Care Of Your Fishing Reels The worst enemie  of deep sea fishing reels are salt dirt, grime and pollutants from the water you are fishing in. Fishing reels should be cleaned and lubed at least once a year, or more often if you are an avid fisherman. If you prefer take your reels to a tackle shop that you trust. The fall of the year is best for this type of service. If you missed cleaning your reels last fall then now is the time, but be prepared for a delay of a week or two to get your reels serviced.

If you clean and lube your reels yourself, be careful and deliberate when you disassemble a reel. Lay the parts out in order and reassemble in reverse order. Denatured alcohol is good for cleaning gears and mechanisms. Use the alcohol to clean painted parts such as frames, side cover and plastic parts. Gears are the priority parts for grease, oil for most everything else and don't over do it on grease or oil. A little dab will do it.

Use your owners manual for oil points. Do not use oil and greese off the shelf. use only grease and oil made by reel manufacturers.  If you fish weekly you should oil bearings and line guide worm shafts.
A word of warning - Some of the newer reels of the last two or three years are very complicated . Some use special lubricants and will not work without them. I strongly suggest you let your tackle shop or the manufacturer do the work on these fishing reels.

One very important tip about your drag system is be sure to back it off when not using it. Leaving the drag on constantly will rapidly decrease the life of a drag system.