How The Pros Do It.

[*Hootie]

Just watched a video on cleaning and lubing a reel, featuring a well known pro, and he was really pouring on the oil and loading up on grease. I also noticed he was oiling the spool shaft. I thought that was a no no. Just a drop on everything else. That's what I always read.

Hootie

[BASSclary]

Just because they're professional fisherman does not mean they are professionals at servicing reels. If he wanted that much grease, he might as well just leave it stock IMO.

But anyways, I always rub just a bit of oil onto the spool shaft, just a very light coat. I dont see why not.

[BASSHUNTER1961]

But anyways, I always rub just a bit of oil onto the spool shaft, just a very light coat. I dont see why not.

The tolerance is extremely tight between the spool shaft and pinion gear and such, and the slightest bit of oil slows the spool down.

[Diggy]

I know a reel guy who met some pros (popular ones) and he was able to have then send him all of their reels for servicing and upgrades because they had no idea what they were doing or could be done.

I used to use wd40 on my reels before I knew better

[hooah212002]

My uncle, just this afternoon, recommended I DOUSE my entire reel, line and all, in WD40. He's no pro, but he is a life long fisherman. I know better.

[The Rooster]

I figured every pro out there either didn't bother with servicing reels since sponsorship would replace them regularly, or they'd all be super tuned and tricked out to maximum levels. It's news to me that there are some who just use them stock and then have no idea how to service them to even just maintain them out of the box.

[Long Mike]

If you haven't read it yet, here is an article written by Ghoti concerning reel maintenance.

http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/supertune-baitcaster.html

[Gatorbassman]

Pros get new reels every year. When one breaks they get another one. Many of them don't care if the reel lasts any longer than a season.

[fishking247]

My uncle, just this afternoon, recommended I DOUSE my entire reel, line and all, in WD40. He's no pro, but he is a life long fisherman. I know better.

a lot of guys who saltwater fish do this every month of so. it keeps the salt corrosion out of the reel.

[J Francho]

Here is a quick fact sheet for maintaining your reels. Stick to the first page, every two or three months, and you'll greatly extend the life of the reel. Of course, nothing is better than a professional clean and tune, but in between this will keep things in top shape:

http://fish.shimano.com/publish/content/global_fish/en/us/index/customer_service0/reel_maintenance_instructions.download.-mainParsys-0001-downloadFile.html/Maintenance%20Tips-%20Baitcasting%20Reels%20%282%20pages%29.pdf

[Delaware Valley Tackle]

Where lube is concerned, less is more. Packing gear teeth with grease and slathering oil all over evreything not only makes a mess, it attracts dirt, gums up the works and allows lube to migrate onto parts where it has no business like drag washers. Grease and oil have no buiness on the spool shaft. Do not let WD40, Reel Magic or any other spray lube anywhere near the internals of yur reel.

Bass pros are obligated to be out in front of people at every opportunity and sometimes wander outside their area of expertise just to attract some eyeballs.

[.RM.]

Bass pros are obligated to be out in front of people at every opportunity and sometimes wander outside their area of expertise just to attract some eyeballs.

With 27 yrs in servicing, I have seen this a lot....

Tight Lines All!

[hooah212002]

a lot of guys who saltwater fish do this every month of so. it keeps the salt corrosion out of the reel.

Really? I thought WD40 broke down the grease and was bad for the line? Or do saltwater guys regularly grease their reels and respool their line? The reason he told me was because I was fishing in a good downpour yesterday and I asked him what i should do to ensure my reel didn't rust.

[J Francho]

I asked him what i should do to ensure my reel didn't rust.

Keep it warm and dry, with good air circulation.

[hooah212002]

Keep it warm and dry, with good air circulation.

like I said, i had just been out in a downpour. So it will dry itself?

[J Francho]

Water evaporates

[OnthePotomac]

That is an excellent article by Kilmartin on reel maintenance and is perfectly in line with reputable, expert reel services. Since I got into cleaning my own Shimanos eight years ago, I could not believe the amount of misinformation out there on cleaning and lubing a reel. I read on another forum where a reel service told of once receiving a reel filled with surgical jelly. On another forum was a comment that "grandpa dipped his reels in kerosene and they worked great." I was particularly pleased to see that he is using TSI 321 on his reels. Personally, I use TSI 301 and dip my bearings, but end up with the same result. These are incredible lubricants developed for NASA because oil cannot be used in space. I recommend that those who want to get into cleaning their own reels memorize his article and save your selves a lot of grief. You may want to stick to regular bearing oil, like Yellow Rocket Fuel, but other than that, stick with Gary Kilmartin.

One last thought on bearing upgrades. There is always a discussion on how far to go in ABEC ratings. The following comment on the subject last November by Bantam1, the Shimano rep, may be of interest, especially his reference to max spool speeds:

"The bearings can have an effect on max spool speed. The DC model reels can hit 30,000 RPM. The non DC reels will go 20,000-25,000 usually. The braking systems change the speeds of course. The reason the DC can hit the higher speeds is because there is less mass on the spool and zero friction from a VBS type system. The magnetic control is only pulsed by the micro chip and is not always on like some magnetic controls.

With that being said the Calcutta DC reels use our ARB bearings that are pretty much ABEC 3 rated bearings. The Calais DC uses a greaseless S-ARB bearing that is also an ABEC 3 rated bearing. If a bearing is properly lubricated with a light oil you can gain a little more performance. Most of our stock bearings use a very lightweight grease. The easy upgrade is to replace the bearings like most do. Low quality bearings, even ABEC 5 or higher rated, are not going to do much. They may be great out of the box but performance will drop off later because of low quality materials used to manufacture the bearings."