River Fishing and Brackish Water Gear

[1984isNOW]

I have no experience fishing a river, but I plan to hit one up soon. Will the brackish water mess up my gear?

 

Do I need to do anything special for maintenance? How far up the river does the brack start/is there a way to tell - just jump down and take a sip?

[Motoboss]

“Brackish” water is typically due to bank soil and field runoff contributions. It could start at a major drainage stream, river arm or ditch a mile up or 100 miles up. “Reddish” color usually dictates a higher iron content but it is mostly a combination of soil ingredients flowing into the river.

It’s not going to harm any of your equipment but a good spray with the hose afterwards is always a good idea, mainly to wash off the grit that can be carried in the water, kinda like salt water fishing. If fish can survive and thrive in it it’s not a big deal.

 

 I just wouldn’t leave a boat sitting in it tied up for days on end ?

[bulldog1935]

Brackish water should mean salt tidal boundary.

 

Most freshwater gear fishes fine in the salt.  Just make sure you rinse everything well. 

 

[Deleted account]

1 hour ago, Motoboss said:

“Brackish” water is typically due to bank soil and field runoff contributions.

Not really.

[MN Fisher]

55 minutes ago, bulldog1935 said:

Brackish water should mean salt tidal boundary.

"Brackish water occurs when the freshwater from a river or lake meets the salty seawater of an ocean body."

https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2022/06/30/brackish-water-environments/

[Motoboss]

16 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Not really.

Ok we are hundreds of miles inland and use the term “Brackish” to describe off colored water. Technically yes, as defined by @MN Fisher post but I was referencing  “in genral”, sorry!

 

River/stream water contains runoff which have soil, minerals and contaminants from the soil. Even rock and sand erosion contributes to the color.
Brackish (off color) water doesn’t fall from the sky and inland there are no salty water conditions but still brackish colored water.

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

Or my DNR training is wrong.

Nailed it.

 

My college major was Aquatic Biology - brackish water is water with salt in it. The runoff things you're talking about is 'cloudy' or 'stained' water...the turbidity of which is determined by the total suspended solids (TSS)

[1984isNOW]

Perhaps your do not resuscitate training didn't clarify, but the others are correct and that is exactly why I was asking - fishing in water that is salted vs totally fresh. I wasn't sure If I needed to do anything special to start fishing in lightly salted water. 

 

So I can hose into my reels? That won't damage or ruin the lubrication?

[Motoboss]

Semantics I guess. I get it.

[MN Fisher]

5 minutes ago, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

So I can hose into my reels? That won't damage or ruin the lubrication?

I wouldn't blast them with a hose at full power...a light rinse in the kitchen sink should be more than enough. Though I would clean/lube them more often.

[Deleted account]

3 hours ago, Motoboss said:

River/stream water contains runoff which have soil, minerals and contaminants from the soil. Even rock and sand erosion contributes to the color.

Absolutely. The ocean isn't salty because it started out that way, it is salty because minerals are washed into it by rivers and concentrated by evaporation.

[bulldog1935]

extrapolation from the simple truth takes on strange forms (the ocean came from rivers - not:  2% fresh, 1% clouds, balance ocean)

 

Since I'm here,

in this arm of the Rio Grande delta, the tidal boundary goes up the arroyo to Port Harlingen. 

 

We fish with gar, alligators, dolphin and night herons. 

Oh, and Susie. 

Yeah, pelicans and blue heron are easier to photograph than night heron. 

[roadwarrior]

5 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

My college major was Aquatic Biology - brackish water is water with salt in it. The runoff things you're talking about is 'cloudy' or 'stained' water...the turbidity of which is determined by the total suspended solids (TSS)

 

[MN Fisher]

4 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

 

[FishTank]

My two cents..... from Wikipedia ?‍♂️

 

 

 

On the reel...Fish, rinse, repeat.

[J Francho]

This thread reminds me of something....

[GetFishorDieTryin]

When you rinse a reel you want to do with a cool, low pressure fine mist.  You could probably get away with just wiping it down with a damp cloth.  That way you run no risk of water intrusion.

What reel(s) you using? 

 

[Catt]

10 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

That way you run no risk of water intrusion

 

Don't know what reels ya using but mine are designed to get wet...even on the inside.

 

Everything I fish is "brackish" to a degree plus I use my bass tackle for catching Specks-n-Reds in saltwater.

 

Personally I prefer slightly warmer than lukewarm to dissolve the salt. 

 

Oh by the way clean your rod & any hard baits you used.

[J Francho]

Warm, gentle tap is fine.

[bulldog1935]

The purpose of a rinse is to push-away salt-bearing water. 

Cold water is a better rinse than warm water. 

The solubility in warm water leaves more salt in the residual water film. 

Cold water rinse leaves less salt residual in the residual water film. 

 

hey, I got an A in P-Chem (derived the entire course from Maxwell's Relations, which gave the prof a kick - he excused me from the final exam)

[Catt]

2 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

The solubility in warm water leaves more salt in the residual water film. 

 

Temperatures are dealers choice 

 

Rinse "thoroughly" & wipe down with a microfiber cloth. 

 

Disassemble, clean, & lubricate on a routine bases.

[roadwarrior]

4 hours ago, bulldog1935 said:

I got an A in P-Chem (derived the entire course from Maxwell's Relations, which gave the prof a kick - he excused me from the final exam)

Simple as that:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maxwell_relations

[bulldog1935]

I also got and A and excused from the final in Tensor Analysis and Mechanics of Continuous Media. 

[ska4fun]

On 9/25/2022 at 10:06 PM, PUTitinYOURmouthFISH said:

I have no experience fishing a river, but I plan to hit one up soon. Will the brackish water mess up my gear?

 

Do I need to do anything special for maintenance? How far up the river does the brack start/is there a way to tell - just jump down and take a sip?

Brackish water can damage your gear in ways even saltwater can't, since it has a lower density and higher penetration. 

[GetFishorDieTryin]

9 hours ago, Catt said:

 

Don't know what reels ya using but mine are designed to get wet...even on the inside.

 

Everything I fish is "brackish" to a degree plus I use my bass tackle for catching Specks-n-Reds in saltwater.

 

Personally I prefer slightly warmer than lukewarm to dissolve the salt. 

 

Oh by the way clean your rod & any hard baits you used.

Not really.  Measures are taken to keep water out.  There is a big descprenecy between the water resistance of a say a Tatula LT and Gosa.  The Gosa is very well protected against splashes and spray where there really isn't anything stopping water ingression into the Tatula.  Like every other reel Tatula LT relies on centrifugal force to force out any water that may have gotten inside.  Once there is a significant amount of water ingression in any spinning reel the best option is to take it apart and service it.  If my VS gets water in it will fail eventually, so will a Gosa, and so will a Tatula LT. 

There are a lot of people who like to use warm water.  The fact is that warm water will dissolve crystalized salt, potentially driving it deeper into the reel instead of gently flushing it out.  I cant say that I've had issues because of rinsing reels of with warm water, because I used to do it when I was younger.  If you speak to any Shimano, Daiwa, Penn, etc... certified reel tech they will tell you to rinse with cool water.