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My standard process for cleaning fishing reels has been to lightly spray them off, hit them with some desalt spay, wait 10 min and lightly spray them off again. I also tighten the drag down before cleaning to prevent water from getting in the drag system. I loosen the drags afterwards before storing.

Lately I am hearing more and more about people dunking their reels in a bucket of fresh water as a way to clean them instead of spraying them off. Avet even list this as the proper way to clean them on there web site. Anyone have any experience with this process? Is it just for certain reels and not others? I know a lot of the reels I currently own are suppose to be completely sealed but still not sure if I trust the marketing enough to dunk them. If any of you have done this in excess of a year I'd like to hear how it's worked out.

I wash mine down with the hose and spray them with reel magic

I do mostly surf or inshore wade fishing and I hose mine off pretty liberally. I don't use reel magic or salt-away or any of that stuff. My main inshore combo has a Shimano Nasci 2500 on it which I have had for 3 years already. I've dropped it in saltwater or sand many times. On those occasions I rinse it really hard, take off the spool, take out the drag washers, and take off the reel arm and let everything soak for at least a few hours or even overnight to make sure all the salt/sand gets out of the moving parts. Then I hit it pretty good with corrosion-X, some cheap PENN reel lube in the usual places and good as new. Spin the reel arm for a couple minutes to work it all through. I do the same thing with my surf reels, I've had those even longer and they get really abused with waves and girlfriends dropping them in the sand, etc.

I hear different things on whether that approach is good or not good but the one thing I've always heard consistently is that it totally depends on the quality of your tap water. If you have really hard water it may not be wise for you.

I used to live in Corpus Christi, TX for a few years fishing the hyper saline laguna madre often and that is where I learned about corrosion-X from a friend. I have a few reel that should have probably died long after what I put them through but they are still super smooth and I credit the corrosion-X for keeping them alive.

I only do it if I know the reel has been submerged several times in one day in salt water. For example, swimming out to the sandbar to cast. When I get home I take the reel off and toss it in a bucket of fresh water for 20-30 minutes. Then I swish it around real good and take it out to let dry. I figure I'm trying to break up any salt crystals that are in there. I lubricate everything up, and install it back on the rod.

Normally, I just hose the reels off real good with a strong jet of water. Let dry, lube, and put up.

Hope this helps.

Dutch wrote: Normally, I just hose the reels off real good with a strong jet of water. Let dry, lube, and put up. Hope this helps.

Using a strong jet of water could be forcing salt crystals into parts of the reel where you don't want them.

I take my combos into the shower and use a warm gentle shower to rinse. Let 'em sit for a few minutes to dissolve the salt and then gentle rinse again. Back the drag washers completely off afterwards and let dry overnight. Haven't had any issues with reels using this routine.

You are lucky SK......my wife won't let me bring fishing gear into the bedroom/bathroom area. lol

But......I have noticed that the used rods/reels I have bought from you are in pristine shape so washing them while naked must be the secret.

It makes you extra cautious, especially around treble hooks.

silverking wrote: I take my combos into the shower and use a warm gentle shower to rinse. Let 'em sit for a few minutes to dissolve the salt and then gentle rinse again. Back the drag washers completely off afterwards and let dry overnight. Haven't had any issues with reels using this routine.

Is there an appropriate consent protocol? “May I take you in the shower and gently rinse you off?”

I think you need to do an instructional YouTube video on this process

bman wrote: I think you need to do an instructional YouTube video on this process

Naw, I have enough on my plate without becoming an overnight social media sensation.

I usually just spray mine off when I flush the outboard at home