How to 'pimp out' your favourite trolling reel

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Just recently after reading some of Alan Tani's excellent guides on taking apart trolling reels and how to service them, I thought I'd drop in a say a) with a guide or the schematics it's not as hard as it seems and b) in my case it's something I never did to my reels, basically negleting them.

With trolling reels as most of you know, you've got Lever Drag and Star Drag reels. The drag mechanism on most star drags seem to be a lot smaller and compact and are usually made up of more than one drag washer, whereas Lever drag reels have one large drag washer (one or two high end reels have two drag washers but they are unusual).

Based on what I've read from Alan's guide, there are a few things you can do to 'pimp' out your reel and either have it run much better and smoothly or even increase the amount of drag pressure it can generate, all without spending a fortune.

Keeping water out seems to be the No.1 priority and the first things to fail are the bearings, especially the one located on the right hand side of the reel sideplate, the main sideplate bearing.



The biggest two problems are sub-standard bearings in terms of quality (their ABEC rating) and the correct lubrication. It seems that often bearing are lubricated on one side but not the other and even then it's patchy at best. The cheaper the reel the worse the bearing, though apparently even Shimano with their ARB bearing are not always totally lubed.

So Alan recommends ordering dry open bearings (no shields) and then applying the lube or grease yourself for a thorough job. Install most bearings open except the one on the right hand side plate. Shields that are installed after will have a retaining clip to be inserted. Bearings should be stainless steel ABEC5 rated.

In general pack all bearings with Yamaha Marine engine grease (the blue stuff) or if you want good freespool for live baiting or chunking then use CorrosionX lube on the spool bearings instead of grease (the clear stuff).



The second important part is the drag washer. If you own a Penn then get the HT100 drag washers available as a part for most Penn reels, these are carbon fiber drag washers, or otherwise order the Carbonex ones from smoothdrag.com If your reel isnt listed you can provide the dimensions and they can usually match one up.




The final stage is choosing whether you want to install a dry drag washer or a greased one. In the old days they were all dry but now 90% of manufacturers are installing wet drags as they provide a better initial pull out without the shudder. Use Cal's drag grease (also available from smoothdrag) or Shimano star drag grease. Apply a thick coating all over the drag washer, front and back if you have access, plus the sides. Then get a cloth and wipe away the excess so it looks like you've wiped it all off but its coated the washer all over.





Refer to one of Alan's guides for pictures and use Yamaha engine grease all over the internals of the reel to protect it from rusting. Again check out Alan's guides to see how its done.

Et voila! You should now have a pimped out reel that performs much better.

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btw you can do the same to a spinning reel, in terms of bearings and drag washer, I've just never taken one apart so I wouldnt be able to describe the procedure.