End of Season Tackle Maintenance: An Hour That Saves a Lot of Money

Tackle does not usually fail on a quiet day. It fails when a good fish is on, in bad weather, at the worst possible moment, and almost always because of something that could have been spotted in ten minutes at home. Autumn is the season that does the damage, so this is the time to get into the habit.

Reels: the drag is the thing

Start with the drag, because it is what loses you fish. Back it right off after every session and store it slack. A drag left tightened for months takes a set in the washers and becomes jerky, which is exactly what breaks a hooklength on a lunge at the net.

Strip the spool, wipe the shaft and the inside of the spool, and put a light smear of grease on the shaft. If the drag already feels notchy rather than smooth, the washers need replacing, and that is a cheap part rather than a new reel.

Check the line roller spins freely. A seized roller cuts line and it is one of the most common causes of unexplained breakages.

Saltwater is a different job entirely

If you fish the sea, none of the above is enough. Salt gets everywhere and it keeps working long after you have got home.

Rinse everything in fresh water after every trip, and rinse means a gentle spray, not a jet from a hose, which drives salt into the bearings. Reels, rod rings, rod butts, the reel seat, tripod legs and any tools.

Dry it properly before it goes away. Salt trapped under a reel seat will corrode a rod blank quietly for a whole winter.

This is the single biggest difference between sea anglers whose gear lasts a decade and those who replace it every couple of years.

Rods: rings, seats and the bits you never look at

Run a piece of nylon stocking through every ring. If it snags, the ring liner is cracked and it is quietly shredding your line. A cracked liner is a couple of pounds to replace and it will destroy an expensive spool of braid.

Check the reel seat threads for grit and salt and clean them out. Check the spigot joints on a multi-piece rod, and wipe them clean. A dirty spigot wears and eventually you get a joint that will not seat properly or will not come apart at all.

A tiny rub of candle wax on a spigot that has started to stick is the old trick and it works.

Line: replace it, do not nurse it

Line is the cheapest part of your setup and the only thing connecting you to a fish. Autumn is hard on it, with more abrasion from snags and debris, and UV over the summer has already weakened the top section.

Strip off the top thirty or forty yards of mono at minimum, and if it has done a full season, replace the lot. Run it through your fingers as you strip it and feel for rough sections.

Braid lasts far longer but check the last few yards for fraying and retie your leader knots rather than trusting a knot that has been through a hard autumn.

Hooks and terminal tackle

Go through the box and bin anything with a rust spot. A rusted hook fails under load and it is not worth the fifteen pence you save.

Check hook points against your thumbnail. If it does not bite, sharpen it or discard it. Autumn gravel and rough ground blunt hooks fast.

Swivels and clips with any surface rust go the same way. They are cheap and they are exactly the sort of component that fails at the worst moment.

Nets, mats and the unglamorous kit

Dry your landing net properly before it goes in the garage or it will rot and smell. Check the mesh for holes and the spreader block for cracks.

Unhooking mats want washing and drying. A mat put away wet grows mould and stops being something you want to lay a fish on.

Check your scales against a known weight. Spring scales drift and there is nothing worse than a personal best you cannot trust.

The habit that matters most

Ten minutes when you get home beats two hours in the spring. Rinse, dry, back the drag off, put it away. Do that after every autumn session and most of the rest of this list takes care of itself.