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U.S. Patent #6871608
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Kayak
Fishing With Jeff McGovern
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Saltwater Gear
Maintenance
Kayaks are king in saltwater flats fishing. You can
get into
places that even the finest flats boats have trouble accessing.
You have no fuel expense and the maintenance on the kayak is far less
than any motor powered craft. However, saltwater is not kind to
equipment of any type, so unless your gear is properly cleaned up after
every trip, it will wear out quickly and be ruined.
The process begins
on the water in the way gear is handled. Lures
should never be replaced in the tackle box directly after use.
They need to be placed in a separate plastic container that is for used
baits only. The small amounts of saltwater on the lure can be
transferred into your tackle box as baits are changed out and that
small amount ruins a box of lures in very short order.
Once you
arrive home, the baits in the plastic container need to be
cleaned. My own method for taking care of this is to add a
squirt of baby shampoo to the container and fill it with tap
water. A few shakes, a simple brush off with an old tooth brush
to get the crud, a tap water rinse and the lures are finally hung to
dry before replacing in the tackle box. The reason for the
recommendation of baby shampoo is that it rinses fully in cooler water
and it has no other substances in it other than simple soaps. It
won't harm your tackle and it's inexpensive.
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| All equipment from
the day should be cleaned up as soon as you get
home. The boat is easy: some people just spray it off and put it
up. I take a few extra minutes with mine and use a soapy water
wash down with one of the all-in-one car wash products. My
paddles, net, anchor, and other on board gear is done at the same time
and allowed to dry before being stored. Stainless rigging such as
on my anchor trolley will rust in time with continued saltwater use if
I don't clean it each time. |
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| Rod and reel are
ruined if they are not thoroughly cleaned after
saltwater use. There are different ideas for this process,
but the one I use has kept my gear in working order for years. I
have rods and reels pushing 40 years old that are still fine, work
great and I owe it to my cleanup methods. I start by clipping the
line and removing the leaders. The line is then secured to the
spool clips or, in the case of bait casters, to the reel frame.
Reels are removed from the rods before cleaning. The rods are wet
down and washed off using the car wash cleaner and mesh scrubby.
It's light cleaning not a harsh scrub and will not damage the guides or
wraps on the rods. Once rinsed, the rods are put aside to dry. |
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| The
reels are washed off using the baby shampoo on a wet wash
cloth. The idea is to just wash the reel off, not soak it.
Rinsing is done with another wash cloth and tap water. Do not
spray off the reel - it forces salty material into the reel and
destroys it from the inside. Once the reel is rinsed off it gets
a spray of furniture polish. It won't hurt anything (including
the line.) After the spray down of furniture polish it is wiped
clean. At this point, lubrication of the parts (like the level
wind worm gear on the bait casting reel) can be done before storage.
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Photos: Jeff McGovern
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Take care of your gear after every trip and it will last for
years. Put it up without cleaning and you'll be the tackle
store's best customer..
Jeff
Copyright
(C) Jeff McGovern, 2007
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