So I just bought a Shimano Stradic FL 2500 reel. Found a good sale and loved the reel, so figured why not. 

 

This is replacing a pflueger president xt and I have never owned a reel over $80. I have also never maintained a spinning reel in any way. I don't fish salt water and mainly target bass, trout, pike, some carp and catfish. 

 

Does anyone have advice or a link to a video with respect to cleaning, oil, grease, etc. I would like to take care of this reel and hopefully have it last a long time. Also not sure how to handle the felt drag washer ie oil it or leave it alone. 

I would recommend just basic maintenance yearly or quarterly and send to professionals local or DVT for totally clean out. 

Basic for spinning reel,

1 clean drag get rid of moisture with paper towel all washer and slightly grease just the felt washer.

2 oil roller bearing, search YouTube for this, there are only 4-5 parts on this. 

3 oil two bearing between handle, each side.

4 oil main shaft bearing, this you have to take off anti reverse clutch(don’t mess with the clutch itself) only three big screws and you will see bearing.

 

All the bearings in spinning reel are there just for smoothness, except roller bearing. As long as it smooth you don’t have to do anything with it. Roller bearing on the other hand need oil frequently to make sure roller work as it should to prevent line twisted.

These are all parts in Stradic CI4, in my opinion handle bait caster is a lot easier than spinning.

BTW you reel come with X-Protect, don’t touch it.

 

Spinning Reels maint.pdf

1 hour ago, a1712 said:

Spinning Reels maint.pdf 150.28 kB · 3 downloads

Thanks for this sheet, I am a visual guy so this will help a lot. 

I have 2 recommendations to make.

 

First off, upgrade the drag stack to Carbontex.  It's cheap, easy to do yourself, and definitely worth it for improved drag performance.

 

I'm a big proponent of professional reel services, ESPECIALLY for Shimano.  I love my Stradics but the issue with longevity can be impacted by the frequency with which Shimano releases new reel models, and discontinues support for older models.  Now the FL just came out so you should be OK for the immediate future, but I would still suggest you send it away for professional maintenance ~every other year.

Loosen drag at the end of each fishing trip. That’s all I do. If it’s working leave it alone. Depending on how much I fish or when I fish saltwater the reel will get a full service the end of every season or two