My sandspike was not secure enough and a big fish pulled down my rod and reel into the surf. Sand must have gotten into my shimano ultegra 5500 and I think I Ground down the gears fighting the fish. I never landed the fish (line snapped) and the reel was toast (add insult to injury).
After taking the completely apart I was able to identify the damaged parts and order them from the shimano website. A week later I replaced the pinion and drive gear for a little over $20 and it feels good as new.
Time to ger back out to the surf!
Posted by DaFixer_100