PART 1:

In between your reel cleanings, the best way to deal with the aftermath of fishing I have found is as follows:

When I get home, I rinse the reels and rods with a shower nozzle on my water hose. You do not want a high-pressure stream or spray. This will just force any sand on the reel inside the workings. I rinse from front, sides and behind and let them sit for a few minutes. I use WD-40 from about 2 feet away and cover the reel with a fine mist. Pay attention to around the reel foot. This has nooks and crannies that likes to hold stuff.

Wd-40 displaces water and you can see the water just falling-off your reels. I then allow the reels to dry. Then I back-off the drags, oil the handle knobs and put them in the garage. If you forget, don't worry. I always carry a tube of Abu oil in my pocket when fishing. It just takes a second or two to oil the handle. During a long fishing session, you may need to oil them again. Good habit to get into.

I use just about any light oil for the handle...Usually Abu oil that comes with the reels. Rocket oii is no good here...Use it for bearings only.

Just a short note to let you know that I am not fanactical about my reels. I use them a lot. I don't abuse them and always try to protect my investments. Why? For me, when a reel goes down, it costs me money. I keep them in good mechanical shape so they perform for me when I need them most. Nothing worse than right in the middle of a fish bite to have a reel go down.

I carry spare reels just for that reason. Usually when a reel goes down it is not due to mechanical failure on the reels' part. I get cut-offs, break-offs or sometimes "Professional overrun" (backlash). When that happens, I remove the reel, replace it with a ready reel, re-thread the rod and clip on a new leader. Total down-time...less than 5 minutes until I am back in the water with that rod.

Worse case scenerio is when a reel falls in the surf. If that happens, rinse it if you can, sometimes if the sand doesn't get inside, you can remove the right sideplate, rinse the reel and put it back in service for the day. If it is not working smoothly, take it out of service and break it down completely when you get home. Don't put that off!!! Your bearings will rust overnight and then you have problems. Take care of it quickly and no harm is done.