What A Surprise!
Up here in the northeast, our season is relatively short lived compared to some folks in the lower states. So we end up prepping our tackle, rods & reels during the snowy months, in anxious preparation for ice out.
I usually end up taking apart my rods & reels and giving them a thorough cleaning and polishing. I usually do this only in the early part of each year - January through March at the latest. I've been fishing now for about two solid months; maybe a tad more, but not by much.
I fill my line spools with 2# test Fireline and this line serves me pretty well through much of two full seasons of use. So now, with the prospects of a full week of hot, rainy and humid days ahead of us, I took a look at my rods & reels to see if anything needed attention.
A couple of my Presidents looked like the line was getting low, so I stripped everything down and refilled the spools with fresh Fireline and fluorocarbon leaders. I also applied my tried & true "AmorAll" to the rods to "spiff 'em" them up a bit. Wow.....what a surprise! With just over two months of use, you wouldn't believe how the soft rags with the AmorAll came out black and dirty. The rods looked OK to me in normal use, but they were absolutely filthy. And I normally fish pretty clear, clean water.
How often do you folks look over your equipment and service simple things, like rod cleaning? BTW, the rod guides were really bad too. But the AmorAll does a decent job of cleaning everything up, so now, whenever this weather cycle breaks, I'll be ready!
"A voyage in search of knowledge need never abandon the spirit of adventure."