Do you fish your reels as they come out of the box or tune them and change bearings etc. ?

I used to work on them as soon as I got them.  Today’s Shimanos work well enough for me out of the box.

If it's a reel I buy for myself, I fish it a few times, and decide whether to completely disassemble, degrease, and re lube/assemble to my preferences.  I rarely change bearings, unless one is bad.  I almost always replace the drag washers with genuine Carbontex.  I occasionally change the handle/knob assembly.  

 

If the reel was sent to me for evaluation, I do nothing, not even routine maintenance to the reel, unless it starts malfunctioning.  This is in order to report back to members what to expect from the reel.  In my opinion, you should be able to buy a reel, fish it like you stole it, and not worry about mechanics for a year.

I change to Carbontex drag washers, though I don't always do it immediately.  At the longest, I will go until my next big reel cleaning in Winter before I replace the washers but they always get replaced within the first year.  I pretty much don't worry about anything else.  

I do fish my reels straight out of the box.  I don't make any tuning or or bearing changes to make them perform differently.  I may put on different reel paddles, knobs or handles that Lew's offers for specific techniques.