Tackle Tips: Keep It Clean

Saltwater puts some hard stress on fly tackle. Most of us are fairly diligent about rinsing rods and reels with freshwater after every trip in order to prevent corrosive salts and minerals from eating away at guides, metal reel seats, and other metal hardware, but things happen.

Last year, I started keeping my fly rods in overhead rod holders at home. The rod holders are a non-destructive, hard plastic kind, offering no chance of scratches or dings. Each set has one holder with a large ring to accept rod butts, while its matching tip holder is hook-shaped. They're made by Du-Bro, come in several styles, are available in tackle shops, and also be used for wall mounts. The only flaw is that the tip holder has a rubber locking stem over the hook gap. It works fine to keep rods in place, but it's pretty much impossible to pull the delicate tip section of a fly rod through the locking stem without causing undue stress. No problem. Nip the stems off.

Some sort of rod rack system will go a long way toward keeping your rods out of harm's way, and prolong their lives, but we're talking about keeping tackle clean here, and that's where I hit a drawback of my own making.

The racks were so convenient that it was easy to wash-down an assembled rod, and hang it up, ready for the next trip. My van has enough room so that I also fell into the habit of just taking a rod off the rack, putting it in, and heading off, without ever disassembling the sections until it was almost too late.

When I went to pack a couple of rods for a longer trip, I found that there was no way one of them was going to come apart. I'd used the rod only once or twice, and flushed it with freshwater each time I got home, but never thought to take the sections apart and clean the ferrule connection, too.

Though ferrule connections seem tight, even a fine, salty mist can penetrate the seal, leaving a residue when everything dries out. Apparently, the slightest residue is enough to lock rod sections together. I managed to get the rod apart by mixing liquid soap with a bit of water, hanging the rod butt end up, and allowing the soapy solution to run down the butt section and into the ferrule connection. In about fifteen minutes, the rod came apart easily.

But a word to the wise who might keep rods assembled, either at home or in beach buggy rod racks: Take those rods apart after every trip, wipe down the male ferrule and use a cotton swab to clean the female ferrule or your multiple-piece fly rod may become a one-piece forever.

While we're on the subject of keeping things clean, let's consider cork grips. There's no way a cork grip is going to look new forever. The natural oils in your hand will work to soil the cork, giving it a smudgy look, even after only one casting session. It doesn't mean you're a Pigpen. It just happens.

It doesn't effect the grip, either. At least, not right away. After several seasons of use, the grip may become slick and slippery, hampering your cast and your comfort. Denatured alcohol will remove the grime, but may also swell the cork, and, if the manufacturer used a sub-standard glue, work to deteriorate the bond between the rings. Over the years, fly rodders have come up with various ways of cleaning cork, including using toothpaste, but a slow and careful rubdown with sandpaper works best. An extra-fine 400 grit works, but try using a course 250, 200 or heavier grit. This will add texture to the grip. Frankly, I think manufacturers are appealing more to showroom looks than actual use when they make saltwater rods with glass-smooth cork grips. As long as you work carefully, you won't remove a significant amount of the cork or distort the shape, and you'll end up with grip that will stay put in your hand.