Impressivly Clean Tackle

[Philip]

Looking at the excellent photos people post on various threads from time to time I can’t help but marvel at how clean everyone’s tackle appears to be ! …Pristine gleaming rods with cork handles that look like they have just been unwrapped from the plastic cover they were sold with. Gleaming center pins that literally shine like a new penny and not a spot of dirt or dust on them laid out perfectly alongside some impressive catch or other.

Then I look at my tackle and I just feel embarrassed. My rods & reels are permanently encrusted with so many orrible things that it does not bear thinking about. Most of my nets have holes, my fishing clothes I doubt a tramp would want and other than leaving nets or mats out in the sun to dry I don’t think I have actually “cleaned” an item of tackle in over 2 decades. Wait correction, I did blast my fishing chair with the garden hose once as I dropped it in a mud hole but that’s it !

Am I really the only one with tackle like that ? ….& yes I accept I am only asking this because I am dead jealous !

 

[Alan Tyler]

You're not alone. Apart from being a bit fetishist about keeping my centre-pins wiped out and re-oiled, my kit's a mess and my swim always looks as if there has just been an explosion in the rejected tackle section of the Oxfam shops' warehouse.

 

[tigger]

I try to keep myself clean and in doing so it also keeps my fishing gear clean. Like your self most of my nets have holes in and a lot of my gear has wear of some kind or other....patina .
You can have tackle in tip top fettle with signs of wear, but if it's dirty it's not quite the same.

 

[fishing4luckies]

The worst culprit for me is reels. All of the ones I use regularly are totally encrusted in Brim juice. I'd quite like to give them a good clean but not too sure how to go about it. Would a good rinse under the warm tap with a gentle bit of toothbrush scrubbing be OK?

And how about oiling? Where, what type and how much?

 

[chrissh]

The worst culprit for me is reels. All of the ones I use regularly are totally encrusted in Brim juice. I'd quite like to give them a good clean but not too sure how to go about it. Would a good rinse under the warm tap with a gentle bit of toothbrush scrubbing be OK?

And how about oiling? Where, what type and how much?

Once a week
Reels…Warm water and an old tooth brush is one of the best ways to clean reels, use a drop of good reel oil on moving parts, bail arm, and handle…NEVER use WD40
Rods…Wipe the handle and rod down with warm water,
Bait box & bowl… warm water

Once a year spring clean
Clothing…Use Nikwax for clothing & boots
Chair and tackle bag… Upholstery cleaner

 

[Nobby C (ACA)]

All of my nets have holes,they work better that way. Otherwise they'd be a fertiliser sack.:w

 

[binka]

I've just done my annual shake down and clean up of all the gear, it looks clean at the moment mainly for that reason but it will soon be business as usual with chopped worm, groundbait and all manner of other stuff gunked all over it.

If anything I'm quite the opposite with the 'pins and don't clean them down after every use without good reason, if someone had tried to sell me a reel and told me I had to clean it after every session I would have thought they had gone mad

Here's a refreshingly dirty picture from Christmas Day a couple of years ago, the net and mat are the same clean looking ones that appear in my recent pictures...



You can probably imagine what the rest of the gear looked like after a day in that lot mg:

 

[theartist]

I don't think i've ever cleaned anything apart from the odd reel service, my rod rings and once a year my fishing jacket. The rain takes care of everything else. I think my jacket may need a clean now as I'm worried everyone else who walked by on the canal yesterday smelt fresh and scented which is usually a sign something closer to home is hummin'

I've got the classic mix of slime, turmeric and maize encrusted on the butt of my old rod which is soooo old, which I like to think of as a bespoke grip, certainly stops those old rings sliding.

 

[carpinbob]

I usually think about it,but then I say I do it tomorrow instead

 

[Tee-Cee]

Generally speaking I come under the 'very clean' heading in all I do, so keeping tackle pristine is never an issue. I just cannot fish in mess or shambles, and definitely not dirty with gear. That said, I can appreciate if one fishes for bream etc on a regular basis, just keeping the gear reasonably clean is never easy so to some extent it comes down to horses for courses IMO.

I suppose my desire for cleanliness goes back to early days of fishing when gear was hard won with little money around to replace stuff. I also keep my gear in the house so smelly tackle is not on, either for me or my wife. She is totally relaxed around having gear around so the least I can do to keep it free from odours.

I admit to wiping down my rods after EVERY session and to checking my reels/ general tackle the evening before a trip. I just like to arrive on the bank ready to go with reels running smoothly and never to find replacement hooks left in the cupboard!

That's just me, though.....

 

[mikench]

I've just done my annual shake down and clean up of all the gear, it looks clean at the moment mainly for that reason but it will soon be business as usual with chopped worm, groundbait and all manner of other stuff gunked all over it.

If anything I'm quite the opposite with the 'pins and don't clean them down after every use without good reason, if someone had tried to sell me a reel and told me I had to clean it after every session I would have thought they had gone mad

Here's a refreshingly dirty picture from Christmas Day a couple of years ago, the net and mat are the same clean looking ones that appear in my recent pictures...



You can probably imagine what the rest of the gear looked like after a day in that lot mg:

Still has a certain je ne sais quoi though Steve! is that designer mud

 

[thecrow]

No don't clean stuff, when I get back from a session my stuff just goes back into "my cupboard" which is where most of my now limited tackle lives since coming here and loosing my garage, sometimes my wife ventures in there and usually asks what has been left in this bucket or that box

The only things that get an airing are my nets.

 

[binka]

is that designer mud

Baubles!

 

[associatedmatt]

Lucky enough to have a garage , there is no way er indoors would allow anything fishing related in the house once it's been used . New is fine unless it's bait even pellets she can smell through the bag apparently .

I do clean mine when it needs it . In the winter more due to mud from the river banks


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[S-Kippy]

The worst culprit for me is reels. All of the ones I use regularly are totally encrusted in Brim juice. I'd quite like to give them a good clean but not too sure how to go about it. Would a good rinse under the warm tap with a gentle bit of toothbrush scrubbing be OK?

Warm water + brim juice = wallpaper paste. Good luck with that.

Personally I wouldn't run them under the tap but a good scrub with an old toothbrush will usually get rid of most crud.

 

[flightliner]

I,m not particularly obsessive about my gear being clean , just clean in the right places, runners on rods, no gunk on reels which can be a little obcene after a heavy few sessions with the bream. Much of it can be sorted bankside with the odd scrape n' poke with a fingernail or baiting needle .
Occasionally an item may need individual attention back home where if its one of two or three like rods or reels then I usually do them all together.
The end of a season is usually the time when my fishing clothes get a good wash tho last month my wife was rather hesitant to put them in our new washing m/c--- I could see why midway between the cycle!.
A month on and it's as if they were never done with all the mud thats covering the bottom half. Come july and it will be slime on the rest of it .
Anclliary stuff in my garage is a mess that will never be resolved, bait boxes, a gazillion feeders and leads all strewn in bags on the floor besides ruckies and other bits of of "cant throw that away 'cos it'll come in handy one day" rammell as other stuff like tools , kids toys etx have precedent ( can't dissapoint the grandkids can I ?).
Overall however I must be doing things ok as my rucky tho a bit tatty now is almost thirty years old and my old home made matchbox is over forty years old ( still beats any £1000 fishing station any day lol ).
I suppose the only thing that I was really fussy about was back in my carp anglig days when I always insisted that my wife put nice creases in my nash stormsides when she did the ironing .

 

[trotter2]

You can get away with the odd bit of incrusted dirt on most stuff. The one thing you cant neglect is a centrepin reel any dirt has a nasty habit of finding itself behind the spool causing major problems.
Keep your pins spotless.

 

[Mark Wintle]

I clean rods once a year and reels maybe twice a year unless muddy.

 

[thecrow]

there is no way er indoors would allow anything fishing related in the house once it's been used

Get a grip man

 

[associatedmatt]

Il let you tell her , keep her happyish and means she don't moan at me as I do go fishing fairly often sometimes 3 times a week so can't complain !


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---------- Post added at 04:55 ---------- Previous post was at 04:53 ----------

Once I left some fake maggots next to a sandwich she made and walked off and came back and heard a scream . She couldn't see the funny side of it !


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