TackleTour

Well, as a bank fisherman (98% of the time) I have to carry my rods around and I sometimes make mistakes. I have unfortunately dropped my Bantam once and got a nice chip in the paint for that. Yesterday as I was taking the rods out of my car, the frog I had hooked on the reel came loose and I tried to re-hook it, but unfortunately missed a few times and put 2 good scratches on the reel. When I saw them later I cringed hard. I've only had the reel for a month and a half. I know looks don't REALLY matter but I just feel bad scratching up such a pretty reel.

Needless to say, I will be a lot more careful with future reels. It just hurts knowing that I've dinged up my baby this bad already.

Is there anything I can do to buff out the scratches a bit? I know they will still be there, but is there any way to make them less apparent? They catch the light fairly well.

Photo linked to bring context for my carelessness.

Bantams are tough, a few scars just make them look cooler!

Probably not much now. I would invest in reel covers going forward. You can remove them when you want to use each combo. Put them back on when you are done fishing or transporting your gear. I have reels that are 5-10 years old that have been fished quite a bit and could pass for new.

The only loss on the reel is value. You won’t be able to sell it for as much as you would a reel in excellent to near mint condition. I am aware some don’t give two squirts about cosmetic condition and only care about function, but there are many that do. That is why people always want pictures of the reel from various angles.

Most reel finishes can be delicate. You have to be careful of what you do to them especially to remove or try and remove scratches. I don’t think I would mess with it and just get some reel covers from TW for $5 a pop for all my reels and call it a day

Fishing4Fun wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 12:15 pm

Probably not much now. I would invest in reel covers going forward. You can remove them when you want to use each combo. Put them back on when you are done fishing or transporting your gear. I have reels that are 5-10 years old that have been fished quite a bit and could pass for new.

The only loss on the reel is value. You won’t be able to sell it for as much as you would a reel in excellent to near mint condition. I am aware some don’t give two squirts about cosmetic condition and only care about function, but there are many that do. That is why people always want pictures of the reel from various angles.

Most reel finishes can be delicate. You have to be careful of what you do to them especially to remove or try and remove scratches. I don’t think I would mess with it and just get some reel covers from TW for $5 a pop for all my reels and call it a day

Well so here's the sad thing, as if the scratches weren't sad enough... I have reel covers, and usually put them on the reel when I'm going out to fish, but I rarely put them on after I'm done fishing and head home. And that's when the damage has occurred - walking back to the car, or from the car to the apartment. So it seems maybe I need to spend the time to put the cover back on the reel. It's just been so dang hot here lately, when I get back to the car, the last thing I want to do is put sleeves and covers back on the rods and reels. But it seems I really should.

A few auto products like ScratchX and the like you could try to buff them out, otherwise those Scratch Pens work well. The chip of paint missing above the cast control, you can get a paint pen from a auto colour shop or whatever you've got over there to match close enough to blend in.

I feel your pain. Getting a scratch on a reel (whether $50 or $500) can make you want to cry. I dont think there is anything you can do other than finding some touch up paint that matches. Covering the reels is all you can do. My reels are covered when not in use, ALWAYS. Even when they are in the reel cases, they will have a cover on it. And the cases are soft lined.

I should add, I once kept my reel in a reel glove right after fishing it, without the line drying out, and it smelled pretty moldy/mildew-y when I took the glove off. It was pretty gross. I worried about the line's strength after that... partly why I re-spooled it with fresh Super8SlickV2 after getting close to half a spool of capacity after cutting off line for re-tying and whatnot. Decided to just re-do it, and man, that line I took off smelled nasty.

If I scratch a reel
I sell it at a considerable discounted price and re buy the reel.
One way to look at it- would u pay $25 or even $50 not to have the scratches on it?
I had a new conquest 100hg fresh from japan- dropped it and put two very tiny blemishes on it- I couldn’t live with it so I showed the scratches in the pics - sold it
Bought a new one
Lived happily ever after

bwjay wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 1:36 pm

I should add, I once kept my reel in a reel glove right after fishing it, without the line drying out, and it smelled pretty moldy/mildew-y when I took the glove off. It was pretty gross. I worried about the line's strength after that... partly why I re-spooled it with fresh Super8SlickV2 after getting close to half a spool of capacity after cutting off line for re-tying and whatnot. Decided to just re-do it, and man, that line I took off smelled nasty.

You can always take the cover off once home to let them "air out". I put them on my bench for the night. Wipe them down, then cover on. Probably should have thrown that in there.

arrowslinger1 wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 08, 2019 2:36 pm

If I scratch a reel
I sell it at a considerable discounted price and re buy the reel.
One way to look at it- would u pay $25 or even $50 not to have the scratches on it?
I had a new conquest 100hg fresh from japan- dropped it and put two very tiny blemishes on it- I couldn’t live with it so I showed the scratches in the pics - sold it
Bought a new one
Lived happily ever after

Don't give me any ideas.......!

I learned the hard way that covers are crucial, and while I'm not going to sell a reel over a few scratches, I started using covers on all of them, pristine or not. The only time I ever have the cover off more than one reel at once is if I'm fishing something that benefits from an immediate follow-up bait, like with frogs and senkos.

Even so, regardless of the amount of effort you put into protecting your gear, things are gonna happen. It's best to take the best possible care of your stuff while keeping in mind that nothing stays flawless forever. Just like M said in Skyfall, It is the fate of glass to break.

Little known secret...can’t help on the chip...
But light scratches... Try....

Magic Eraser....no kidding ... give it a shot.

Those little finger nail scratches that you get on inside of door handles on your car/truck... magic eraser makes ‘em go away !

E73Bass wrote: ↑

Mon Jul 15, 2019 7:53 pm

Little known secret...can’t help on the chip...
But light scratches... Try....

Magic Eraser....no kidding ... give it a shot.

Those little finger nail scratches that you get on inside of door handles on your car/truck... magic eraser makes ‘em go away !

Little known secret is that they've got an abrasive in the melamine foam strata to erase stuff...

Send it to me, and I'll nurse it back to health. It is a long, slow process, so don't expect it back for at least a year, maybe even longer. These things take time.

Call it a battle scar and catch some fish. Or do like I'm doing with my poor beat up zillion and cerakote it.