Penn reels

[wewasr]

Schoe as you may have noticed I like Penn reel. I just picked up a Penn 940 to add to my channel cat rigs. I have nothing bad to say about Abu Garcia and I have channel cat fished with a six star for over six years. I do do like Penn reels in the water I fish.

Don

[rockinmichigan]

wewasr, what do you usually have your Penn reel on, what kind of rod and would it be heavy action or maybe medium heavy action rod?

[wewasr]

Most of my channel cat rods are 7' Ugly Sticks My flathead rods all but 3 are Penn rods 9 I think, I have one Night Stick, one Ugly Stick and one Ocean City Most are 7' range.

Don

[rockinmichigan]

wewasr, good choice of rods. I used to have a Sizzle Stick as of a couple years ago, used that on many o' channel cats, bullhead, carp, sheephead, you name it. I miss it, it wasn't heavy duty like those rods you mentioned, it was only 6' and was medium action, but you could really feel the fight on there and I didn't miss many or have many fight off.

[Ðe§perado™]

I like Both Abu's and Penn . I ran across a good deal on two Penn 9M reels. I use them on my drifting rods for catfish. I put 20 lb. Big game Hi-Vis on them.

[rockinmichigan]

Ðe§perado™, what part of Ohio are you in? I hear there's some big cats in the Ohio River as well as in a couple of the rivers near me in NW Ohio. I guess they catch some good sized flatheads on live bluegills in the Maumee River in NW Ohio, at least 25-30 pounders aren't uncommon at all, and I'm sure they get bigger then that in some parts of the river.

[Ðe§perado™]

I'm central, in Pataskala, 18 miles east of Columbus. I fish the Ohio and other rivers and get nice size flats. We need to hook up and get a few.

[rockinmichigan]

Ðe§perado™, we should meet up sometime. I live a couple miles north of the good side of the border here in Michigan near Toledo. What's your personal biggest kitty?

[Stump Bumper]

Hey everybody, my favorites for channel cats are Abu Garcia 6500's on 9' eagle claw rods with extra sensative tips to detect a light bite. For flatheads, I got to agree with Don about Penn reels. I like the Penn 320's on a 7' (one piece) American Preimere Nightstick. The tip is sensative enough to pick up lite bites but really has super backbone to muscle a big flathead out of cover. Catfish Connection carries the Nightsticks and do an outstanding job getting your order out fast....Ray

[gofish]

how do the penn reels hold up compared to the 6500s? i use flippin or muskie/striper rods all high mod graphite. mainly cause i fish for everything never had a problem with the rods. but garcia levelwinds and pawls have gotten softer and i eat up at least a couple a year. im getting ready to buy a swimbait rod to throw 1 to 6 oz. jigs and crank baits and cant decide on a reel. the reel needs to be a levelwind ,good drag and hold a lot of line (i make looong casts) any suggestions? ive only owned garcia reels my whole life. (still got my first 30yrs old) normal line i use is 30# big game

[Stump Bumper]

It'll take a pretty good fish to strip the gears out of a Penn reel. You pay a little extra but they are worth every penny....Ray

[Stump Bumper]

gofish, for flathead fishing, I spool my Penn's with 300 yards of 60 pound Power Pro or Spiderwire braided line, with 8 ounce sinkers and 50 pound mono leaders....Ray

[gofish]

any favorite models?

[three_rivers]

I just received a penn 209 as a christmas present and i can say i am surprised how easy it is reeling in over and over again. When you fish with 5 or 6 reels moving every 25 minutes or so in deep water with heavy weights my abus takes a toll on my hands and arms. I can barely tell i'm reeling this reel in with the big game handle on it. It made a 16 pounder i caught a few weeks back feel like a three or four pounder. It is spooled with power pro 80 pd test and i really like all that extra line for just in case, only thing i didn't like about it was the cost of spooling. It was almost as much as the reel itself.

I also received a abu 7000 for christmas. Its yet to be spooled but will be here shortly. Both these reels have about the same line capacity so a head to head comparison will be pretty interesting! Soon as i put a few trips on both i'll post the pros and cons of each reel. Now if i only could find a job doing R&D like this i'd be in heaven.:D

[capt.kirk]

THREE RIVERS
The cost of that power pro line is a bit pricey,but its a case of you get
what you pay for.if you would like to check power pro against another
costing about the same price,spool the new one with stren braided line
of the same weight and see which one you like the best,it cost a few bucks
to experiment,but i have both of them and lean toward the stren,i dont
have a whole list of reasons other than it seems to cast smoother,and
seems to be more sensitive in feeling the lightest bite.could be all in my
head?:confused:

[Stump Bumper]

gofish, I really like the Penn 320's. They hold a good bit of line and are fairly easy to cast with a little pratice. Kirk and three rivers, as ya'll already know, I'm pretty much sold on braided line. Guess it just comes down to personal preference. I'll have to give that new Stren braided line a try....Ray

[gofish]

thanks ill probably try one. i never have been able to get used to braided for catfishing,havent tried it with circle hooks though. im goin to spool up a couple rods with when i go to kentucky in a couple months and try again. if i can keep away from bass fishing that is.

[three_rivers]

THREE RIVERS
The cost of that power pro line is a bit pricey,but its a case of you get
what you pay for.if you would like to check power pro against another
costing about the same price,spool the new one with stren braided line
of the same weight and see which one you like the best,it cost a few bucks
to experiment,but i have both of them and lean toward the stren,i dont
have a whole list of reasons other than it seems to cast smoother,and
seems to be more sensitive in feeling the lightest bite.could be all in my
head?:confused:

Capt. Kirk,

I'm interested in hearing more about Stren Super Braid. I'm looking at buying a 1500 yd spool in a few days, seen the price of stren and its cheaper. How does it hold up to power pro when were talking of durability? I've tried spiderwire and when it wears it gets fuzzy and flattens out like a ribbon. Any info will be greatly appreciated!!!!

[capt.kirk]

THREE RIVERS
I have not had either one of them long enough to give you an honest anwser,
on durability.i have the gold color,and it seems that the color of the
power pro has faded quicker than the stren.also the power pro tends to
want to float more than the stren.when i cast the stren the weight and
bait go to the bottom and you just have to take up the slack to a tight
line,and it stays put,on the power pro it seems like it takes more time to
catch up with the slack to get a tight line.this is just my experience with
it.the only thing i would change is the color of the line,next time i order
it will be the smoke or the dark green,in our clear water the gold line sticks
out like a sore thumb.i have used the gold next to clear stren and will get
more bites on the on the clear line.STUMP BUMPER has used the braided
line longer than i have,he may have more proven information on the
braided line,as far as durabilty goes,he has used it under the worst
conditions you will find,river fishing for flatheads in HEAVY cover.
KIRK

[catman-fl]

garcia just came out with aa 10,000 series reel that works on salt water fish. alsoi have used the 7000's with 65 braid and caught 150 lb sharks on them with no pro.blems

[catman-fl]

three rivers, i have been using poweer pro salt water & fresh water fishig for about 12 years, i nstill have three reels that have the same line on them. all i do is cut about 8 to10 feet of line off the end & retie.hope this helps you out .

catman-fl

[Stump Bumper]

I've used braided line consistantly on all my reels since 1999. The only time I respool is when my reel starts running low on line. I've never had to re-spool due to line failure. The only thing I recommend is that if you use braided line, always carry a foot long break stick. A foot long piece of an old wooden boat paddle works great. I use this to wrap the braided line around to break off when I need to, after becoming hopelessly snagged on bottom structure. Otherwise you will cut your hands to pieces trying to break the line....Ray

[capt.kirk]

RAY
You said a mouthful about the cuts,i have or lets say used to have a habit
of keeping my left fore finger under the line when i would go to set the
hook,it only takes i cut to the bone to break that habit,it will cut your
finger clean off.
KIRK

[three_rivers]

Since i've had the chance to put a few miles on both the abu 7000 and the penn 209 i said i'd let you guys know how they compared to each other.

The abu 7000 was a little more comfortable to handle since i've always used abu baitcasters with the button. The penns lever took a little getting used too. The abu was better at casting to start out with but after getting used to the penn both reels will put a bait out there if need be. They are surprisingly similar when it comes to the drags and the way they feel while reeling in fish. The power handles on both makes it so much easier to reel in fish. The only difference was the penn was a little slower retreive and the obvious cost.

On another note i've fished with another reel that literally made both of these feel like zebcos. It felt rock solid, no frame flex, handle flex, reeled smoother than any abu i've handled and the handle fits perfectly in the hand. It will be the next reel i purchase. It is the quantum cabo levelwind!

[capt.kirk]

Robin
I have a question that has nothing to do with reels,someone said to
ask you about the river temp up at WEWA by what means did you find
out and what was the depth at the time??? KIRK