Taking Care of Tackle after Saltwater Game
Saltwater game challenge the durability of your tackle and gear with exposure to moisture, salt, and UV sunlight. It is a natural law that all metal rusts and carbon fiber errodes under sunlight, but you can prolong the life of your tackle if you take counter measure.
Rust on metal is a result of oxidization caused by oxygen to exchange atoms with metal. Water acts as catalyst between oxygen and metal, and salt in moisture is electrolyte to facilitate this chemical reaction run faster.
Ultra violet found plenty within sunlight erodes the cort to weakn their bond. Keeping your tackle under direct sunlight will cause various issues from colour change to weakening of epoxy that lead to crack.
In short words, keep your tackle free of moisture and salt when you are not using them. Store your tackle away from direct sunlight.
1. Reel: wash, soak, and complete dry
Separate spool from housing. Wash both spool and housing of your reel with plenty of running water from faucet. Then fill a bucket, sink, or bathtab with warm water. Tighten drag and soak your reel in this pool of warm water. Leave it for an hour or two to make sure salt residue in lines and mechanism dissolve into freshwater. When done, let loose the drag and place your spool and housing on top of towel and let it dry where no direct sunlight hits. Bring it to complete dry which usually takes about 24 hours or more when humidity is high.
If you feel lazy, you could put the whole reel into sink like above photograph, but please make sure to dry your reel with spool and housing seprated.
If using click or disc drag reel, make sure to lubricate clutch or disc to keep its smooth and protected from rust.
If using concealed drag reel (such as Nautilus, Ross, and etc), make sure no salt or grit is left before putting spool and housing together.
2. Rod: wash & complete dry
Wash your rod with warm water and use mild dish detergent on sponge if necessary to clean dirt and salt off metal parts, rod blank, and cork handle. Make sure to wash off salt on metal parts such as reel seat and guides. When done, tap with dry towel to especially make sure to dry metal parts well.
3. Extra Protection on Metal Parts
In high moisture season, I use Kure's CRC 6-66 Marine Formula on metal parts to give extra protection against rust. The compound in the spray work as lubricant and courting to protect metal parts.
4. Cleaning Fly Line
Before or after reel comes to complete dry, you could clean your fly line. Using silcone based fly line dressing could clean, lubricate, and protect your fly line.
Take decent amout of dressing on tissue paper.
Take out fly line out of reel and make sure to rub the part of line that touches guide so you won't loose control on your next cast.
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