Baitcaster maintainance (when used in saltwater)

[lhan]

Hi all,

I'm interested in getting a baitcaster for BFS. One thing worries me is that it seems they're mostly designed for freshwater fishing except a couple of expensive ones and mechanically more exposed to saltwater from my understanding. So my question is 1. is it a bad idea overall to have a BFS setup for Sydney harbour estuary? 2. if I got one, what kind of maintainance should I carry on? For my spinning reels I only give it a good spray and wipe until I send the fancier ones in for a service (preventative honestly I didn't have issues with any of my Daiwa/Shimano reels).

Sth off topic but if anyone could give me some insights on land based bass fishing (I'll try Lake Parramatta first), I would really appreciate.

Thanks in advance!

[slowjigger]

You could give them a spray with silicon after a gentle spray with water. PS they are very low in line capacity - this might cause a problem in the saltwater. 

[lhan]

44 minutes ago, slowjigger said:

You could give them a spray with silicon after a gentle spray with water. PS they are very low in line capacity - this might cause a problem in the saltwater. 

Thank you! do you have recommendations which spray product I should use? Just spray over the surface or I need to do it on shaft/lines specifically? The spec I've check generally have 100m capacity of pe0.4/0.6 so it should be more than enough for bream/whiting/flathead/bass

[slowjigger]

Could be a problem if you hook a jewfish or kingfish, especially if you are land based. Generally you want at least 200m of line for saltwater fishing. 

Like I said silicon spray. You definitely don't want to get it into the internals as it will affect the oils and greases and stop them doing their job. It's just to stop the external surfaces corroding. 

Also take the braid off periodically and rinse it with freshwater and dry. It traps saltwater and tends to cause spool corrosion. 

Edited Wednesday at 06:39 AM by slowjigger

[Peter K]

Hey mate, I recently watched a vid from another raider, goldenhourfishing. 

He was bass fishing, however, I think at some point in the video he mentions he plans to have a crack in the salt. I watched it like a week and a half ago so don't quote me.

I think there is some decent Aust Bass up your way at Lane Cove, a quick google/youtube should have some results, you might have to do some bush bashing though. 

Cheers, Peter

Edited Wednesday at 06:40 AM by Peter K

[dirvin21]

Just rinse them with light spray water with drag tightened and allow to dry

It's importantly to store them with drags loosened right off

I get mine serviced every 6 months or so

[Little_Flatty]

I had a Daiwa Pixy ages ago (go back to my posts in the mid-2000s) and that was a magnesium strictly freshwater only reel.

I fished that thing to death in salt and it was just fine, treated the way @dirvin21 suggests.

Eventually it got stolen. The Pixy was the original BFS reel before BFS ever became a thing.

[lhan]

Thanks all @Seajigger @Peter K @dirvin21 @Little_Flatty. I'm gonna give it a go anyway. It's not good for wallet but I love to try different things.

Pity for that pixy. I can't seem to find the reel now but surely a magnesium reel from Daiwa is asking for quite a premium. I'm actually pretty surprised magnesium reel was already a thing back then

[Peter K]

1 minute ago, lhan said:

Thanks all @Seajigger @Peter K @dirvin21 @Little_Flatty. I'm gonna give it a go anyway. It's not good for wallet but I love to try different things.

Pity for that pixy. I can't seem to find the reel now but surely a magnesium reel from Daiwa is asking for quite a premium. I'm actually pretty surprised magnesium reel was already a thing back then

RIP @slowjigger, mistaken identity for seajigger.....haha

 

PS. That daiwa pixy yellow goes for like $300-600 which says a lot, a yellow reel, not something you see everyday, perhaps something I'll try and track down in the future. 

[lhan]

Just now, Peter K said:

RIP @slowjigger, mistaken identity for seajigger.....haha

 

PS. That daiwa pixy yellow goes for like $300-600 which says a lot, a yellow reel, not something you see everyday, perhaps something I'll try and track down in the future. 

LOL my bad. A dedicated thanks to @slowjigger

[lastworm]

Don’t get a reel that has magnesium components or frame/body.

Best bet for salt water is a Curado BFS or SLX BFS (from the Shimano line up anyway). Strangely enough the lower end reels tend to be better in salt because they use aluminum bodies and plastic side plates.

I’ve fished BFS gear for years and blown a heap of coin on rods and reels. It really only comes into its own for finesse presentations in close quarters fishing, tight creeks, overhanging snags etc. not much point in going BFS to fish open water or cast from the bank out into open water.

Edited 23 hours ago by lastworm

[lhan]

3 hours ago, lastworm said:

Don’t get a reel that has magnesium components or frame/body.

Best bet for salt water is a Curado BFS or SLX BFS (from the Shimano line up anyway). Strangely enough the lower end reels tend to be better in salt because they use aluminum bodies and plastic side plates.

I’ve fished BFS gear for years and blown a heap of coin on rods and reels. It really only comes into its own for finesse presentations in close quarters fishing, tight creeks, overhanging snags etc. not much point in going BFS to fish open water or cast from the bank out into open water.

Thanks @lastworm. I'll just get one for my tackle addiction and most likely only use it occasionally. There're some tidal/non-tidal creeks I've been eyeing for a while so will give it try at those places first. Also I find topwater could benefit from some accurate cast presentation so maybe will do some topwater using it too. But yeah, I just wanna try it out 🤣