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I'm BAAACK!! I live by a set of RULES, especially when it comes to Fishing Reel Maintenance: RULE 1: Regardless of if you go fishing during the year, do a service on your reel/s once a year -- at *least* once every 2 years; twice a year if you go fishing once a week; more often if you go fishing several times a week, during the entire year. RULE 2: In case your rod and reel go overboard, and you can retrieve them, or the rig goes under water for more than a few seconds, once you get back first rinse the reel with CLEAN FRESH WATER, and just as soon as you can, field strip the reel and service it. RULE 3: Life Happens. Service your reel/s just as soon as you can. RULE 4: If Life deals you a Bad Hand filled with Lemons, make Lemonade. Part of the reason I have been missing is Rule 3. In 2019 (!!) I was forced to move from one apartment because HUD did not want to pay a nominal yearly increase in rent (I live under Se. 8. Housing). . First I had to pack and strike the apartment, then it was followed by the move, and finally unpacking and setting up the apartment. All in all a quick 1.5 years had passed. In February of 2022 I was told that I need to "temporarily relocate for 2-3 months" while they renovated my apartment. During the move from one apartment to the next someone stole about $2,000 worth of tools and modeling parts. 5 months had passed, and suddenly it was July and still had not been moved back into my still being Renovated apartment. Then last July 9th I was involved in a Very Serious Bicycle Accident that put me in a Level 1 Trauma Center for 1 week, four days of which I can not remember, I was told had it not been for my Bicycle Helmet I'd have been DEAD! I was *suppose* to spend the next 12-16 weeks in advanced rehab, but instead I was out in 2 weeks. I really was in good physical shape other than I had 4 broken ribs, 3 fractured vertebra in my back, 2 fractured vertebra in my neck, and a broken clavicle, and pools of blood on both sides of my brain, still I was alive. See RULE 4!! Lots of Physical Therapy, of which I am still going through. Then this February, 1 year after my "Temporary Relocation" began, I was at last able to move into a newly renovated apartment with at least the exact same floor plan as my old apartment. I am still in the process of moving back into my NEW fully renovated apartment. Two weeks ago I finally was able to to mount my 3 salt water rods on the wall -- minus the reels. Two days ago I finally unpacked my 5 Mitchel 302's and 402's. The last time I had serviced them was back in 2018. 5 YEARS have passed since the last time I serviced them. See RULE 3. This probably explains why I have not posted much: 3 moves, and a 3-4 week hospital stay from a bicycle accident that I am still recovering from. I'm BAAAACK!! The last time I posted in SOL there was a lot of discussion going lubes. I finally had just jumped from Quantum Hot Sauce Grease and Oil and moved to the SOL Penn "Blue Goo" with some CorrosionX or ReelX. Tomorrow is the day I am at last going to start servicing my Mitchell 302's /402's. I still have not found my greases and oils, nor my Mitchel 302 and 402 Schematics (probably still packed in some box/s) but yesterday I downloaded the Schematics, and bought a twin pack that contains both ReelX GREASE and ReelX(oil). ReelX GREASE?!? I don't remember there being a ReelX Grease, though CorrosionX and ReelX -- oils -- I do. I hate the idea of opening my reels after 5 YEARS. I expect that the "Blue Goo" will have either migrated, dried up, or both. My trusty can of WD40 is ready to CLEAN the reels before I re-lube them. The BIG QUESTION is has ANYONE used the ReelX GREASE?!? I am hoping that it is going to have at least some of the same properties as Hot Sauce, BUT being Anti-Corrosive. I sort of am looking forward to -- with a little bit of dread -- opening my 5 year old time capsules of reels. What will I find? Stay tuned. D' Catfish

Just picked up a new in box Daiwa Cross Cast reel (sealed and all with tamperproof packaging), it seems to be a bad leak but I'm not familiar with what might have caused it. As you can see from the photo one of the sides is totally slick with oil. Is it defective from the factory (meaning I should contact the retailer asap) or did someone just apply way too much oil (and it'll be OK if I just wipe it off)? Any advice is much appreciated!

Hi - I want to do an off season maintenance on my reels. Tired of paying a premium for some kid to add grease, but on the other hand I don't do it myself. Any advice on technique or grease recommendations? Talking about working on a Diawa, Penn and eventually want to restore some old classics that are sitting on a wall. As always, thanks!

Looking for a good all around grease to use when packing my reels. Preferably one that I can purchase at Home Depot. Also, I’m new to this. Are there any greases that I should stay away from? Thanks for any help. Salty

what are your thoughts on installing carbon drag washers and what about putting a little grease on them?

Hi, I opened up my never used Penn Conflict II long cast 6000 and found some weird grease in there. See pics below. I was expecting typical Penn blue grease, and there is some of it at the base of the body, below the worm gear, but very little. The rest of the lube is a stinky redish-brown grease, it's very sticky. Lube is also lacking on the drive gear teeth. So Penn, I ask you this, is this special grease that is put in there because it is a compatible lube with the RR30 body material and the classic blue grease is not? I'm planning on removing all of it and relubricating everything with Super Lube Synthetic grease.

It's that time of year again.. the majority of my gear wont be needed until the spring, so it's time to start servicing everything and prepping it for next season. I'm a bit of a maintenance junkie and do keep my gear as clean as possible throughout the season with wash down, hand dry and oil after each trip. At year end I enjoy breaking down most of my reels myself and doing the full service at home... Every year I convince myself that there must be a "better" oil or grease that what I'm already using, and consequently I've used lots of stuff over the years.. As far as oil goes, I like REEL-X for almost everything.. Some reels require specific oils, like shimanos recommend a specific oil that wont interfere with their hydrophobic coatings so all my shimanos get the same oil that comes with the stellas... Certain Daiwas like saltigas, from what I understand (please correct me if im mistaken), should not be oiled. The ferro-fluid that is used for the mag-seals can become diluted/contaminated by dissimilar oils and there by weakening the mag seal.. But all my other reels get REEL-X 100% of the time, I've never experienced an issue with it.. Grease is where I'm constantly looking for the next best thing... I've used many over the years from the original super lube, to Penn blue goo, the ZB red, reel butter, hot sauce, royal purple, and most recently last season I tried a corrosion-x thinned version of Aqua shield I saw @scoobydoo mention a while back... today I was picking apart some seigler reels and happened to notice that, to spite being used extensively from early spring until late December and being soaked by spray in the gunnel trip after trip, the grease inside was absolutely perfect.. it literally showed zero signs of wear and was still perfectly spread and sticking to all gears/parts... after a quick search it turns out that seigler uses and recommends a product called TEF-GEL.. I was impressed with its durability after a season of abuse so I just ordered a tub of it.. My question for you fine individuals is this..... What the best you've found for grease and oil? Are you using different products for different reels or one for all? Have any of you tried the TEF-GEL? And if so what has your experience been?

Has anyone tried the Bel-Ray waterproof marine-grade grease in their reels? I wouldn't try it on drags, but I am giving it a try in the internals of my penn 7xx-series spinfisher reels that I am about to fish. I was looking for the Yamaha blue marine grease, but I ran across this at the local boat-works and they swear by it for everything from boats to motorcycles, small engines and cars. It is a blue-greenish color and is quite sticky! I just want to see if anyone else has any opinions either way!

I have a very nice Mitchell 302 from the end of 1952. Still has the sticker and everything. I have had it inspected, cleaned. repaired, and lubed once after I bought it, but was not thrilled with the work or the price. I use this reel in salt and freshwater, and it's time for another bath. I can do the spool all day, but want a pro to do the reel guts. Any recommendations?

What kind of reel grease do you all use? Does anyone use really high quality grease like a moly disulfide or anything exotic? Does it make a difference?