater Fishing [Video]
Conclusion
Without proper care, even the most expensive spinning reels will eventually get compromised from exposure to salt.
So it’s on us to make time to effectively clean our reels so that they can last as long as possible.
And the tips explained in the video above show a fairly easy way to wipe away salt without putting the reel at risk of pushing salt and/or grime up into the inner workings of the reel.
If you don’t want to take the time to manually wipe off the reel with the wet rag, then I’d recommend misting it with a hose and then still wiping the reel dry with a cloth rag so that any salt/grime that may still be on the reel will be wiped away.
If you know of any tips/tricks to clean your spinning reels that weren’t covered in this post, please leave a comment below to help us all maximize the lifespan of our equipment.
Looking forward to hearing from you.
Related Post: “How To Spool A Spinning Reel With Braid While Saving Time & Money” (watch it here)
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Fish On!
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STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
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Did the video go away? It displays a “this video is private” message on my iPad.
Thanks for letting us know about the issue… I just fixed it so you should be able to watch the video now.
I spray my reels will Reel Magic after I clean my them.
I think you should post a video on how to clean under the reel.And the Wd-40 will ruin your real so us Sprite.Best known way to clean your real,Is with Sprite.It cleans the outside and inside of the real.All you half to do is Pour it on and then dry it of with a hair dryer.
I Rinse well with tap water then take my shop vac and extract as much as possible from the reel. Don’t bust out the compressor and blow it off! You can blow debris and contaminates into
areas where it doesn’t belong. Also I use a old Christmas light storage reel to remove the line in order to clean it easily. I use penn reel lube to lubricate my reels. Every so often you have to remove the spool and remove the side plate and do maintenance. I use spinning reels almost exclusively.
Good advice,and it worked on my real.
How do you clean the rubber disc inside the drag assembly properly?
How do you clean the INSIDE of the drag mechanism? Especially address cleaning the rubber- like drag disc.
Thanks, Richard
These are some bad tips. what if saltwater got into the underside of the reel? let it just sit in there and corrode?! wiping wd-40 on the reel leads to cross contamination later when handling your reel and the baits. I dont care if some idiots think it is a fish attractant
To clean a spinning roll is not an easy task. Though this post you made it easier.
Obviously I am not the only one objecting to WD40. I know on firearms, if used, it will turn to a lacquer finish that is near impossible to remove. It is not a lubricant. Great info as always.
Great video. Never knew the added benefits of using WD-40 to help prevent water damage. Have you ever done a semi thorough clean on a reel with products like ardent’s line of products?