| For anyone who wants their fishing reel to | | | | aside. |
| perform as it should, they should set aside an | | | | If you examine your spinning reel, you will see |
| hour of time, once a year, to clean and oil their | | | | that on one side there are several small |
| spinning reels. An hour of time is a small price to | | | | screw-heads (usually 3 or 4). Using the small |
| pay to make sure that you spinning reel | | | | screwdriver, remove these screws, and set them |
| performs, as it should. As you gain experience, | | | | aside. The plate that the screws were holding in |
| cleaning a spinning reel won't even take an hour, | | | | place should now be removed. Removing this |
| but the point is that it doesn't take much time at | | | | plate exposes the inner workings of the spinning |
| all. I know from experience that this is a great | | | | reel. Now using a Q-tip or two, remove any debris |
| idea, because your reel will always choose to stop | | | | such as dirt or sand that you see inside the gears |
| working properly at the most inopportune times, | | | | of the reel. Now add your lubricant to every gear |
| like when your in the middle of battling a trophy | | | | that you see. A drop or two (or quick spray) |
| fish! | | | | usually works fine. Now simply reverse the |
| If you're going to clean your spinning reel, you're | | | | process. |
| going to need 5 things: | | | | Once the spinning reel is re assembled, give it a |
| 1. a clean area to work, | | | | few cranks, to distribute the lubricant. Your reel |
| 2. small screwdriver(usually Phillips head), | | | | should be working as if it were brand new at this |
| 3. Q-tips, | | | | point. If these simple steps are followed once a |
| 4. Reel grease or WD-40, | | | | year before the beginning of fishing season, your |
| 5. Some clean towels. Now that you're ready the | | | | spinning reel will last you for years and years. |
| first thing to do is to remove the handle. This is | | | | Think of it like changing the oil in your car. It's |
| normally accomplished by either turning the crank | | | | simple and easy, and just keeps everything |
| counter clock wise, or by backing out a screw on | | | | working properly. If you follow this advice your |
| the opposite side of the crank. Now that you | | | | spinning reel won't let you down when you least |
| have the handle removed, simply wipe it clean and | | | | expect it either. |
| add a little of the lubrication. Now set the handle | | | | |