Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3704 Feb 2-16, 2018 | Page 34

32 D Feb 2 - 16, 2018 VOL.37 • ISS. 04 BAJA ROUNDUP A Reel Pain ecades ago, back in the 1960’s, I saved up enough money to buy my very first salt water reel, a TrueTemper Ocean City 905M. This reel was considered ahead of its time in providing a true one piece fluted aluminum spool when the rest of the fish- ing reel world had heavy three piece chromed brass spools or fragile plastic spools. The heavy chrome plated brass spools were used when strength was necessary; the plastic spools were reserved for easier casting situa- tions. The Ocean City’s advanced fluted alumi- num spool made for the best of both worlds; the strength of the brass spools but with the lightness and castabilities of the plastic spool. Grandma told me Grandpa (who I never met) was a watch repairman and that I had inherited his gene for tak- ing things apart and putting them back together again. This may or may not have been true, but I certainly did take that reel apart and clean it every chance I could after fishing with it. Except for a few scuff marks here and there, that reel always looked like it just came out of the box. Eventual- ly, I, like many others, jumped on the Penn reel bandwagon with the purchase of my first of many Penn Jigmasters. Penn reels have built a solid rep- utation for having simple and robust designs, so it wasn’t a hard jump to go from the Ocean City to the Penn reels when it came to maintenance. I believe most people with at least the simplest understanding of tools can take one apart and reassemble it. Even simpler were Penn’s spinning reels. Work horses like their Spinfisher 704 were ridiculously easy to clean af- ter a hard day working the briny deep. Another feature was that you could squirt a light grease into every nook and cranny and somehow everything kept working. This isn’t true of most modern reels. Lots of modern reels now have more parts than any two of the reels of yore, with all kinds of springs and gears and what- nots that go jumping out of a reel when you start taking it apart. Critical to most mod- ern reels is their one-way roller bearing that gives you that instant anti-reverse that we all cherish. Any excess lube that gets inside (espe- cially any of the penetrating lubes) will cause the roller bearing to fail, and all of a sudden you have a crank handle that winds backward. Winter reel maintenance can be a fun project to attempt, and certainly with the advent of YouTube there are numerous videos that can help you take apart and reas- semble your modern reel should you desire to to do so. Some, you will discover, need a special tool to ease the reassembly of the reel. This will be good to know before disassembling your reel then finding out you now have a pile of parts that won’t come back together for want of a special tool. Should your reel require a cleaning and tune up, now would be the time to send it back to the manufacturer for such service. You will find for the most part, the service to be reasonably priced. One thing I usually do for the an- nual servicing is to remove the line on the reel. I will at least wash down the spool, then dry and wax the spool. You would be surprised at how much salt water has gotten down there and the salt that has built up. Cleaning and waxing the spool will keep the salt from corroding the spool. Respooling your empty spool with fresh line just before your next trip makes better sense than respooling it now and having that line sit on your reel for possibly months to come. SALTY TIPS by Steve “Hippo”Lau A beautiful Beach Resort located half way between La Paz and Cabo San Lucas, right on the Sea of Cortez Fish Baja’s East Cape at Martin verdugo’s Beach resort Cruiser Packages Include: Room for 4 nights, 5 days, 2 days of fishing, tackle, breakfast & lunch, 28 ft. supercruiser w/captain & mate Call Now For Information! 3203 Martin verdugo’s Beach resort Call Toll Free: (888) 567-8552 www.verdugosbeachresort.com (949) 226-7169 Or 01152 624 141 0054 E mail: martinverdugo@prodigy.net.mx Josh Hess took first place in the jackpot on the Red Rooster III this January when he boated this huge 281 pound yellowfin tuna. Photo courtesy of RED ROOSTER III SPORTFISHING, San Diego. BAJA TIP OF THE WEEK Its raw power, high-per- formance and ultra-tough construction are just few reasons why Baja love chas- ing big saltwater predators with PENN’s Torque Saltwa- ter Reel. Built with a Full Metal Body and a rugged one- piece aluminum frame, the Torque’s gearbox and drag system is fully sealed to pro- tect these components from sand, salt and other fouling agents. The patented over- sized HT-100 Versa-Drag™ system offers multiple set- tings so anglers can adjust the drag to meet the require- ments for various situations. The high-strength 100% stainless steel bail system includes an innovative bail trip switch to allow angler to choose between manual and automatic mode. The eight bearing system provides smooth, hitch-free operation and the integral clutch sleeve works to eliminate back play during hook sets. Many anglers don’t think to bring a spinning reel on their Baja fishing adventure. When you hit the water and find sailfish sunning on the surface you’ll be glad you brought your Torque spinner as you use it to fire weight- less live baits at the resting billfish…can you say fish on?