by: Dan Carns
Fishing out of a kayak can be really rough on your gear especially the reels. You and your kayak are super low in the water exposing all your fishing gear to the water and especially corrosive is salt water. All to often when we return home after fishing all day we’re not really thinking about cleaning up the gear but you should really consider starting a routine were you do a little maintenance on your rods and reels before they get put away. It took moving to S.W. Florida to realize that the Gulf of Mexico has a much higher salt content than I’m use too and was much more damaging to my fishing gear. Fortunately there are a couple of products and procedures designed to help you mitigate this issue. Even though you may not have exposed your reels directly to the water, the line is drawing water in as you reel back in and its probably dripping off the rod guides. Wavy conditions, paddle strokes and flopping fish can all splash water onto your gear.
My first suggestion is once your home find a place that you can hose down your rods paying special attention to the rod eyes. You don’t need to remove the reels but be careful not to spray high pressure water into the reels, just a light spray to help dissolve the salts. Next thoroughly dry your rod making sure to wipe down the eye inserts and then dry off the reel. Once they are dry you can spray with either a line conditioner like Reel Magic or Penn Rod and Reel Cleaner. These are designed to drive residual water and salt away leaving a protective coating. While it may seem expensive bringing your reels into a local repair shop once or twice a year, depending on use, it is a great investment. You would be surprised how many internal parts begin to wear out and can be replaced before total failure ruins a good day on the water. Also while your cleaning your rods and reels make sure to hose down your kayak making sure to rinse any salt from the nylon straps, seat and any other moving parts.
As a Kayak fishing guide my rods and reels get a tremendous amount of saltwater exposure and over time one particular brand began to outlast the others. Penn reels makes a model called the Penn Spinfisher and this reel shines in performance and durability. They have recently added even more protection by adding additional seals to help prevent internal corrosion. Another suggestion when purchasing rods is to make sure they have Fuji Guides. These tend to have thicker metal brackets and a better protective paint finish.
The old adage “you get what you pay for” applies to rods and reels and although I don’t pay a tremendous amount for either you should spend enough to avoid buying inferior gear.
Pro tip: Never put a wet lure back into your tackle box!
It’s A Wild World-Get Out There!