putting away steelhead gear

[hustlerrjim]

now that the season is about over it's time to put our steelhead gear away and get serious about chinooks;
1st thing i do is take all my rods and take the reels off and check all the guides [dropping a rod on the floor is a sure fire way to crack the guides]taking a rag soaked in armore all, rubbed in good can make a rod look like new,
next the reels,
in all my years guiding the biggest cause of abuse to the reels was -low on line, now is the time to put on new line it's your best investment
cleaning and oiling a reel is very simple if the part moves when you turn the crank use heavey oil ,but only a tiny drop,
the ends of the spool bearings use only a tiny drop of deisel on each shaft,this makes it easy to cast
under no circustanses use wd40 ;as this stuff is very corrosive after 2-3 weeks.you have 6-7 different metals in your reel and the potential for corrosion is greatest where these different metals meet eg. a steel coil spring on a brass post,[abu 5000]
drag washers can be ruined by leaving the drag tightened as the washers get flattened and dont work right.
loosen the drag when you put your reel away and you wont have this ratcheting problem.
cleaning your reels is like changing oil in your pigup,it pays,
some of my reels iv'e had since the 50s and they still perform perfectly

[Thumper]

Putting away the steelhead gear?!?! Then what will I use for nates in March and April, big NF Lewis and mouth of Lewis summers in May through September, not to mention McNary summers with Fear No Fish after that, then back to winters, etc. etc. etc. The steelhead gear never gets put away!

[parker]

That's kinda what I was thinking, Thumper. Whaddya mean "put the steelhead gear away". That just doesn't register in my brain....

[Jellyhead]

Ditto, parker and Thumper.

The steelhead gear never goes away, Right now the steelhead and chinook rods are sitting next to each other. Last week they both got some use. The steelhead rods got some good bends in them, but the chinook rods didn't.

Gotta love this time of year.

Aaron

[William]

I never put the steelhead gear away. There is always a steelhead somewhere waiting to be caught.

[metalhead madness]

if you fish the clack you have an oppertunity to catch metalheads all year long. rods get lonely without use and may not be so kind next season :grin: :grin:

[Snagly]

When I change seasons and put away gear, I generally strip ALL the line off. That enables me to clean the spindle and more easily reach other areas. It also forces me to put fresh line on the reel right before I go fishing next. This is the best time to spool up -- your line will have less of a 'set' as it won't have been on the reel very long, and fewer of the lubricants on the surface of the line will have evaporated. (This is especially true if you re-spool from utility spools that are stored in Ziploc bags in the dark.)

I use a lot of WD-40 and know many who do as well. I've not heard anyone complain about enhanced corrosion. I'll look into this and revert.

I certainly echo the advice to back all the way off the drag after each trip.

[omnivore]

I, too, am surprised to hear about WD-40 being corrosive after 2-3 weeks. I've been using the stuff to prevent rust and corrosion. It specifically states on the can that it "protects against rust and corrosion", and "displaces moisture". After using it in my reels, bike components, and cars, I have not seen any corrosion where it was applied.

[Fishen Fool]

Ask a gunsmith about W D 40, it is a no no, it does displace moisture but leaves no protective film, leaving it unprotected and more likely to rust.

Stay away from WD40 n anything that will be around saltwater, it doesn't "displace water" it bonds with it and leaves salt deposits on your gear. I have been using Tri Flow for years and found it to be a good product around saltwater.
Use the WD40 where you aren't going to come into contact with saltwater.

[chuck 'n' duck]

Thanks for the good info Jim. I didn't know about the corrosiveness of WD40, or about the drag washer flattening.

CnD