Maintain Your Reels

I have started to put away some of my gear for winter and I do some basic things to maintain my LEWS reels. First off release all your drags on spinning and bait casting reels so the drag washers have none or little pressure on them so they are ready to go next year. Lews spinning reels that I use all have outside oil ports on them. I unscrew the port cover and place 2-3 drops of oil inside of them, replace the cover screw and then reel the handle of the reel 10-15 times to help distribute the oil. Check your drag washers and replace them with new ones if necessary. I give them a clean on the exterior with Blakemore reel magic, strip the line and place them in the original box and put them away for next season. For my LEWS baitcasters they as very easy to maintain. These are one of the very few reels that have an outside lube port so you can oil your gears properly without having to strip the reel down and no costs to the angler to maintain. Grease your outside line roller and clean around and grease and oil your proper inside spool areas and you ready for next season. If you have other casting reels that are more involved to maintain I recommend you send them to the appropriate company’s service center and pay the fee for cleaning and oiling. They also give the reels a good once over and will let me know if anything needs to be fixed while they are cleaning my reels and the fee for the repair. Lews, Shimano and Pure Fishing all have excellent service centers in Ontario that will help you with parts and service. I want all my gear to be ready for next season and equipment is one of the variables we control as anglers so keep them in top condition. That's it and ready to go for next season to catch some big fish. See you out on the water and please practice Catch and Release