HOW TO EFFECTIVELY WASH A REEL
Fishing in salt water exposes your equipment to some of the harshest conditions possible. Salt is the enemy. If left unchecked, it will destroy your equipment.
As a routine, we soap our rod and reels after each day of fishing. I say if the salt goes there, the soap goes there. After the reels have dried, we give them a light spray of lubricant and then wipe down all of the excess.
One key factor to both of these steps is to fully lock up the drag during the process.
This will squeeze the drag washers together and keep the fluids from getting in.
After the cleaning and oiling, we back the drags off and this lets the drag fibers expand and not get stuck together.
We always store the reels with the drags backed off. Just don't forget to make resetting them part of your fishing routine on the next trip.
CAPT. SCOTT GOODWIN
Capt. Scott Goodwin started fishing in the lakes of Kentucky where he grew up. A move to Florida, however, brought him into a whole new realm of fishing. After receiving a bachelor's degree in biology, he decided that he liked catching fish more than studying them and thus began his career as a captain. Scott began working as a mate on a charter boat and quickly worked his way up to captain. He has been fortunate to fish in some of the top locations on the globe, including Florida, Panama, Costa Rica, Mexico and the Bahamas. Scott has learned from a long list of the best captains in the sport and has more than 20 years experience as a professional fisherman. He openly shares his wealth of knowledge and fishing tips on BD as well as through his website, Offshore Academy. Scott is currently the BD Pro Staff representative for Central Florida. For more information, visit offshoreacademy.com.
