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Daiwa fishing reels are made to a high standard of quality, and there’s a reason the brand is so well-respected among anglers from all over the world. Whether your pursuits take you to inland lakes or far out in the salt, there’s a Daiwa reel that can meet the grade you need.

With that said, Daiwa spinning reels are among the most popular out there for saltwater fishermen, particularly surfcasters, and their spinning tackle is easy to use, easy to clean, and enables long, smooth casts.

But, like all tackle that sees service in salt, these Daiwa fishing reels will need no small amount of routine maintenance in order to keep spinning, as it were.

This short guide should help with that.

Preliminary Corrosion Protection

The first thing you need to make sure of is that the reel is as well insulated as possible against corrosive influence, and if you take your Daiwa in the salt (as this article supposes) there will be no shortage of that.

Before you even spool up the Daiwa fishing reel for the first time, give it a once over and locate all of the hardware that holds the thing together. This includes mostly screws, but pull off the spool and there should be a nut or two near the main shaft, too.

Get some high-quality reel oil (Penn reel oil and Remington’s Rem Oil are two good choices) and put a drop over each of these fasteners. This will help insulate them against corrosion, streamlining cleaning down the road.

Cleaning the Drag Washers

The drag washers of your Daiwa spinning reel are located inside the spool body, underneath the drag knob. Turn this to loosen it and continue to unscrew it until you can pull it off, then remove the spool.

There will be a small metal retainer clip holding the drag washers in there. After a trip in the salt, take this out, and rinse and dry them. This will help remove salt deposits and moisture that will damage them.

Once they are clean, make sure they are completely dry, then reassemble in reverse order. Do not apply oil to these drag washers as this will counteract the function of the drag system.

Lubricating the Line Roller

On the bail arm, on the side where the line runs under the arm and back to the spool, there is a part called the line roller.

This line roller must roll smoothly in its bearings to feed line off the spool, or to gather it back. If it does not run smoothly, the line will twist as it comes back onto the spool, which will cause problems for you, rest assured.

One way to help prevent twist is to make sure the line roller is well-lubricated. After every few trips, add a drop or two of the same oil you used elsewhere here. This will protect the part from corrosion and help prevent line twist.

Also, one more note on how to keep your line twist-free for longer: when you cast, don’t close the bail using the reel handle. Close it manually.

Lubricating the Main Shaft

When you pull the spool off, you can see the large main shaft underneath that moves the spool forward and backward to feed the line evenly onto the spool.

This part is a critical part that must be kept well-lubricated to ensure it works flawlessly. Fortunately, you don’t have to get too far into the weeds to administer routine maintenance.

Just put a drop or two of the same oil you used on the hardware and line roller at the base of the shaft, then work the reel a few times to coat it evenly. Alternatively, you could also use a reel grease or a gun grease for the same purposes.

Greasing the Gears

If you ever feel your Daiwa fishing reel getting stiff, gritty, or it feels like it’s hard to crank the reel handle, the problem is like that there’s something wrong with the internal main gears.

To access these, you will need to remove the spool, rotor, and then the side plate from the left side of the reel body. Get a magnetic tray beforehand so you don’t lose any parts, and pay close attention to the order in which you took them off. It can be very hard to get these things back together.

Once you’ve exposed the main gears, put some grease on them. Gun grease and reel grease both work, will expel moisture, and will lubricate the gears. Most of the time, greasing the gears can restore fluid functionality to a gritty reel.

If the reel remains gritty even after greasing the gears, it may need a more thorough breakdown and cleaning - if you are not comfortable doing this, take it to a tackle shop.

Know How to Change the Bail Spring

Fortunately, most quality Daiwa fishing reels, like the Legalis, are made with high-quality compression springs for the bail spring. This is good news as compression springs will go through many more compression cycles than torsion springs, which are used on many budget reels.

Still, the bail spring is usually the first part that fails on a spinning reel, so you’ll want to know how to replace that. There’s one catch, though. You will need a specific part - so contact Daiwa for a replacement spring the second yours fails.

A Note on Line

While this doesn’t necessarily apply to the reel itself, it’s important to replace your line periodically. There are two good reasons for this - one is that since the line can accumulate salt deposits, which are abrasive, the line will wear through faster.

The second has to do with the same reason. Salt deposits that accumulate within the line are very difficult to remove and eventually will cause corrosion within the reel - so it’s a good habit to replace your line yearly, if not more frequently, even if it seems like the line is in good shape.

After Each Trip

The best offense is a good defense, and with respect to keeping your Daiwa fishing reels in good shape, that means routine maintenance will go a long way towards preventing damage. In truth, it’s just as important as deep cleaning.

After you fish in the salt, give your reel a light spray down with freshwater. Don’t use a jet to wash it, as this can push saltwater up into the reel. Rather, give it a light misting, then wipe down the exterior with a clean rag.

Let the reel dry and make sure it is completely dry before storing. Observe this and keep to the other pointers in this article, and your reels should run smoother for longer.