Penn Reels - are they worth it or are they over-rated?

Question

We had the Ugly-Stik war, let's see where this goes

Answer 1

OK, here we go again. Hi everybody.

No, they are not overrated, you just need to get the right reel to suit your purpose and be aware of some of their limitations. I would definitely stay far away from their small bait casters, lever drag, and level wind reels. Penn does not do finesse well, they don't hold up and there are too many others on the market that do a better job at a competitive price.

When I think of Penn the one reel that come to mind is the 500 Jig Master. This is a classic and one of if the the best known, and widely used reels in the world today. Dependable, parts are always available,(Penns strong point is customer service and parts distribution) and anyone can fix it with little more than a rock and a butter knife. There have been more after market kits and add ons for this reel than any other that I can think of, many kits to strengthen the frame. This reel is one that you could use as a starter reel for the beginner. If I had to choose one reel to be stuck in a remote place with it would be a 500. They built the 505 and 506 as an upgrade, high speed and bearings instead of bushings. Stay away from this one. The gear size does not support high speed when placed under heavy load.

The 555, 545, 535, & 525 were based on the 500 but redesigned for high speed and all use the same gears and drag set. There is no problem with these reels under heavy load. The one piece frame, graphite composite body and stainless components make this a great reel for the money.

The Penn Internationals from the 12T up to the 130 are good but they had some serious limitations, especially for the west coast stand up anglers. The reel could not develop enough drag pressure using the line we wanted to put on them. For example a 50TW was made to fish 50# mono. On the west coast we wanted to use 80# & 100# on these reels. You could not get more than 15# of drag on them with out some serious modification. Penn as a company took along time to understand this, in fact they were stubborn about it, and it was not until they lost so much market share to Shimano that they made the necessary changes to make these reels fishable out of the box. There is a company called Cal Go in Pasadena Ca. that made a fortune doing these upgrades to the Internationals. They would even convert a single speed to a two speed. Now they are already go go out of the box and the graphite lever drags compare very favorably to the Shimano TLDs.

Penn in terms of spinning reels does not do a good job. Some of their cheaper models are now imported and just have the name stuck on them. The fresh water spinners, again there are so many others to choose from that I don't even give them a look and was hesitant to recommend them. The one exception in the spin reels is the larger SS series. For salt water especially for surf in my opinion there is nothing better except possibly the Daiwa BG reels. This reel will hold up to the dirt and sand where others will not. They are heavy clunky and not the smoothest, but they will work.

Two final thoughts on this. The Penn reels now have a drag material called HT100. This is the best stuff out there. Its made from a graphite fiber and is very similar to aircraft brake material. Works when wet, does not fade under load, and wears extremely well. I now use this in all my reels where possible, Penn or not. One trick for these washers when putting in new ones is to us a small amount of drag grease on them, really smooths them out until they get worn in a little. As far as corrosion goes, any reel will not hold up to salt water if not cared for. I believe that neglect is the biggest part of reel failures. No one reel holds up better to salt than the others, just a matter of proper maint.

Those are a few of my thoughts for today, got to hang Christmas Lights now.

Answer 2

Penn International Fishing Reels

Answer 3

This is a matter of opinion of course....But Yes the Penn reels are worth the price. I own the smaller 440ssg, 450ssg, and the larger bad boys the 750ssm, 850ssm, and the 950ssm.
The larger reels are mated to the Ugly Stik Big Water SWB 1120 8' rods. Sorry...I missed the Ugly Stik war. I like em.
The Penn reels have never disappointed whether it be fishing the bays or offshore. I love the "Power Drag" system they employ...though it did bite me in the butt one time..set it to 15 lbs using a PowerPro braid line 50# and when offshore fishing something hit and took 200 yds off the spool in a hurry. That's my bad.
Bottom line. You can't go wrong with these reels. Dependable and reliable...after fishing the gulf I just squirt them with a lil fresh water out of the hose and let them dry and put em up.

Answer 4

Once again this i think is really a matter of personal preference, personally i would rather go with a good old Swedish abu Garcia, why? well mainly because i was brought up using them and i still do. As for Penn reels well i never really used them that much, the quality isn't bad at all and they have good gearing they just aren't for me, However the larger deep sea versions i have used in the past for marlin etc are fantastic and I'm sure you will find them on any big game boat across the world.

Answer 5

Penn Fishing Rods

Answer 6

I have never seen a Penn reel that didn't start to corrode IMMEDIATELY after use in salt water. That includes the 220, 230, 320, 330, 975 LD Intl, and a few big senators, and the odd 309 or Seaboy that was mostly plastic anyway.

My $30 Shakespeare T30s have NEVER been rinsed after use and don't show any corrosion at all.

Answer 7

Just a little trivia here.

Shakespeare Fishing Tackle, a leading manufacturer of fishing rods, reels, fishing line and accessories is pleased to announce the acquisition of Penn Fishing Tackle Mfg. Co. Founded in 1932, Penn is the market leader in saltwater trolling and spinning reels and saltwater rods.

These products include the famous Penn International®, Senators®, GT, and GTO trolling reels, as well as Slammer® and Spinfisher® SSM and SSG spinning reels.

“For 75 years, Penn products have been the gold standard for offshore, inshore and surf fishing,” according to Scott Hogsett, President of Shakespeare. “Shakespeare is excited to be able to add Penn’s broad assortment of saltwater products to complement the current Shakespeare, Pflueger and All Star freshwater, inshore and saltwater offerings.”

Look at this article to see the difference in gear construction and quality used in Penn Torque reels: http://www.tackletour.com/reviewpenntorquepreview.html
IMHO the only saltwater reels better are made by Avet.
http://www.avetreels.com/avet_trx_quad.html

Answer 8

LOL

I opened up a can of worms. (lol)

The question- Internationals (conventional) are pretty decent, (and you can find prts for them easily!) I saw 2 returned to our store within a 3 year period,(and we sold quite a few!). There gears were "grinding" badly and they were almost new reels, (fished with only twice!). 2 out of (roughly) 150 ain't bad!

We had alot of Senators returned but we also SOLD alot of them too. It averages out.

I only sold a handful of International flyreels. To be honest, I thought the "barstock"Lamsons that we carried (at the time) were a better bargain for our customers. And I always thought the International Flyreels were just too dang HEAVY for flyfishing! ('Course I could be wrong; thats just my opinion.)

Only a handful of Spinfisher SS Metal & Graphite came back too.
And if you DID have an issue with a Penn there warranty dept was pretty good about fixing problems quick. (At least thats what me & my customers experienced).

Now, since I've been out of the "Tackle selling" scene for awhile they've added some new reels which I have NO idea about their quality.

We mostly sold Slammers, SS models, International's, Senators, Gti's, & GTi's with level-winds.

According to my experiences at the store they were pretty decent. (Although, on a side note, I actually bought a 420SS Graphite for lite-tackle inshore fishing and the freakin' handle fell off. Just fell OFF while I was reeling in a Redfish. Fortunatly, Penn got me a new handle pronto and I used that reel for 6-7 years before
trading up to a Shimano!!!!!!!!! LOL)

However, I still think they are decent for saltwater inshore/offshore fishing!

BUT, I wouldn't want one of their reels for , say , Bass-fishing or general freshwater.

That's my 2 cents.




Nice in-depth answer Bob! Exert-7- cool info/websites!

Answer 9

Is a Chevrolet better than a Ford? I wouldn't pay more for a Penn than a comparable Shakespeare, or other brand. Never had an Ugly Stik.

Answer 10

This Site Might Help You.

RE:
Penn Reels - are they worth it or are they over-rated?
We had the Ugly-Stik war, let's see where this goes