Gear Maintenance-Cleaning Rods

Time to clean up the rods?
I normally clean my rods after I have been away on a fishing trip, in the Fall, and about midway through the season.

The part of the rod that get dirties is the cork, but if you fish the Bow a lot you'll notice the entire blank gets pretty scummy. An no, it's not because the Bow is dirty, it's because there are so many organisms (plant, insect, animal) in the Bow. It's nutrient rich but it means lots of gunk on your stuff.


Notice the dirty corks. Blanks are dirty, especially around the guides.

Things you'll need: Terry cloth towel, Foaming Glass Cleaner (best cleaner, doesn't bother the blank, best for cleaning cork), old toothbrush, about twenty minutes.

1) Spray the entire rod with foaming glass cleaner, let sit for a minute or two.

2)Lightly scrub around guides with old toothbrush.

3) Scrub cork handle with toothbrush. this effectively removes soil from cork.

4) Aggressively buff and dry cork with terry cloth towel. This will restore the cork to clean appearance.

This is what that soiled cork looks like now. No more dirt.

5) Use towel to buff, clean, and dry entire blank. If necessary use toothbrush and glass cleaner to remove stubborn dirt aroung guides.

6) After each section of rod is cleaned and dried. Apply paraffin wax to male ferrule. MAKE SURE TO BUFF OFF EXCESS WAX WITH TOWEL! This helps the ferrules stay tighter when fishing.

Don't have any paraffin? Stop in and get some here at CP, we'll give you some.

7) After all pieces of rod are cleaned put in window sill for several hours. This dries the cork and any glass cleaner that got inside ferrules. Do not put away in rod sock with damp cork!

THE FINISHED PRODUCT........ This is a 2 year old Helios 4 weight that I use a lot. Looked kind of crappy 10 minute before this photo was taken. Looks almost new now.