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Tompkins: Clean equipment can keep anglers out of danger

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  • Tompkins: Clean equipment can keep anglers out of danger

    Tompkins: Clean equipment can keep anglers out of danger
    Houston Chronicle Copyright 2012 Houston Chronicle. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 10:39 p.m., Wednesday, January 25, 2012

    If, as the maxim says, you can tell a lot about a person by how he takes care of his tools, Shan Brown could offer hard-earned, encyclopedic insight into Houston-area anglers. For 21 years, local anglers have been handing Brown what arguably are the most important and most-used tools of their recreation: their fishing reels. Since beginning as a teenager working at Rod-n-Reel Repair Center in Humble, Brown has inspected, cleaned and repaired tens of thousands of reels. Some of those reels are in good condition and well-maintained, brought in by anglers who want a professional cleaning and tune-up to keep their gear performing at the top level. Brown's standard cleaning involves complete breakdown of the reel, checking parts for wear, ultra-sonic cleaning of all parts, high-pressure rinses, drying, polishing parts, checking and adjusting drag washers, and lubricating moving parts with appropriate oil. When a person spends that much money on a piece of recreational equipment, it just makes sense to take care of it. "Reels that have magnets in them (as a cast control device) really have problems in saltwater," Brown said. If the bearings or the races in which they ride become rusty, scored by sand or other abrasive material, or even get "sticky" from residue left by poor-quality lubricants, problems develop. The often-used practice of simply rinsing down a reel with a garden hose or dunking it in a sink does little good and could accelerate problems by forcing water into the reel's internal parts. For cleaning a baitcasting reel, Brown recommends removing the reel's side plate and the line spool. Remove the spool from a spinning reel and, if possible, a side plate exposing the reel's internal parts. Rinse the reel with warm water, with or without a mild detergent, gently wiping surfaces and parts.




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