Does laying your fly rod in the water for say a picture with the fish hurt your reel? I see lots of pictures of people just care

[SDhunt]

Does laying your fly rod in the water for say a picture with the fish hurt your reel? I see lots of pictures of people just carelessly laying them in the water and I don't want to start a bad habit by doing it myself.

[land_cruiser_73]

My reels tend to soak up a lot of dust on the gravel roads to my fishing spots. If they aren't working smoothly when I get there, I hold them by the rod and swoosh them in the water until clean. This may not be the best for them as it might wash out some of the grease, but it has worked for me and my reels have lasted a normal amount of time. Probably longer than the expert fishermen who wear out their reels by actually catching fish!

[BubbaK]

It's probably not good for them, SD, because they will get rust inside them. But if you dry them out and keep them oiled, then the occasional dunking probably doesn't hurt them over the long run.

[Cowiche Buddy]

That probably shouldnt be a problem, if you do it once in a while. Just dont dunk the reel in the sand or mud so as not to get junk in your reel.