Saltwater and fishing reels have never been the best of friends.
Anyone who regularly fishes offshore knows how quickly salt can start affecting fishing gear, but fishing from a jet ski can take that exposure to another level. Your rods and reels are often completely exposed while traveling, and on a rough day they can spend an hour or more being blasted with salt spray before you've even made your first cast.
Even on a boat, reels stored in rod holders can cop plenty of spray while underway.
Over the years I've found that preventing as much saltwater as possible from reaching your reels in the first place is far easier than dealing with corrosion later.
Here are some simple things I do to help protect my fishing gear offshore.
1. Protect Your Reels While Traveling
One of the biggest periods of saltwater exposure often happens before you even start fishing.
On my jet ski, the rods are carried behind me while traveling offshore. At cruising speed, particularly in choppy conditions, they are constantly drenched by direct contact to salt spray.
A 30 or 40-minute run offshore — followed by the trip home — can mean your reels spend well over an hour getting sprayed with saltwater.
That's why a physical cover over the reel while traveling makes a lot of sense and will save you in servicing- or complete failure of the reel in a very short time.
A good reel cover helps create a barrier between the reel and direct salt spray while still being quick enough to remove when you arrive at the fishing grounds.
This isn't only a jet ski problem either. Reels carried in exposed rod holders on boats can face exactly the same conditions, particularly when traveling into wind or swell.
Reducing that exposure is one of the simplest ways to help protect expensive fishing equipment.
2. Don't Leave a Wet Reel Sealed Up
There's an important difference between protecting a reel from salt spray and trapping moisture around it.
If a reel or cover is already wet, don't leave it enclosed indefinitely.
Once I'm back from a trip, covers come off and the fishing gear is rinsed and allowed to dry properly.
This is particularly important with any protective cover. Its job is to reduce direct exposure while travelling or when protection is needed — not to seal a wet reel away for days.
Good airflow and proper drying are still an important part of looking after your equipment.
3. Rinse Your Reels Properly After Every Saltwater Trip
Even with good protection, some saltwater will inevitably reach your fishing gear. Water will strike the reels while fishing, and especially while trolling.
After fishing, I give my reels a gentle freshwater rinse according to the reel manufacturer's recommended maintenance procedure.
The key word here is gentle.
Blasting a reel with high-pressure water can potentially force salt, sand or water further into places you don't want it. A light freshwater rinse is generally a much better approach.
Reel manufacturers suggest tightening the reel's drag first,and using a spray bottle to wet the reel. Then use a soft cloth to wipe away the water - and salt!
Pay attention to areas where salt tends to accumulate, including around the spool, handle, reel seat and other exposed components
After rinsing and wiping it down, allow everything to dry thoroughly before storing it.
4. Check Your Gear Rather Than Waiting for a Problem
Salt damage doesn't always announce itself immediately.
Periodically check your reels for signs of corrosion, salt deposits or stiffness, particularly around screws, handles, line rollers and other moving components.
Follow the manufacturer's recommendations for lubrication and servicing.
This is especially worthwhile with reels that regularly live in harsh environments.
Jet ski fishing gear gets a particularly hard life. Between salt spray, UV exposure, vibration and the occasional wave over the back of the ski, prevention and regular maintenance can make a real difference.
5. Don't Forget the Rest of Your Fishing Gear
The reel may be the expensive part, but it's not the only thing affected by saltwater.
Rod guides, reel seats, hooks, swivels, split rings, tools and other metal components all deserve attention after a saltwater trip.
I rinse my rods and other exposed equipment along with the reels and let everything dry properly before putting it away.
It's much easier to spend a few minutes looking after your gear after each trip than discovering corrosion just before your next fishing day.
Why I Use Reel Covers Offshore
Fishing from a jet ski made one problem particularly obvious to me.
My reels could spend a significant amount of time exposed to salt spray simply traveling to and from the fishing grounds. In my early days of jet ski fishing. I learnt about this problem the hard way! One of my first - and favorite- reels jammed up after just a few weeks of use.
On some offshore trips, I might travel 40 or 50 kilometres each way. If conditions are rough, that's a lot of saltwater hitting expensive reels before I've even considered the exposure they receive while fishing.
That's why reel covers became part of my normal setup.
The Jetcast Reel Covers are designed to provide a practical protective barrier around the reel while traveling. They're particularly useful on jet skis and boats where rods are carried in exposed rod holders.
They can be fitted before heading offshore, then quickly removed when you're ready to start fishing.
They're not a substitute for rinsing and maintaining your reels after a trip — the idea is to reduce how much saltwater reaches the reel in the first place.
For me, that combination makes the most sense:
Protect the reel while traveling → rinse after fishing → dry thoroughly → maintain regularly.
Simple habits, but they can help extend the life of equipment that isn't cheap to replace.
Protecting Fishing Gear Is Easier Than Replacing It
Whether you're fishing from a jet ski, centre console, tinny or larger offshore boat, saltwater exposure is unavoidable.
But you can reduce it.
Protecting reels while traveling, rinsing them correctly after each trip, allowing them to dry and keeping up with basic maintenance can all help your fishing gear survive the harsh marine environment.
If you regularly carry rods in exposed holders, a reel cover is a simple extra layer of protection — particularly on jet skis, where salt spray can be relentless.
You can view the Jetcast range of fishing reel covers on our website, along with other equipment designed specifically for offshore and jet ski fishing.
And if you're setting up a jet ski specifically for fishing, you may also find our guide “Top 5 Jet Ski Fishing Upgrades – Essential Gear for Every Rider” useful for some of the other upgrades we've found worthwhile.
