Once again, we've developed the 'itch'. We regularly find that pocket of hours on our busy schedule to fix that itch by hitting our local salt water ponds nearby and stir up some of its nicely stocked dwellers.
Say hi to our friends from the deep.
Hybrid groupers find it hard to resist when you slowly work that Apia Bagration lure in front of kisser.
Quite a versatile lure, work it fast, you get GTs smashing that flashy action Bagration.
Cousin worked a medium depth crank to stir up this feisty GT by the bank.
Jackall's Gillcra crank is the go to diver for light lines to dig deep.
Fast taper rods fully loaded with a Stella to tame the fighter.
Another GT decided to smash this effective Jackall Gillcra, excellent fast flash for a light weight diver.
Another loaded up shot of a fast taper rod.
Rocket fish cobia.
IMA's rundam twitches too sexy for the cobia.
Switching back to Apia's Bagration found me this willing GT. Smashed it hard and fast.
Goal keeper GT took the Jackall Gillcra and nearly took the lure with it.
Found another lunker from the deep with Apia's Bagration stirring stuff up in his face.
A nice Queensland grouper, harder to fool but this one's not too shay for a photo.
Inline with previously fixed Marfix N4 jam, my own Marfix S5 also showed some weird behaviour with some handle back play towards the end of the trip, after hauling up a fatty grouper from the deep without being taxed by pesky sharks.
It didn't sound like something major and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.
Loaded with 50lbs of braid, all 600yds of it.
Previously salt prep grease still intact and clean.
Main gear screw still intact, but all 3 of them's come undone. Hence the back play.
Still creamy clean inside.
Spool bearing's still nicely packed with salt water grease.
Degreasing needed before contact cleaning and thread locker application.
Excess thread locker must be properly removed. Not a good friend of any mechanical parts and grease. Left to dry before applying a new coat of salt grease.
Lunker from the southern pacific depths. 100% tax free.
The Marfix S5 will be ready for battle on the get go. Waiting and working towards the next big game opportunity.
I'm once again tasked to take apart a big game reel, this time, a well used, loaned unit of Marfix N4. A heavy duty reel for deep jigging for monsters in the south pacific. Yes, you heard right and you can wipe that bewildered stare off your face and yes, we hooked up quite a bit of sharks and also donated plenty of jigs to them toothy predators too.
An awesome, solid and powerful reel for sure and luckily for this angler, the reel only started to act up towards the end of the trip. The reel would occasionally jam up and can't be cranked. The problem worsens to a point that the crank handle just locks up with no give.
On top of that, this reel's never been serviced before. Something most people just assumed that it's heavy duty means it needs little to no TLC. Definitely a big NO for me regardless of the type or how much you pay for them.
Rock solid heavy duty deep jigger. Something's not right inside.
Nice graphics around the palm side.
Here's how it sounds like before the fix.
This confirms the 'never been serviced' before reel. First screw out and salt crystals everywhere.
More reel kryptonite crystals found.
Used up grease found, good that there's grease here.
Heavy duty bits all round. Salt crystals and grease mix.
Unscrewing salt crystals out from the reel.
If you don't remove them, they'll have a permanent zip code there on your reel.
Reel kryptonite's gotta go.
Crank case exposed, used grease and salt crystal mix found.
Main crank shaft with the gear can be lifted out without any signs of locking up or jammed up gears. Note how many screws are still attached to the main gear?
Spot that missing screw.
Main shaft collar removed for a thorough cleaning and salt prep.
Several heavy duty bearings used to support that beefy aluminum machined spool.
Heavy duty stainless steel everything.
Pinion gear attached to the drag plates and double cam anti-reverse levers.
Long lasting heavy duty bashing is the only theme found on this reel.
Bearings are smooth after ultrasonic cleaning and marine grease packed.
Coat them all thoroughly for maximum protection and longevity.
That troubled rogue screw needs a new coat of thread locker to hold it in place.
Thoroughly cleaned, salt prep, tightened screw with thread locker should keep everything in place.
Now that it's done, smooth as silk.
A heavy duty jigging reel ready to put some hurt either on the angler's back or some toothy predators. Cleverly designed drag system that doesn't impact cranking lightness even on heavy drag settings. Much love!
