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Posts: 989
| What's the coldest you have been able to cast in consistently without gear failure? Other than having spare reels and silicone lubricant spray for guides and level winds, any other tips for gear maintenance when temps are in the mid-upper 20s? |
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Posts: 754
| The only level wind reel I could cast all day with in 10-30 degree weather was a 700 TE. I still keep one just for that purpose. Its a big reel and just chews up ice. Your next option would be a 14 or 16 sized Trinidad. They are trickier because they have no level wind but with pratice can be mastered. Pre Tranx the 14 was my go to reel all season for blades... Outside of those options there is not much you can do beyond what you have stated....
Edited by Mojo1269 12/11/2024 2:44 PM
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Posts: 2370
Location: Chisholm, MN | The conditions kind of depend on time of year and water temp. Not just air temp. If it's earlier in the fall and the water is still fairly warm, but the air is freezing, you can get away with casting without freeze ups. Late fall is a different story when the water is really cold. I can't really put a number on it.
I've used a buddy heater to thaw out reels, which can be tough when it's windy. The next best thing is to take off the reel between spot and put it inside your coat to melt it. I didn't fish in these conditions this year. |
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Posts: 424
Location: MN | I picked up two Daiwa Saltists a couple years ago based on feedback from this forum and elsewhere
https://muskie.outdoorsfirst.com/board/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=14...
With a can of silicone spray and a couple of these I've casted down to just over 10 deg. As long as you keep up applying spray and getting rid of any build up, they seem OK.
That being said, I did actually break one in ~25 deg trying to use it without any silicone spray. Some teeth on a gear in the levelwind mechanism broke inside the reel. I was using both reels without spray alternating all night (I didn't notice the issue until later) and other was fine, so I wouldn't call it a guaranteed failure but also I wouldn't call them bulletproof. Definitely much better than, say, a Tranx 400. |
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Posts: 20245
Location: oswego, il | 25 is about the lowest and it's difficult to keep up with the ice. Using the driest braid helps but if you catch a fish your spool will freeze. I swap out reels and I would rather manage ice on the level wind than bring it into the spool. Again dry line, watching carefully and swapping out reels as needed. I keep.a thawed one in my coat at all times. |
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Posts: 1534
Location: Brighton CO. | I've casted a lot in snowstorms over the years and had no issues (throwing a 400B at the time) guessing the air temperature was around freezing. last fall the last day of our trip on the last morning 29th of October both my reel and line guides were freezing first thing in the morning so I switched Bondy and everything was fine. Later in the day it was snowing when we quit at dark and I was fine. Years ago we had a gas leak at work and they sent us home on a cold snowy November day so I went Trout fishing off a pier at a lake close to home with one of my ultralights and my line guides and 4# mono froze but I caught fish casting Mepps till my rig froze up and that was that. I have a late fall trip lined up for next year what kind of Silicon do you use? |
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Posts: 424
Location: MN | I've used Blaster and WD-40:
https://www.amazon.com/Blaster-16-SL-Industrial-Strength-Lubricant/d...
https://www.amazon.com/WD-40-Specialist-Resistant-Lubricant-STRAW-SP...
Slight preference for the blaster: a hair cheaper and it doesn't have all that breakable plastic crap on the top of the can.
The stuff isn't magic - it'll buy you a few degrees with most reels. For sustained use in properly cold weather you want reels that can handle it. The spray is also useful for the trolling motor and any other moving parts that can get wet and freeze in place. |
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