Rod up-keeping and maintenance

There are so many skilled fisherman out there, may it be fly fishing, bait casting, bait jigging, popping, bottom fishing and the list goes on, they took good care of their reels but not many of them really thought of rod maintenance.

Similarly to reel maintenance, rod maintenance to will extend the life span of the rods. It is much more simpler than servicing the reel.

Proper cleaning of reel seat, the handle and the guides. The only thing which is kinda difficult to do is getting rid of the rust built up at the guide foot and cracks at the wrappings.

Rust will eventually build up at guide foot when come in contact with salt water.
A small gap, cracks or void area between the epoxy coating and the guide foot is good enough for the water to penetrate and sip in.  

Of course it will not rust over night, but this will be the beginning of the corrosion process especially to salt water rods.

The corrosion or rust build up normally starts on the surface of the guide foot just beneath the epoxy coating, and it will get deeper if the rust particles are not scrap off.

The surface of the old epoxy coating was lightly scuffed to remove the dirt.

The new thin epoxy coating is then applied onto the scuffed wrapping.

And as you can see, the rusty particles are scrapped off the guide foot.
If the epoxy are properly and evenly applied onto the wrapping sealing off all the gaps and voids, the guide foot will be rust free for at least a couple of years.

I hope this write-up will give you a new perspective about up keeping your rods and additional information to extend the lifespan of your fishing rod.