How To Clean Saltwater Reels

You might learn something new on this spinning reel cleaning tip (I know I sure did while researching for it)…

But first, let's talk about the one downside to saltwater fishing.

Yes, I openly admit that there is a downfall to saltwater fishing (but just this one thing).

It's the fact that salt water can completely destroy fishing equipment (especially expensive fishing reels).

I'm afraid to calculate the amount of money I've lost due to salt damage to my fishing reels over the years, but the stack of old reels in the corner of my spare bedroom (aka… fishing room) will attest to it being a lot.

So this post will address the fact that we must make an effort to clean off our reels after every trip out on the water…

And we'll dive in to some cool tactics that I just recently found while researching the topic today too.

But before reading on and/or watching the video below, please know that there are a bunch of different ways to clean salt off of a fishing reel.

I chose to explain the method below because it makes a lot of sense and most people have the needed items already so it won't require any additional purchases.

How To Clean A Spinning Reel

Since there are many different ways to clean a spinning reel, let's first cover what everyone seems to agree upon so you'll at least not break the two most basic cardinal rules:

Always do some type of cleaning to your reels after fishing in salt water whether it be a hose or a towel like I show in the video
Never spray your spinning reels from the underside of the reel (if you hose off your spinning reel, make sure to hose it off from the top of the reel so the water has less of a chance of getting inside)

Now that we got those core rules out of the way, this video explains a cool method that should significantly increase the life-span of a saltwater angler's spinning reels.

How To Properly Clean A Spinning Reel After Saltwater Fishing [Video]

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Conclusion

Without proper care, even the most expensive spinning reels will eventually get compromised from exposure to salt.

So it's on us to make time to effectively clean our reels so that they can last as long as possible.

And the tips explained in the video above show a fairly easy way to wipe away salt without putting the reel at risk of pushing salt and/or grime up into the inner workings of the reel.

If you don't want to take the time to manually wipe off the reel with the wet rag, then I'd recommend misting it with a hose and then still wiping the reel dry with a cloth rag so that any salt/grime that may still be on the reel will be wiped away.

If you know of any tips/tricks to clean your spinning reels that weren't covered in this post, please leave a comment below to help us all maximize the lifespan of our equipment.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Related Post: "How To Spool A Spinning Reel With Braid While Saving Time & Money" (watch it here)

how to spool braided fishing line

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Fish On!