How To Maintain Your Rods, Reels & Flylines

Over the course of a season your gear can get into a mess but you can preserve your kit with some simple steps.

RODS

Completely air dry your rod and place it in a cloth bag and tube before storing.

You should periodically clean your rod with warm water and soap and let it completely dry. If you are using them in saltwater make sure you do this every time out.

Take the rod apart when you are done fishing to avoid stuck ferrules. Storing assembled rods saves you a little bit of time but when they are stuck solid you run the risk of damaging the rod trying to separate sections.

The application of a little wax can help prevent slipped joints and breakages. To protect the tip, it is best to bag your rod with the tip and handle up, remember not to tie the sock up too tight.

REELS

Use a simple cleaning spray for wiping down the outside, at the very least rinse them in clean fresh water and dry them thoroughly. We'd recommend using an air duster and a simple reel maintenance set that contains synthetic reel oil and precision reel grease for maintaining the moving parts inside.

If you’re not confident then it’s best to leave them alone as some disassembly is required – but be careful and you can easily keep your reel serviced without needing to do a full strip and build.

• Clean the reel by rinsing with cool fresh water and dry.
• Take care to thoroughly remove all sand and grit from the reel.
• Leave the frame and the spool apart and dry out of the reel case.
• Reduce the drag pressure to the lowest setting when the reel is not in use and store in a neoprene or cloth reel case away from extreme temperatures.

After use in saltwater, pay attention to cleaning the reel, as saltwater can leave a sticky residue that will harden over time and corrode ­unprotected metal parts of any reel.

FLYLINES

Your flylines are dragged through muck and vegetation regularly. All those bits of grit add up and they’ll reduce the line’s lifespan.

Soak the flyline in warm water with some washing up liquid, five minutes should be grand unless it’s very dirty.

Gently pull the line through a cloth into another bucket of water to wipe off any remaining dirt. Don’t put too much pressure on the line, as the heat generated in the cloth can distort a flyline.

Gently pull the line back through a clean cloth, removing detergent and
dirt. You can then wind the line back on to your reel.

Floating fly lines can benefit from an application of one of the fly line treatments ­available but take care when using them on other lines in case you make your great intermediate line into a bad floater.