Jeffonc
Site Moderator
Blog Captain Angler
Captain's Club Angler
NC Kayak Angler
Registered: August 2006
Location: Raleigh
Posts: 3624
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Review Date: 5/17/2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $89.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Penn Quality
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Cons:
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reel foot size too large for some seats
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I've only had this reel for a few months and only used it a handful of times. Giving it a med-high rating for now, counting on Penn reputation for quality and longevity to keep me happy for a long, long time. Will revisit this post as I get more experience with it.
Its not the lightest reel I've ever used, not the smoothest reel I've ever used, but definitely solid. Still getting used to the size and feel - all of my prior spinning gear is lightweight/ultralight freshwater.
Showing no signs of stress from its initial shots at salt exposure.
Foot construction is heavy - not sure if that's a result of the graphite construction or just beefy by design. It would not fit in a number of (cheaper!) spinning rod seats that I tried it in. Wound up having to take a rod that it would fit into, which is causing me some consternation now that I've been out with the combo. Kind of a "hidden cost".
Does not have an anti-reverse switch (unless its hiding from me). Only has 1 gear - forward... If you like to backreel, this one isn't for you. If you hate it when you accidentally bump the AR switch and tangle things up, you might love this one.
The fail-free bailspring certainly has not failed. If anything its a little on the strong side for my tastes so far. Like I said, still getting used to my first inshore spinning setup.
I expect it to give me many years of faithful use and earn the '8' rating I've already given it, or even get better with time.
***** Update 1 year later *******
Still a fine, no-maintenance reel. If I was to do it over again, I'd probably go with a 430 size for inshore reds, trout & flounder. Haven't done any surf fishing that would justify a larger reel.
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NC Angler Fishing
;)
