Winter Tackle Maintenance – Prep your saltwater lures, rods and reels for the year ahead!

Mid winter, the most challenging time of the year for sea anglers. With short days and long nights and weather that more often than not is at best inclement, opportunities to go fishing will be few and far between. What to do to while away the dark nights?

Now is the perfect time to give your tackle a thorough look over. It’s time to replace lost rigs, renew line on reels and generally ensure that when finally conditions improve you will be good and ready to take full advantage of them. The saltwater environment is a tough one and corrosion is the bane of the sea angler, especially if you are a lure angler with hooks, links, split rings and swivels all at risk from corrosion.

Fishing tackle is expensive, especially lures, with some of the most popular lures used to day commanding eye watering prices. Losing an occasional lure to snags in unavoidable, but allowing a lure to corrode due to a lack of maintenance is absolutely preventable. Tackle savvy anglers will ensure they rinse or better still soak their lures in fresh water after use, then allow them to dry before replacing them in the tackle box. But even if you religiously follow this procedure certain components will eventually start to show signs of corrosion, and require replacing. Just imagine the sickening scenario in a few months time when the fish of a lifetime is lost as a result of a corroded hook point or split ring snapping.

Hooks in particular should be examined closely. If they show even the slightest sign of corrosion, change them. Even seemingly minimal damage can seriously weaken the strength of a hook. Of course you should check that each and every point on each and every hook on all of the lures you have used is as sharp as possible. The best way to do this is to carefully run the point across a finger nail, which it should scratch with ease. If the points have been dulled through use, most likely as a result of contact with rocks, then depending on the extent of damage and the type of hook you have two options; either sharpen or replace.

Many modern lures are fitted with chemically sharpened hooks. If the points of these have been damaged, as can easily happen with even light contact with rocks, they should be replaced. From my experience resharpening a chemically sharpened hook to all but impossible. If the hooks are bronzed or steel these can quickly be sharpened, with a few light strokes using a very fine file or stone.

It is also important to check each split ring and swivel. Once again these should be changed if they show even the slightest indication of corrosion, or damage due to strain. It is very important to replace all lure hardware with as near as identical to the original size as possible. Even a slight increase or decrease in hook size can seriously affect the action of a lure.

Most saltwater lure anglers today use a lot of soft plastic lures. These are supplied either with or without hooks, and in the later case these should be examined and treated as above. Most soft plastics have a finite life, they are expendable, but now is a time to give any you have used a quick look over for damage. Most cuts and tears in soft plastic lures can be easily and efficiently repaired with super glue.

Moving on to reels, let’s start by looking at line. If your reel has been loaded with monofilament line then my advice is strip it from the spool, and dispose of it responsibly. I don’t reload my reels with monofilament until just before I intend to use them. And when I do it is always with fresh line, not some old spool that’s been buried in the tackle bag for a year or more.

Braided lines are much more durable than monofilament, at least the good quality ones are. Certainly I expect to get more than just a season’s use from braid. What I do recommend is cutting off the last 20-30ft of braid, the line that most likely may have come into contact with rock. Next, retie a fresh leader. If you do decide to respool a reel with braid make sure it is wound tightly onto the spool. Failure to do this will result in the pressure from even a modest sized fish causing the line to dig deeply into the spool, almost certainly resulting in the loss of the fish, and most likely damaging many yards of line.

Give the reel a good clean with an oily rag, followed by a light spray with a product such as WD40. Lightly oil all moving parts, especially the handle knob, bail arm and the shaft onto which the spool sits. Depending on the reel and how much use it has had, and how well you have maintained it after use, you may or may not have to take it apart for further attention. Mostly I just remove the spool, clean and wipe everything with an oily rage, re-oil the then reassemble.

If the reel is making strange noises or does not feel as smooth as it once was, you’ll have to delve deeper. Mostly you’ll be looking at component parts such as bearings that require replacing, occasionally more significant parts such as gears. If you have the time and are practically adapt then a quick search online should find the relevant parts, that you can order and replace yourself. If not, the reel should be sent to a service centre. Your local tackle shop should be able to advise on this, and possibly even carry out the repair themselves.

Last but not least, give your rods an examination. Our much used oily rag is perfect to wipe the blank, and clean the guides and reel seat. Check each and every guide liner for damage. These are usually ceramic, and are all too easily damaged if banged against a hard surface.

A slight crack in this lining will cause serious damage to your line. If you find a damaged guide it will need replacing. Once again this is an easy enough task if you are so inclined, if not take it to the tackle shop when almost certainly they’ll be able to carry out the work in house, or put you in contact with someone who can.

Words & Images: Dave Lewis

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