do you tune/ upgrade your baitcasters?

[.ghoti.]

I used to. No longer. All my reels except one have been "improved". None have any parts added just for the sake of appearance. Everything I did was for performance enhancement, nothing was done for looks.

 

i used to do service, repair and tuning for other people. At one time, I was doing over a hundred reels, that were not mine, every winter. I quit that nonsense. It turned into a real PITA!

 

I keep my own reels maintained, and that"s all.

[puddlepuncher]

@rippin-lips I've never understood people tricking out expensive reels solely for sake of appearance until now.  That is a beautiful reel.  I wouldn't even fish with it.  I bought a 3rd Met that sits on my desk and is purely for stress relief during the day.

 

As far as performance the biggest difference I've seen from an upgrade is carbon washers.  IMO no upgrade can replace just plain good maintenance that keeps them running smooth with higher end reels.

 

 

[new2BC4bass]

4 hours ago, puddlepuncher said:

@rippin-lips I've never understood people tricking out expensive reels solely for sake of appearance until now.  That is a beautiful reel.  I wouldn't even fish with it.  I bought a 3rd Met that sits on my desk and is purely for stress relief during the day.

 

As far as performance the biggest difference I've seen from an upgrade is carbon washers.  IMO no upgrade can replace just plain good maintenance that keeps them running smooth with higher end reels.

 

 

You know...that is a good idea.  Plenty of stress here.  I have a Limited Edition Tatula Type R that I should bring in and set on my desk.  Too pretty to fish with. 

[J Francho]

Every reel I use, if it's not for review/evaluation purposes, gets a Carbontex drag before I even think about fishing it.  It doesn't even matter if it has some carbon drag from the factory.  After that, I may mess around, add knobs, or a Hawgtech handle, but the drag upgrade is the most important to me.

[Preytorien]

I use all Shimano reels, and the "local reel cleaning guy" advises with Shimano to never open them until you have to. They're good enough out of the box that they don't need aftermarket parts or tuning. 

 

That said, I tried some Boca's in my Chronarch MGL - immediately reinstalled the factory bearings. They need no replacement. 

 

The only thing I have done in the past is send in my wading reels for cleaning every other year since they end up getting much wetter than my others. 

[NYWayfarer]

No upgrades or tuning to reels I already have.

 

To me an upgrade is purchasing a more expensive reel from the same manufacturer's I like. I would do that before fiddling with the internals of a reel I already own.

 

I do like the looks of some of the tricked out reels I have seen out there. I have resisted the temptation to start doing the same.

[trouttracker]

I just recently replaced stock bearings and bushings in a new Calcutta CT300D,  4 handle bushings with 4 bearings, 5 internal bearings (spool bearing replaced stock bushing).  Unfortunately, I can't tell you if it was better because, after I reassembled the reel, the spool clutch no longer was functional and the spool/gearing was noisy.  After many attempts taking apart and reassembling with no change in performance, I went ahead and sent the reel off to a reel repair shop in Interlochen, MI.  I asked them to detail what I did wrong so that I would not repeat error on the next maintenance cycle.

 

I guess the moral to this story is "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!"

[rippin-lips]

12 hours ago, puddlepuncher said:

@rippin-lips I've never understood people tricking out expensive reels solely for sake of appearance until now.  That is a beautiful reel.  I wouldn't even fish with it.  I bought a 3rd Met that sits on my desk and is purely for stress relief during the day.

 

 

 

Not everything is just for appearance. That particular reel is only cosmetic except the spool swap but I have a lot of others that have internal parts polished, different gears, fast worm gear upgrade, along with cosmetic parts. I have no shelf queens and I fish all of my gear. That’s why I bought it so I get enjoyment out of using it. I do have some fishing lures at work that I keep around to look at and dream about fishing haha. 

[DINK WHISPERER]

21 hours ago, rippin-lips said:

Yes, I do. To most people it’s a waste of money or considered pointless. $500 reel with another $300 worth of parts installed. Dumb right... You can’t see the gold Zpi pg spool. Why did I do it? Well, because I can, and it makes ME happy. You can’t take money with you when you die. Spend it on things that put a smile on your face. Cars,fishing gear,guns, ect. This site doesn’t have many that are enthusiasts and feel the need to spend even more money on a reel, but there are a good many of them out there though. @Redlinerobert comes to mind for sure. He basically had a reel built for him by Ian Shields. Who is 110% hands down the best in the business for reel tuning. 

I couldn't agree with you more! I don't leave anything stock in my life. Vehicles are all tricked out, house, guns and fishing gear is no different. It makes things unique to your own style. Does one of my tricked out, color matched fishing combos work any better then anyone else's stock combo, of course not. Does it put a big ol smile on my face and make me enjoy using it that much more, absolutely! 

[crypt]

all of my Ambassadeur's get faster gears,sometimes a better handle,ceramic line guide pawl. levelwind gear bearing upgrade. shallow spools on some models. upgrade bearings when needed. that's about it.

[craww]

I like to tinker, and will swap parts around, add a bearing to a handle knob or install a longer handle on occasion. I enjoy making performance improvements  but it's always been tough to justify the cost  of what some of these aftermarket parts go for. I can appreciate it  but  I always can find other things I'd rather spend my play money on LOL.

 

   My experience with actually tuning and polishing is that many current reels offer little to no tangible evidence and a whole lot of it is hookum/placebo effect. At one point  there could be a dramatic difference. But things like brass discs under the cast control cap/sideplate, Spool shafts that don't disengage from the pinion, rough gears that need to be "broken in", less generous  implementation of bearings etc, were areas that could be tangibly tweaked in the past. These days not so much. I've even noticed that the Korean BPS reels and such seem to have better bearings in them, MUCH improved drags than they did 10 years ago. Even Daiwas, which were the first reels to get drags upgraded have improved greatly in that aspect.

 

I mainly just keep my spool bearings flushed and lubed with a lightweight oil. All my reels get torn down initially and I remove all of the excess Grease, as I like  a reel that offers a little less resistance then what the factory offers. Once a season, (unless a real gets dunked) I tear the whole thing down and clean and relube. Try to keep an eye on things like the level wind along the way.

[diehardbassfishing]

Really appreciate cork on my rods, and cork reel handle knobs. I'm big on cork knob upgrading. I play with hybrid and full ceramic bearings. Not a big deal here - don't see any real performance benefit. Mainly for the option of very light lube or no lube operation.

My favorite mod is bearing shield (usually one side) removal. Makes flushing and oiling so much more effective.

 

Karl

[papajoe222]

I've switched out bearings on all my Daiwa Sols and Fuegos, added swept star drags and carbon fiber handles to the Sols and switched out gears on two of them.  I do it mostly to keep from buying new reels, It's cheaper to do an $80 upgrade than dish out $200 for a new reel that I don't really know if I'll like. 

[junyer357]

I do a deep clean and degrease the bearings on my reels when i take them out of the box. I have found several that came with too much grease, at least for my liking, from the factory. I then re-oil and grease them and spool them up. Then its a deep clean before each spring, and oil as needed on worm gear and other parts. 

[Mbirdsley]

What is the Ball park figure for up graded bearings For spinning reel?  Or does it depend on the reel?  I have a favorite spinning reel that I’ve have had for 8 years and noticed this spring that the bearings on the oscillating shaft had some rust in them.  The reel works fine but, I’m wondering if this winter I should replace them? 

[J Francho]

I don't see any reason to change bearings on a spinning reel, unless one is shot.

[SBFISHING]

do yall have any specific places you buy parts from? iv searched around on hawgtech and some others as well. just wondering opinions.

[J Francho]

9 minutes ago, SBFISHING said:

do yall have any specific places you buy parts from? iv searched around on hawgtech and some others as well. just wondering opinions.

Hawgtech, Hedgehog Studios, Smooth Drag, direct from the manufacturer.  You can also find stuff on eBay and Amazon.

[Mbirdsley]

1 hour ago, J Francho said:

I don't see any reason to change bearings on a spinning reel, unless one is shot.

I was just thinking of changing the rusty bearings out before it locked up on me while on the water.  Factory replacement ones are very little money. 

[rippin-lips]

2 hours ago, SBFISHING said:

do yall have any specific places you buy parts from? iv searched around on hawgtech and some others as well. just wondering opinions.

Hedgehog Studio

The Tackle Trap 

PLAT

Japan Tackle 

Direct from ZPI 

Leciel Style

 

[OnthePotomac]

Bantam1, who some may know is the long time Shimano rep has always said that no bait caster spins at an RPM high enough to realize any improvement beyond an ABEC 5 bearing and that carbon fiber drags do  not increase drag value, but do improve drag efficiency.

 

[Stephen B]

On ‎7‎/‎20‎/‎2018 at 6:41 AM, SBFISHING said:

do yall have any specific places you buy parts from? iv searched around on hawgtech and some others as well. just wondering opinions.

Whatever aftermarket parts (ZPI, Hawgtech, Hedgehog, BOCA, Spool Speed, etc) you decide to go with try to order/buy directly from them.