John wrote:

Does anyone else worry about keeping their fly reel out of the water, or am
I just paranoid?

You're paranoid. Are you afraid of getting it wet? Do you use a towel to
dry off the line when you're reeling in? :-)

I don't fish with anything that I'm afraid to get wet, except a can of chew.

Sometimes when streamfishing my reel gets grit in it, typically when I
beach a fish and put the rod down to handle the fish. If I hear that
ugly grit sound, I put the reel in clean water and strip hard two or
three times. It's always worked, so far.

In sal****er you should be using gear designed for sal****er, and a
quick rinse at the end of the day is all you need.

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