[Fish Bait]

Caught a sale on a StCroix rod at the fishing Expo. The rod is a 10’ medium power rated for ¾ to 4 oz lure. I would like to get a light weight spinning reel and since I plan to use 20# powerpro I don’t need large capacity.
I heard good comments about the Penn Slammer and I’m leaning in that direction of a 260 or 360 Slammer but it’s pricey. Also Abu has 2 new salt water spinning reels…
Any suggestions?

 

[Newcaster]

Daiwa BG 15 or BG 20.

 

[Fish Bait]

Thanks Newcaster I’m not familiar with those reels but I’ll take a look a them.

 

[LarryB]

Fish Bait, the St Croix rod that you have is excellent for casting lures or metal. I like fishing for Spanish Mackrell and Blue fish by casting metal so I have a fast retrieving Okuma FINA FHS50. I can get 300 yd of PP on this reel and it has a 6:3:1 gear ratio. There is also a smaller version available. Take a look at the prices on www.digitaldagger.com/. I hope this helps. LarryB

 

[Fish Bait]

Larry, thanks for the info and the suggestion on the faster retrieve reel. I’ll take a look at the Okuma reels.

 

[Adam]

Daiwa all the way.

Lots to choose from here; for spanish and blues with 20# PP Id say a 3500 sized Capricorn, Ondine, Laguna, or somethin similar. You should be able to get 300yds of PP on them. I have a 4000 Capricorn with 30# PP for Stripers(didnt get a chance to use it this winter ) which I will probably also use for spanish and blues this summer. Excellent reel.

I also use a Shimano Sahara 4000 for Spanish/Blues. This one has 300yds of 8# Fireline on it, and it will smoke a stingsilver! Good little reel for about 60 clams.

Adam

 

[Fish Bait]

Adam, there are really a number of good reel to chose form. I think i need to get over to BassPro and get the feel of a few.

 

[Steve H.C.]

A Penn Slammer is a great choice. Compare prices and you will see it isn't pricey at all. Yo are getting a product that is tough and parts are readily available. It is also an American product! Keep the money here. We have very few items made in this country and must encourage these companies not to go overseas and find "slave" labor.
Steve

 

[longcaster]

Official Welcome

Hi "Steve H.C.",

At this time I would like to "Officially Welcome" you to the "Distance Casting" forum.

 

[FisherDan]

Steve,

Unfortunately, Penn is in the process of moving a good portion of its manufacturing offshore. The "gold reels" (Internationals, etc.) are the only ones that will still be manufactured in the US.

Dick Henry, owner of Sea Striker and former owner of Henry's Tackle, bought out Penn Reels (not rods and other products) a little over a year ago. For better or worse, many changes have been made at Penn. From what I have been told, had Penn not been bought, they probably would have been forced to close their doors. Competition was eating their lunch and they evidently had some serious business management problems.

Dan

 

[Black Beard]

I do not believe you have your facts right on Penn moving everything overseas except Internationals.
For sure some has to be, only way to survive, but I believe it will only be low end models. BB

 

[Fish Bait]

This stuff gets complicated with international conglomerates. You may think of Abu Garcia is a Swedish reel but Abu is owned by Pure-Fishing in Spirit Lake Iowa. And SAAB is American and Dodge is German and some Hondas are made in Alabama. Who can sort it out?
But back to reels – is the Slammer still a good reel and is the new Slammer an improvement over the old?

 

[Steve H.C.]

Fishbait,
I have the gold handled 560 Penn Slammer and have found it to be an excellent reel. The older model had a black handle and I heard there was some corrosion problems on one of the internal parts. That has been worked out to the best of my knowledge. I have friends who own Daiwa BG models and have had problems getting parts (springs). Also during this fall I witnessed a BG60 explode during a Bluefish blitz. The bail let go and theguy wasn't fishing with braid. On a recent trip to Hatteras I was speaking to a friendly gent who just bought a capricorn and couldn't get a part for it. I would strongly suggest you look into the Penn Slammer series, unless you know of a Daiwa or Shimano factory in your hometown.
As an aside Penn Slammers are showing up in the Montauk NY surf crowd.
FisherDan, I have purchased two 706Z's, one 704,a Penn 560 slammer, and a 309M, this year and all of them were made in the USA, and have the American flag brandishing the side of the box.
My next purchase is going to be a 525MagT to augment my Newell 235-5.
Good luck and good fishing.
Steve

 

[Fish Bait]

Steve, you have me sold on the Slammer. Given that I want to use 20# powerpro I wonder if I could use the 360 Slammer? Even the 260 would have enough capacity but I’d worry about putting too much stress on the reel. What do you think?

 

[Steve H.C.]

Fishbait,
I use 50# power pro on the 560 slammer. It is more than up to the task. The reel is braid friendly. As with all reels make sure you back off on the drag slightly to make sure the fish doesn't feel immediate resistance and spit your offering. I like fishing with mono better than braid and the line capacity on these reels are also more than adequate to get the job done. The Slammer series has infinite anti reverse, meaning there is no reverse and no dogs to repalce as the SS penn series has. the slammer also allows you to manually flip the bail over, and that is the way I use it. Enjoy the reel it is a solid work horse.
Steve

 

[Steve H.C.]

Fishbait,
Refering back to the reduction in drag setting, that is with the braid line, because it has no stretch like mono.
Steve

 

[Steve H.C.]

Fishbait,
There is a very small price differential with the Slammers, so pick the reel that will allow a good weight balance with your 10' St. Croix and have enough spool capacity for the fish you are targeting. I primarily fish for Stripers and Bluefish, both are very formidable opponents for any outfit.
Steve

 

[LarryB]

Fish Bait,

As you can see there are a lot of good choices available to you for reels but one thing that we haven't talked about is the type of line that you will be using. With a 10' St Croix rod and 20# PP line you will have an outfit that can cast a long way. If you need the distance that this line and rod will provide then I would suggest that you consider a reel with a long cast spool. This type of spool is designed to allow the braided line to come off the spool in larger coils which help get the added distance with each cast. If distance is not an issue then a long cast spool is not necessary. I know that this isn't making your choices any easier but remember that Tiger Woods does not play with only one club but uses several for different situation. The same applies for fishing. I'm sure that this will only be the start of your collection of great tools for different fishing situations. You've received some good advise and good luck with your choice. LarryB

 

[Steve H.C.]

Spool diameter and first guide should be close in size.
Steve

 

[FisherDan]

BB -

Thanks for setting me straight on Penn. My apologies to all for spreading inaccurate information. I heard the same "gold reel" story from three different dealers here in North Carolina who have connections to Henry's Sea Striker organization and concluded that it was true. My mistake.

Dan