RE E L L IFE
Story & Photos
BY DAN ISAAC
lengthen your
It is probably the second most asked question I hear: “Is there anything I should do in order to take better care of my reels?”
Actually, there usually is. And the answer to the question changes with the seasons.
I will focus on wintertime care, as I saw something this morning at the ramp that lead me to this topic.
What did I see you ask? How about a dozen and a half rod and reel combos strapped on a boat’s front deck in the elements. Yep, he had at least $600 of equipment on the deck, all of the way from Sacramento in a driving rain storm. They were being exposed to two plus hours of wind, rain and road grime. Not the best idea when thinking about extending the life of a reel.
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Obviously, your reels are subject to many stresses and situations over the course of a fishing season. Two of the most threatening are “wet”, and “cold”.
As we all know, wet and cold become synony- mous with winter weather. These two elements are an everyday hurdle for all anglers to overcome; however, there are a few things we can do to limit the exposure and thereby the damage to our equipment.
TAKE COVER
First off, do not drive to and from the lake with your rods strapped to the front deck in the rain. You’ve seen the car or the boat after a drive in the rain. It is not just wet. It is covered in rod grime. When the reels
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