Reel Repairs

[Relentless Charters]

I have been using different reels for deep watrer jigging on Stellwagen Bank over the years and want to continue to provide the best quality tackle I can for our clients. We use to use the Penn 113 (Old Reliable) which many customers liked but wanted a higher gear ratio. We shifted to the Torium 30 but had some issues and started using the Avet LX gold reels 6/1 ratio. Overall liked the reels but after about 20 trips the bearings would start to grind. Avet has a good program where we sent them out and a rebuild was $35.00 and now $39.00 plus shipping. The issue was the time they were away from the boat.

Last year we shifted to a Daiwa Saltist BG40 which is also 6:1 ratio and initially held up good. However we are finding these are failing after about 20-25 trips of deep jigging.

I am going to start to work on my reels myself. I have been all over Alan's website and have ordered new drag washers and bearings for the Avets and Daiwas. Once I get them I want to measure all of the bearings so I can obtain locally. My goal is once a reel starts to get stiff I will be able to take apart, clean, replace or clean bearings, grease and put back together. The ultimate goal is to continue to hand out the best tackle for customers who are paying me to take them fishing.

Has anyone here done these reels themselves and do you have any advice you can offer. We will not tolerate inadequate equipment on board RELENTLESS.

Thank You,

Dave