Andy Rusin

Thanks for the Tip. Ill investigate this further. Planning on disassembling the reel during winter to check this bearing out. Thanks for the diagram.

That's a good idea. Right now, I use the Reel Butter brand for all of my reels. At the beginning of the year used it on the Antares to coat the pinion and main gear and it seems to work well. The viscosity is somewhat waxy so unsure if cold temps thicken it up even more.

I currently own a Shimano Antares Baitcasting reel I've used for the past two years. Over time, it has started to feel a little geary especially during slow retrieves. I have previously owned a Bantam MGL that has suffered the same fate. I was going to take the Antares apart to do some oil maintenance until I noticed during cooler weather like we're having now (50s and 40s) that the geariness goes completely away. With the Shimano reels having the micromodule gears with the much smaller teeth, I think is causing the buzziness you feel when you retrieve, but this doesn't explain why cold weather would make any difference in making the gears feel smoother. Can anybody shed some light on this or does anybody else who owns a Shamano baitcasting reel notice this?