BEAT THE GRIND
an expert verdict on a pitfall of modern reels and why some TlC is so important…
Expert view on a pitfall of reels.
ever since the day when, as a schoolboy, I did my first serious tackle upgrade, buying a fixedspool to replace my trusty centrepin, I’ve been fascinated by reels. I remember exactly what I felt and thought at my local tackle shop. Here was technology that, even in my hands, would open up new opportunities. It was an Intrepid True Spin, and, boy, were the fish cruising those distant lily pads in for a hard time.
Of course, when I started out in this wonderful sport it was way before the internet. The way we got to know our gear was to play around with it in tackle shops. The better shops would have staff who were happy to spend time explaining not only how to use what they had on offer, but also how to look after it.
Over 50 years I have used and abused numerous reels, some with more bearings than they needed, and a good many that were sadly deficient in this department. I’ve also learned that some reels die with just a sniff of seawater, while some refuse to give up no matter how much ill-treatment you dish out.
SPEED AND STRENGTH
Now I’m putting hard-won experience to use by running the UK repair and service centre for the US manufacturer Seigler Reels. This has led me to identify a problem that I hope I can help to solve. It all starts with the modern angler’s quest for a reel that is both fast and powerful.
Fast is no problem. Most reels now seem to have a 6:1 ratio, a performance that is simply achieved through a big main gear and a small pinion gear.
Power is no issue either, thanks to largesurface carbon drags and fast-action drag levers. Up to and beyond 30lb of drag is easily available, even on small reels. Unfortunately, the problems start when you try to put the two together.
To get 6:1 performance, most pinion gears are very small – with just 11 teeth on some. With straight-cut gears, only one tooth is in the perfect place at any one time, and the next about 50 per cent there. The teeth are about a millimetre in size and pinions about 7mm wide, so at any one time an area of just 10.5mm square is taking all that drag pressure. This is why anglers have heard me shout: “Pump and wind – don’t grind!”
I’ve seen many fish in the hundreds of pounds brought in by anglers taking this advice, but recently, in my workshop, I have encountered plenty of reels that have seen their fair share of grinding. This sort of misuse wears the pinion gear and, in the case of leverdrags, the clearance goes, too, and with it the drag. Be warned, use the rod and not the reel to bring in heavy fish. Never, ever use the reel to break out of a snag.
TREAT IT RIGHT
Reel care has always been a problem, but, in the past, it was that friendly tackle shop which, after taking your money, would offer basic advice on use and maintenance. You don’t get that when you buy online.
Printed manuals offer care and maintenance advice, but there is one element that all anglers should be aware of – water. It’s hard to avoid when you are fishing. Water is a reel’s enemy, and saltwater is by far the most damaging. Ceramic bearings and marine stainless steel are touted as answers to corrosion problems, but even the best reels will rust and fail through lack of care.