okumasheffield Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Another newbie question, is it recommended to loosen drag & the spool tension before putting them away for storage?
irishfield Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 YES.. any reel, back off the drag when not in use.
kickingfrog Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Yep, I do it at the end of each day. Just make sure you also remember to reset them at the start of the next day.
BillM Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Yep, I do it at the end of each day. Just make sure you also remember to reset them at the start of the next day. I dunno how many times I've done this
lew Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 I dunno how many times I've done this Haven't we all Bill
Lunker777 Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 really ???? you learn something new everyday I guess....
mike rousseau Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) Never backed off my drag... Haven't had a noticeable issue yet... But I have been told I should do it... Edited August 30, 2011 by Musky Mike
okumasheffield Posted August 30, 2011 Author Report Posted August 30, 2011 seems there are two school of thoughts ... maybe it is just an urbanlegend?
mike rousseau Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 Then again... My family hasn't winterized any if our boats...ever... And no issues... I guess it depends how long your storing your stuff...
lew Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 My family hasn't winterized any if our boats I hope your at least changing the lower unit oil
mike rousseau Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 (edited) Yeah... All I do is start running stabilizer starting in mid November... And oil Edited August 30, 2011 by Musky Mike
bigbuck Posted August 30, 2011 Report Posted August 30, 2011 There is no 'winterizing' for an outboard. If you had an I/O, then you would have to otherwise you'd crack the engine block and replace it yearly. As for backing off the drag, I have a couple of old spinning reels that have nice herky jerky drags cuz I never knew to back it off years ago. Do it and save a potential headache.
PainInTheBass Posted August 31, 2011 Report Posted August 31, 2011 The theory behind loosening the drag is that the fiber washers that are in the drag stack compress over time, reducing the effective drag range of your reel over time. I do it as a precaution. It doesn't hurt.
Garry2Rs Posted August 31, 2011 Report Posted August 31, 2011 If you do not back the drag off it will, eventually, take a "set." I had this happen with a rod and reel that I didn't use for quite a long time, perhaps a couple of years...I still had it in the boat, but the rod was a little heavy and the reel was of lower quality than some others that I used regularly. I go south in the winter, so this rod didn't get an "end of season tune-up." It just rode along out-of-sight, out-of-mind. When I pulled it out to show it to someone I gave the line a tug...The drag had gone from perhaps 9 or 10 pound pressure before it slipped to who knows what? Perhaps as much as 20 or 30 pounds pressure. At some point it broke loose and acted normal. I pulled about 50 yards off against the drag at various settings and it seemed okay, but I'm sure this isn't something that you would want, so loosen the drag off between trips or at least at the end of the season.
fish_fishburn Posted September 1, 2011 Report Posted September 1, 2011 Ive been told this before and I plan on doing it but always forget... reels still work fine though.
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