Guide On Cleaning a Shimano Fishing Reel

If you are a fisherman you have certainly heard stories of the big one that got away. Or maybe you have told those stories. Well if so, then you don't want a repeat of that experience. One way to avoid such a catastrophe, is to make sure your fishing gear, especially your reel, is kept relatively clean. How can it provide years of great service and fun to you, if it falls apart or gunks up from being dirty. Don't leave your fishing reel un-cared-for.

Give the fishing reel a little attention a couple of times a season. More often, if you are a salt-water fisherman. It is a very quick and simple process and you will find the steps are outlined for you below.

You will employ the following items:

• a Phillips screwdriver
• a bottle of grease for the reel ( WD -40 is not intended for use on your reel and will just make it gunk up with dirt. High quality reel oil is what you need.)
• Q-tips
• a clean piece of material or cloth
• paper napkins

Go ahead and take off the handle and separate it from the fishing reel. You may be able to unscrew a screw within the handle assembly. Sometimes you can just turn your handle the opposite direction. Now just set it aside on the towel or cloth.

Set your work area up to that you can see the screws that are keeping everything in place, then take them out. There should be anywhere from 3 to 5 screws in there. Make sure to count and remember so you know if you are missing any later. Now you can see a little metal tag - you can take it off and put it on the cloth as well.

Now you can really see what you are doing. Take one of the Q-tips and get any dirt off that is visible, then grease it up. Just get hold of your reel oil and apply some to each visible moving part inside the handle.

Do not apply too much oil to your reel. It won't help and it could get messy, plus cause the insides to actually stick. That's' the opposite of what you are trying to do here. Just use a few drops to take care if the situation.

Now put it all back together once again. Replace the metal tag and screws. Put a little more reel oil right there as well, and then you can go ahead and put the handle back in place. Congratulations, you're all finished. Now maybe someone can cook up some fried catfish for dinner!