Now's the time for reel Maint.

[chiefpanfish]

Just a few weeks ago I took a deep sea charter out of N.H. I use my own poles which have Penn. 303 level wind attached. I had only used the poles one other time this year and that was in the spring. At that time I had cleaned them up and installed new 50lb. test on them. After that trip I rinsed them down and forgot about them until this fall when my second trip was scheduled. I should have taken the time over the summer to clean them again. The first fish I had on turned out to be a nice haddock, but I had a lot of difficulty bringing that fish in. The insides of my penn was all coated with salt. I thought I was going to have to pull the line in hand over hand which would have cost me all that new line. Eventually I did manage toget the line back on the spool but it was a very tiring affair because we were fishing at 250' on a drift so there was at least 300' of line out. I was able to use my second pole for the rest of the day and the fish where hitting good.

As I think back at the first trip I remember that it was a ruff trip back to port and the poles where hit with a lot of spray. So if you want to have a great day on the water take care of your equipment. I pick up some good info from this experience. Chief
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