Penn 525mag comments wanted

Cobia Seeker, I believe that a regular 525 mag is around $150. I got mine from Hatteras Outfittter's that had several magnets added for more control. I think that it was around $170. It is smaller around than my abu 7500 or my Daiwa 30 SHV; which means that you can grip it easier than others. I use mine for fishing and distance casting. I keep mine on my Zziplex Vmaxf1, which is 13'4". I am currently around 500'. The draw back is that it does not hold as much line as other casting reels. Because of the magnets, it is a very good casting reel to learn on. Hope this helps. pelican man.

Not bad, the 525mag is $135 at Jamestackle.com, plus shipping. Of course James may be able to work a little to get below what you saw.

.....Kurt

Cobia Seeker-I have had mine 4 about a month now and I love it!I got mine from PA Dist.For 135.00.Awesome reel!I am thinking however to buy the Re-Mag kit from Tres @ Hatteras Outfitters,for those times I go Night Fishing.I have 17# Red Suffix with 85# Power pro as a shock leader.I have the reel on a 11 foot Tica,witch can easily cast 150 yards without trying.
I have yet to blow up the spool.I don't know if I am getting better at casting or just the Mags doing there thing.I know my confidince has improved dramatically.
I have yet to catch any thing with size on the reel,but I plan to.
I hope my .02 cents helps.

Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like money well spent.

one more point of view, i've been using penn reels all my life, fishing since 1952, and my 525 is the worse piece of crap i have ever owned.

do tell

why don't you like it?

I bought one off e-bay for $120 and i love it

Cobia Seeker I wish I knew you you were intrested in the 525MAG. I had one in the truck you could have casted. I like the reel alot, casts well. Good adjustments on the reel, Very fast and even mod's are around for those who want or need them.

big brother what was wrong with the reel? Just saying something is a piece of crap does not help any one. Who knows your problem may be something somebody else may be able to help you with.

it took me a long time to admit to myself that i had bought a bad penn product, but i could not consistently cast with the reel. it was the first one i had bought with externally controllable mags (the 990 is not really externally controlled and the jigmasters and long beaches are thumb-brakers dreams) and i thought it was just me. one cast would be long and controlled, the next would be short and blown up, with no change in settings. i've had the reel worked on by some really good reel tuners, washers in, washers out, change bearings, file here-file there and no one can get it working. the general opinion seemed to be that the frame had a twist in it, but i put it on my bridgeport table and checked it for square and it was dead on.
I do not say lightly that penn sold me a piece of crap (i guess one out of the many of their products i have purchased is not bad), but i stand by my statement about this reel.
charlie

Big Brother, I can understand your frustration with the Penn 525 Mag reel. It can be a difficult reel to cast consistently out of the box. You may want to check out www.floridasurffishing.com website archives under Penn 525 Mag. There is more information on taming the reel on that website than anywhere else I've found. I'm sure the information you need to resolve your reel problem can be found there, including the two most common, which are insufficient line size and eddy current. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Big Brother Joe S sent you to a great place fro info on that reel. The first thing I would check is the polarity it should be +,-,+,-. Washers should not be part of the problem since they are part of the drag. Also some times the slider slips until it gets some fish grime in it(at least that is my experence.

i sent bigbrother a pm asking him what was problem with the reel but he did not reply

I would inquire on the Brit sites, as to finding a knobbie sideplate.
Once installed correctly, you will notice a remarkable difference.
I have 4 knobbie 525's fishing all of them daily, and they have yet to let me down. Drawback on the conversion is the point that you lose the clicker, but then again I don't use a clicker anyway.

joe, tom, digger
i appreciate the help with websites, i guess i should have been more specific about washers, i was talking about the spacer shims between the bearing and the spool.
Mr. cobia seeker, when i checked my computer this morning there was an instant message from you asking me to detail the problem with the reel, i believe i did that on the board. BTW the instant message was timed at 4:05 pm and your complaint that i did not answer your instant message was at 4:24 pm. instant message does not mean instant answer.
charlie farmer

Cobia Seeker, My first Penn 525 mag had a whine when I threw it. So I let some lond distance casters throw it; and it still hummed. I had the line balanced on the spool by the distance caster's and it still whined. Then I sent it to Tres at Hatteras Outfitter's. He worked on my reel for several hours; replacing a number of things and finally called to say that he believed that something was wrong with the housing. I bought a new 525 mag w/extra magnets installed by Tres and he sent both reels back to me; and I called Penn and sent them my first reel. About 2 weeks later I received my mag 525 from Penn, and they listed a number of parts that they "replaced for free". I believe they replaced the housing, spool, shaft, several beraings and some washers; for free. My reel was also 1 1/2 yrs. old; which is over the 1 yr. warranty mark. I then traded my first mag 525 for an Abu 7500. Just my .02. Pelican man.

Bigbrother,it was not a complaint more of a statment. I do understand that IM does not mean instant reply but you were on when I sent it so thats why I said what I said. No biggie though.

Thanks again for the input guys, helped me alot.

I think, that putting your problems with the 525mag on Neily's board might be a good idea. And let him give you a few suggestions, since he did help in the development of the reel.
Again with the knobbie side plate, and ceramic bearings a bit of tweaking, a far better fishing reel than the 6500.

I sent Neil a link to this thread. We should hear from him in the next day or two. I have not had a single problem with my two 525 Knobbies. I also remeber Larry's hopeless reel so maybe some 525's are born bad.

Hey James, Remember when I had that problem and the Richard worked on my reel while distance casting practice was going on? The point is; Penn reels took care of my reel for free and after the warranty was up. I am glad that I got another Penn 525 mag. It is a great reel, and since it has mags and was my 1st casting reel, it was great to learn on and then start backing off the mags and continue throwing further. Pelican man.

James, I was fishing with my brother at Raystown Lake, PA.; on Sat., using his 21' cutty cabin. He caught 1 small fish and I got nothing. It was still fun. We were using worms and also using 5"-6" trout for live bait. We still had fun. Pelican man.