Maintenance on Spinning Equipment

[jean]

Dear All,

Thought about opening a post re maintenance on spinning equipment items. The basic info I found and would like to share is the following:

Rod: After use, clean it up with fresh water and spray car dashboard cleaner over it and wipe in order to protect both guides and rod. Another tip with respect to cleaning the cork handle is to use bicarbonate of soda – the original colour is regained and it also protects the rod. Best not to use cleaning products like the kitchen cleaning products as these might cause damage.

Reel: Clean after use with fresh water and wipe with a dry cloth. When not in use best to leave the drag fully opened. If the line is a braid, one can spray silicone spray which protects and also reduces the possibility of bird-nests upon next use.

Lures: Best to douse in fresh water and dry well after use. Changing of treble hooks once these get rusted

The above is quite basic and might be obvious to many of the experts here one the forum. However I would like to add some questions with respect to other maintenance issues which I am not sure how to go on about.

Lure Hooks: Sizes – when hook sizes vary, will the negatively impact upon the swimming action of the lures? And when one cannot find the right size, what the best solution?  With respect to the feathers, how what can be utilised as replacement?

Rods: Changing guides – what is required and how can the process be conducted? This is especially important in case wrapping of the guides is required.

Reels: How should one go about greasing reels and what is ideal grease to utilise?

Regards,
jean 

[The_Gaffer]

Lures - From my experience with various types of lures, each and every lure has its own unique characteristics in terms of action.  The same lure will behave differently under different types of scenarios, including leader size and length, sea conditions, speed, presentation (angle) of lure position in the sea, and hook size.  My suggestion would be to find a jetty and simulate the action under various conditions.  I used to do that when trying out new lures.  

Rod guides - This is a job best left to professionals the likes of (clutch-kick) and Mark at Fishing Frenzy.  It is possible to change damaged guides on rods, but the amount of items needed to complete the job does not justify the repair being taken on by yourself.  You need special epoxy and paint, wrapping thread, turning machine (where you position the rod on and turn the rod to apply the wrapping tread), and epoxy lacour finish.  You also need to align to dead centre the replacment guide to the other guides on the rod.

Reels - If you have the patience and the knowhow, you can do this job yourself. As stated before, always spray your reels after use with a fine jet of fresh water and wipe clean.  Make sure to tighten (close) your drags before spraying water, to prevent the water spray pushing in the salt deposits into the drag system.  Before the fishing season starts, or in case you use your reels all year round, every 6 months or so, oil your reel with an approved lubricant by the reel manufacturer.  The lubrication points will be pointed out on the manufacturer's instruction leaflet.  Also, if you feel up to it, slowly take the reel apart and grease as per manufacturer's instructions, wipe clean with a soft damp cloth, dry and re apply grease and lub oil to all moving parts as per manufacturer's instructions.  You'll find most reel instructions and how to narratives on the internet or even youtube, with visuals, voice and video to make the dissasembly and reassemby simple enough.  I hope this answers your queries!

[clutch_kick]

Jean.

changing hook sizes on lures is a bit risky.  Your best bet is to stick to the original hook size/manufacturer.  if you really want to change sizes it will invariably alter the swimming/action of the lure, so you need to experiment.

changing guides must be done very cautiously.  If you don't know how to do it, YOU WILL damage the rod.  Best thing is to watch a professional do it and maybe do it yourself under his guidance.  basically speaking, sewing thread and superglue won't do the job at all.

[jean]

I realised the guides issue a while ago when doing some internet re-search but asked maybe there might be some other opinions. However as you both advised will not attempt the job myself. Better safe than sorry. 

Will have a look on the sites like rapala etc, (according to make of lure) in order to keep the lures balanced. Changing the rings proved a little tricky (between lure and hooks), but hopefully will master the process too.

[MartinB]

I realised the guides issue a while ago when doing some internet re-search but asked maybe there might be some other opinions. However as you both advised will not attempt the job myself. Better safe than sorry.  

Will have a look on the sites like rapala etc, (according to make of lure) in order to keep the lures balanced. Changing the rings proved a little tricky (between lure and hooks), but hopefully will master the process too.

Rapala lures exclusively use VMC hooks which you can purchase in many local tackle shops and in my experience are a good,sturdy treble hook.Also i like Owner who do a wicked treble hook 
As clutchkick pointed out,if you intend on changing the size (or type) of hooks it will have an affect on the swimming action of the lure one way or the other (positively & negatively) so you will have to experiment a bit! Tbh the only time i intentionally change the size & type of hooks (barring rust/bent hooks) on certain lures is during lampuki season as they are expert escape artists...especially with treble hooks! Still trying to find the best hook's for them tbh 

To change the little rings (split rings) can be a bit of a chore if you've never done it before as they are tough/stiff to open, and can also easily be deformed if you exert too much pressure on them in the wrong way.
However you can purchase a special tool (pliers) for this job which makes life alot easier.
Check this link http://www.artbeads.com/howtousespri.html or do a search on google or youtube as their is a video if im not mistaken.

As for changing rod guides you do need to use a special epoxy resin as 'regular' (super) glues probably won't be as strong,may possibly mar the finish of your rod & worst case scenario can actually damage a carbon composite rod,especially super glue as this tends to shrink whilst its curing/drying.
My advice,give it to clutchkick or Mark at fishing frenzy,as per gaffer's reccomendation (ive shopped at fishing frenzy but never done repairs there,but if a meticulous guy like gaffer say's he's good then he MUST be) they'll do you a good job and then some  
Tight Lines  

[jean]

Hey thanks for the advice. 

The pliers are really cool. Will try get myself one as my nails are suffering!

Got a new reel and went to try it out yesterday. Tried Mistra but the sea was all cloudy and murky - guess not the best for spinning I think. What’s your opinions about spinning in murky type of waters? Anyone ever had any success?

jean

[jean]

Yesteday night also tried again. No luck at all. Just birds-nests and a lost minnow used it only once!

Where have the fish all gone hehe??? 

[clutch_kick]

if you're getting bird's nests with braided line, it means you have one of the following:

Rod or the reel is too big/small for the combination you have.

The reel is not made for braided line ( but your reel is, so this rules it out).

The line is crap ( but the guy you bought it from would not sell you crap line, so it's out too).

The distance of the first guide after the reel is not good, when compared to the spool face diameter.

[rammx]

or else try spraying silicone spray on the braid...

[jean]

Well the birds nest are cause of a). mistakes I made when casting; b). need to spool the reel a bit more as the braid is so thin that it requries another 100m. New reel and braid were super, no probs at all. The lost lure got to me but anyway, that seems to be the sport.

Re silicone spray, do you use the normal one you get from the hardware store?

[clutch_kick]

Unspool the reel, put normal mono as a backing then use the FJ knot to tie your mono backing to the braid.

yeah Normal silicone spray works.

[MartinB]

Definitly the worst thing for inducing a birds nest is having too much or too little line/braid on the reel spool..its a 100% guaranteed birds nest!
Re spool with a mono backing as clutchkick suggested a.s.a.p. and whilst your re-spooling your braid give it a good spraying of silicone lubricant e.g. crank 15-20 turns of braid on your reel and spray,repeat till you fill your spool to the optimum level approx 50mm from the spool lip

[jean]

Sorted the reel yesterday and actually backed it up with some other braid i had. Also managed to use the appropriate knot in order to join braid to a 50 cm long florocarbon ending (.40). At the end I placed a good strong small swivel (which i dont usually put as i tie via rapala knot directly to the lure).

Equipment was a bomb. The new Ryobi reel and the Berkley Whiplash braid worked perfect. No nests or anything. No back pain too and was using the 3.00m spinning rod.

Went to sliema as i figured with wind from the back and swell coming in the conditions would be right for some action. Well the foam and the big waves were fantastic. Started at around 6.00pm and stayed there till around 7.15. Had to make a move cause of waves and rain. Went to the port area in sliema and contiued from 7.30 till 9.00. Had to give up cause of the inceasing wind.

No strikes at all This leads me to question my lure sizes but used different ones. (Rapala x-rap; Halco lure, daiwa lure - totally black, and some others). Also questioning the swivel and my retrieve speeds which i varied quite a lot from slow to fast to jigging actions and left to right movmente. However i keep fingers crossed for next time.

ps lost another lure which was a type of jigging lure i think. 

[MartinB]

Not much to say really except welcome to the world of spinning!! Frequent frustrations with the occasional reward!!  
No but seriously re your doubts about lure sizes and retrieval speed(s) i wouldn't worry too much if your spinning in and around port areas as you can more often than not still get a 'cuda in these area's and if they are in the mood they'll snap at pretty much anything!! Obviously all things being equal..Check this link i caught this at imsida 3yrs ago in very similar conditions to yours i.e very high wind (which is why i(we) ended up fishing at imsida) in the early hours (dark)

http://maltafishingforum.com/talk/index.php/topic,1305.msg19300.html#msg19300

Also i think with a strong gusting wind you probably had a bit of current to deal with too! so in that case i think a swivel would actually be a necessity.

Also in my opinion you did the right thing experimenting with different speeds and lure types and retrieval methods, esp. in high wind conditions with a nice swell on the sea,as you never know what might be lurking around   only conclusion is i guess they just didn't want to know that day..it happens alot mate! Tipo the last time i went fishing...

Imho id stay away from using jigs in ports when its dark, due to most of them being quite shallow for jigging on the whole..and esp at night!! However that being said its quite easy to get a jig stuck on the bottom in deep water during the day too!!! Just ask anyone who's spent anytime jigging!

Best method is to try keeping a gentle pressure on the line when the jig is sinking,by letting it run between your index finger and thumb,and as soon as you feel the line stop letting out,immediately tug the line towards the reel to get the jig off any potential snags and close the bail arm and then reel a 1/4 of a turn of the handle and raise the rod a bit...That should keep your jig from snagging most of the time! However if the bottom is very uneven of has large weed beds it can still get stuck!!  

Spinning is 90% perserverance so just keep at it and im sure you'll get rewarded
Tight Lines

[jean]

Hey Martin,

Thanks for your reply and info - the strange thing about spinning is that although I haven't caught anything latley I keep constantly thinking about it! hehe

The jig I was using was pretty heavy, but the funny thing is that I actually think it was seaweed as it started giving way when pulled by hand but then got totally stuck and had to cut the line.

I was having a look at some vids and articles on the net and encountered spinning with soft-silicone lures. From what i gathered the options are two. First using a weighted hook and second using quite big lures without the hook (the lure weight permits a good cast). I notice that most of the rods used are quite light tackle lures and casts are quite impressive but conditions were with no wind at all.

Has anyone ever gave them a shot?
jean