Fishing Reel Cleaning

Written by Capt. Mark King | 17 October 2009

Fishing reel cleaning and repair is the less than glamorous side of being a fishing guide, but it is something that needs to be done at least once a year in freshwater and even more frequently in saltwater. Many charter captains and fishing guides turn to the experts to do the maintenance on their fishing reels, but some do the job themselves. All you need is a few supplies, a table, and a schematic diagram of the reel you’re working on. If you don’t have the owner’s manual and schematic of the reel you’re working on you can get them off the internet.

You will need a cleaner and degreaser like Simple Green, a can of lighter fluid, a good quality grease and oil like the ones I use from Boca Bearing, and a few small tools. Start by disassembling the reel and placing the parts out on the table in the order you take them off the reel. It’s also a great idea to take pictures with your digital camera as you tear your reel apart, giving you a visual reference of where everything goes.

After disassembling the reel you are ready to start cleaning. I clean each part separately in a small bowl with Simple Green cleaner and a toothbrush. Next I rinse it thoroughly in fresh water and put it on a paper towel to dry. I use this method to clean all the reel parts except the bearings. I put the bearings in an old pill bottle with some lighter fluid and just swirl the bottle around and the bearing will come out clean. A word of caution, lighter fluid is flammable so do this away from any flames, outside is a preferable place.

After cleansing you put the bearings on a paper towel to dry before inspecting them for damage. To test the dry bearings place them one at a time over the point of a sharpened pencil and spin the bearing. If the bearing spins smoothly it should be ok, but if you can feel the bearing through the pencil and it feels rough or does not spin smoothly the bearing should be replaced.

For bearing replacement I turn to Boca Bearings (www.bocabearings.com ) for all my bearing needs, they have replacement bearings for just about any reel and have bearings to match the ones you took out or you can upgrade to high performance bearings. The all new ceramic bearings will give you years of service and will let you cast farther than you ever imagined.

Bearings have different industry ratings with an ABEC #5 rating on most factory installed bearings to the ABEC #7 rating that is a high performance bearing with almost perfect tolerances. The new ceramic bearings are made from a material called silicon nitride that has similar characteristics of the highly resilient tiles on the outside of the space shuttle.

After you’re done with the bearing inspection it is time to start reassembling your reel. Put each piece back in its place look at it carefully for wear or breakage. If you can catch pieces before they break you will save yourself from fishing downtime. The bearings will need oil and for that I again turn to Boca Bearings for their Lightning Lube for reels, it is a space age product that will complement your bearings and allow you to make longer casts. You will also want to get some of Boca Bearings reel grease for all the parts that need grease like gears. A word of caution when it comes to lubing reels more is not better; just one drop of oil on bearings is enough to lube the bearing. Now that your reel is back together and everything works you can pat yourself on the back and you get to keep some of the money that you would have had to pay someone else to clean your reels. Being a fishing guide and having a lot of reels I save enough money by doing my own reel cleaning and repairs that I can go out and buy a new reel with the money I saved.

Capt. Mark King
Lake Okeechobee Bass Fishing Guide (www.markkingfishing.com)
(863) 983-9950