No doubt you have selected your reels to match the catch. All the reel
manufacturers have models available which are suited to the big fish game.
Often these larger reels command a bigger buck due to their heavier
construction and upgraded materials used in the internals. These reels
should be considered a long term investment, at least that's the explanation
I give to my significant other. With that in mind we must be aware that in
order to prevent premature wear and possible failure the proper care and
feeding regimen should be followed. When you think about dragging a
10 or 15 inch Muskie lure at speed or a prolonged fight with a 30 pound Cat
and consider that all of the pressure ultimately ends up inside your reel and
is concentrated on the spool bearing surfaces and the gear teeth. If you
haven't looked inside I can assure you that these surfaces are amazingly
small when you consider the loads they carry, either the static load while
trolling or the dynamic load when that monster makes a run for cover. The
static load is the pressure applied by the line to the spool while it's locked in
place while trolling. In this condition the wear occurs from the constant load
on one point of the bearing surface and gear tooth. Although this type of load
is the lesser of evils, over many hours wear does occur. The dynamic load can
be the killer. This is best described by that 30 pound fish diving for cover
while you've got your drag set fairly tight. Now we're dealing with a load in
motion, almost sounds like a song title. The bearing surfaces are spinning
and rubbing and the gear teeth are being loaded and wiping or rubbing
to the full extent when gaining line. It is exactly at this point when we must
be sure that our lubrication is working. Although we've spent a decent buck
for our reels the manufacturing economies sometimes end up causing
premature problems. An example is a spool on a very well known brand of
reel that has a plastic contact surface to the bearing it rides in. When this
bearing heats up for lack of lube or because the lube has become
contaminated with dirt and or water the direct effect is that the plastic
quickly wears and losses it's full contact with the bearing. Once this happens
we've lost a good deal of the benefit of the bearing and are headed toward
replacing the spool and quite possibly the gears because they are now
carrying more than their fair share of the load. The bearing at the opposite
end of the spool is now at risk too. The cocking of the spool, even though
it is only thousandths of an inch will overload this bearing, causing failure.

If you regularly clean and lube your reels or choose to have us do your
maintenance you will be guaranteed longer reel life and fishing stories with
better endings....