When you get your rods and reels ready for tournaments, what steps do you take to get them ready? I just got Fresh line on my reels, I greased them with Ardent reel butter, I wiped down the rod blank, I cleaned and shined the rod guides, and I wiped down the outside of the reels and greased under the spool, And I cleaned the reel seats, anything else that I missed? I also soaked my fishing line on the spools in warm water for about 3 minutes as well, any other suggestions? I went throgh all the rod guides with both a paper towell and q-tips with soapy warm water and then dried them out and will be wiping the rods down with pledge this evening

I usually just check the line for condition and capacity. Drop of oil for spool bearings. KVD L&L on the guides, line, and reel. I always clean my rods and reels after every use to make my prep easier. I only have 1 combo I use all the time, the others are specific setups that usually only get used in tournament fishing. Be careful with the warm water thing, L&L the ***ht before, and before fishing in the morning is safer and better. Good luck!

About all I do is re-tie/tie on everything I'm going to be using during the tourney and make sure all my tackle is in it's place. IMO I think you're going a little overboard but, hey, it's your perogative. I don't have that kinda time and it's never adversely affected me in the past.

The Q-Tip isn't for cleaning the guides, it is for checking them for cracks, by running the Q-Tip dry around the guide insert if it is cracked it will pull the cotton off the q-tip and stick in the crack. If you use a cleaner and wet the q-tip you aren't going to find a cracked insert as easily. As for getting ready I just make sure my reels are spooled with fresh line and I have all the equipment I need, my reels are taken care of and I use them during prefishing or practice to make sure everything is in working order.