BigLeagueFishing

I think I have a can of Real Magic somewhere. It's gonna be above freezing all week so I won't be able to try anything yet.

Hey, I was out this morning fishing for smallies and walleye, temperature was below 20° F. I started off with my spinning rod spooled with 10 lb braid only to find that it froze to the spool after getting wet. I know braid isn't ideal for freezing temps so I switched to my baitcaster that's spooled with mono. The smaller guides seemed more prone to freezing. I've heard that WD40 or Pam spray can help, anyone here use these? However, I had a bigger problem with ice on the reel itself. The eyelet on the levelwind system filled with ice and cut my line when I had a fish on. Later the internals of the reel starting freezing and it became unusable. It's only going to get colder and I intend to fish all winter. How do you deal with fishing in the cold?

Thanks, reel seems fine now. We'll see how it holds up, I would prefer not to drop another $50 on a new one.

I was out wading and briefly put down my rod on the bank, where the reel (Shimano Nexave FL) was slightly submerged in water. I had no problems with it during that trip. Three days later I went out again today and the reel was seized up, it worked fine after I rinsed it off in the stream. How would you guys go about cleaning out the internals because I imagine this will only get worse as time goes on.

I feel you man. Hooked into a five pounder with my ultralight rod the other day, thought I just got stuck on another branch. Tried to unsnag it and it took off halfway across the pond.

I keep seeing bass fishermen acting like they're swinging a baseball bat during a hookset. How many of you guys actually do this? I'm honestly just curious as the vast majority of the time I just angle my rod up and reel in the slack, never had an issue losing fish this way. I only ever put muscle into it when I'm using 40+ pound braid with a frog/jig in heavy cover.

I’ve come across almost no information on dobyns maverick casting reels. Do any of you guys have experience with them, if so how do they compare to other reels in the $100 price range.