I will be fishing a couple small tournaments on the Potomac River this year. This is the first time I've fished anything besides a pond or lake. The area we will fish is a bit brackish. Before I ruin some gear, thought I would ask. I know a couple of these should not be used in salt water at all. But is brackish water ok if i clean them well afterward? And how in-depth would that cleaning have to be? Rinsing with fresh water, or complete, tear down? Reels in question are

Steez baitcasting reel

Pixy baitcasting reel

Core 51Mg7 baitcasting reel

Patriarch spinning reel

Stradic CI4 spinning reel

Thanks!

Dave

I have a buddy who uses magnesium Pheluger spinning reels in brackish water every day and has no corrosion effects.  On the other hand there are tons of pics of the original Chronarch MG's on the web showing devastating ill effects.  Shimano has a clear proprietary coating to protect them.  What if that coating gets a nick in them, I dont know.  What if anything Pheluger does to prevent it, they dont say.  Daiwa warns you not to use the Steez in salty water so I'd say no way.  The CI4 isnt magnesium is carbon.  I use mine in the surf several times a week to no ill effects.  Magnesium is too risky for me to try, good luck.

I agree with 0119 about the Pflueger, I have a supreme 35 that I used 3 or 4 times a week in saltwater for about 18 months with no problems at all, just ran it under a hose.  The reel is still in service for freshwater and used almost daily, it's never been serviced and is good as the day I bought it.  As the MSRP was only $99 I wasn't overly concerned about having any problems with the salt, it worked it out well.

IMPO If the reels aren't rated for SW don't use them!!! 

 

If you can not get around it, as soon as the tourney is done have the reels deep serviced.

Then before you try another tourney in SW get into some SW rated gear...

 

Just this service techs .02¢

 

Tight Lines!