Anglers by nature are truly great procrastinators. They can patiently wait all day for their strike indicator or bobber to go under or cast a thousand casts for a trophy muskie. Some can even wait all winter for the ice to melt to go fishing. Being patient has its rewards, but waiting too long can also cause problems. Anglers that delay having their reels cleaned or repaired can end up with a costly repair bill. Reel cleaning or repair can be done by the angler themselves or they can be sent into tackle repair stores. While reel repair does require a minimum amount of skill and knowledge any angler can learn to clean or service their reels. Unfortunately, reel manufactures don’t include instructions to reel maintenance and cleaning with their reels. So anglers have to learn how from friends or less than educational YouTube videos that often leave out vital steps needed to completely clean their reels. The results of doing it yourself without instructions are a baggie full of parts and a reel sent to a tackle repair store. Before you find yourself in this frustrating situation watch the DVD Fishing Reel Maintenance 2 Revised and Updated by Lake Fork Tackle Repair. It explains how to clean and maintain your own fishing reels without sending them off.

Lake Fork Tackle Repair (www.lakeforktacklerepair.com) is owned and operated by Connie Kilpatrick and Tommy Kilpatrick. They have years of experience in fishing reel cleaning, maintenance and repair; in addition to offering the video Fishing Reel Maintenance 2 to anyone wanting to do their own reel cleaning or maintenance. The DVD Fishing Reel Maintenance 2 takes you step by step on how to take apart your reel, what part to oil or grease, and how to put the reels back together with confidence; in addition to explaining how to check certain parts for wear and tear that may need replacing.

After watching the DVD Fishing Reel Maintenance 2, an angler should be able to clean their own reels with confidence; however, if they don’t have time or the reel is in need of repair they can be sent to Lake Fork Tackle Repair. Although Lake Fork Tackle does clean and repair reels, they only do it on Shimano fresh water baitcasters. They don’t do warranty work as those reels need to be sent back to the manufacture. “We offer a personalized service and pride ourselves in quality workmanship on reels that come through our shop. We only clean and repair Shimano fresh water baitcasters; no saltwater or offshore reels,” Connie continued, “It takes us 2 ½-hours to do each reel. Every reel is taken down to the frame and that’s really labor intense, but we pride ourselves in the job we do to return your reels in tip-top shape.”

If you do send your fishing reel off to be cleaned or repaired, Connie had the following suggestions to make sure it was done correctly:
•    Put your name and address on a sheet of paper so they know where to send the reel once it is cleaned or repaired.
•    Make sure you know when the payment is required for the labor being done.
•    Find out what type of payment the tackle repair shop will accept. Some tackle repair shops will take PayPal and checks, but not credit cards.
•    Make sure the shop makes a list of what they did to each reel.
•    Have the tackle repair shop return all of the reel parts that were replaced in a baggie and returned with the reels.
•    Before sending your older reels out for service makes sure that there are parts available.

If you find out that you really like cleaning and servicing fishing reels maybe it’s time to go into the reel cleaning and repair business. Besides cleaning, maintaining, and repairing Shimano reels, the Kilpatrick’s also offer a two day training class for individuals wanting to learn the business of reel cleaning and repair. The two day, eight hour class consists of hands on learning from Tommy and Connie on reel cleaning, repair, keeping up with your accounts, and marketing.  The in-depth class is limited to one person to allow each student time to progress and learn at their own speed. Besides learning the trade of having a reel cleaning and repair business, students are taught how to repair fishing rods since that’s another source of income in the reel cleaning and repair business.

Learning how to clean your fishing reels will save you money and keep your reel in tip-top shape; in addition to not having to send them off for service. The DVD Fishing Reel Maintenance 2 will give you the confidence to clean them without having to worry about mailing them or dropping them off.