I’m not the kind of person who uses something (or meets someone) once and then formulates a lifelong opinion. On some occassions in life – this has been a failing on my part as I either;
So I’ve used this reel on around ten trips now and I think I’ve formed a fair opinion of it.
Why I bought it?…..A clubmate lent me one last year and it was easy to use, forgiving and felt very strong. I wanted one!
What I paid?….. RRP is £50. Widely available for £40 – which I paid from a local tackle shop. Waiting time was extensive to get one as Penn were out of stock for quite a while. These were available on Ebay from Singapore, but with only one spool instead of the two UK supplied spools.
Capacity stated?….. is a hefty 275yds of 20lb mono. I loaded up with mono backing and 200m of 16lb braid. A good tip to work out how much backing is required – load the braid on first, then add mono backing to fill the spool – then change spools and load from one to the other (mono first).
Where I’ve used it?….. From my own boat, from a charter boat, from rocks, from piers in all types of ground, so a good workout. I’ve used it on a boat rod, light spinning rod and a 10ft pier rod
My opinion?….. I’ll break this down into; a)components b) problems c) value for money d) long term opinion
a) Components – steel spools, excellent precise drag settings. There is a gold coloured "scuff cap" screwed onto the base of the reel. This is coloured plastic and looks great in the shop / box. Once scraped and scratched, it’s not so pretty. Aluminium would have been better. The casing is made from heavy duty plastic too. It has one or two slight scrapes and paint chips, but nothing more than would be expected. Screws seem to be brass, no corrosion showing.
b)Problems – The reel is used for sea fishing. Sea fishing = salt water = corrosion. I always rinse down my reels after every trip. take the spool off, and leave to dry on the window sill. After 4 or 5 trips, a very annoying squeak developed when retrieving. I had to track it down. Removed handle (eventually – was stuck!), removed spool, removed cover and it still squeaked, greased gears and removed centre spindle – it still squeaked! Traced squeak to the needle bearings on the main drive cog. I oiled these although they are quite inaccessable (they are in a nylon housing) and all seemed well. I did spot one or two small amounts of corrosion inside the reel. As is usual with many reels, some internal bits seemed to be made with "bastard" metal, and ain’t that strong or corrosion resistant. Fully lubricated everything and re-assembled it (bearings = oil, cogs = grease). I also had to strip and re-lubricate the bailing arm assembly on the spring side.
c) Value for money – You get what you pay for in life. £40-£50 is good value for money. I’d have preferred to have paid an extra £10 and done away with the cheap metal inside and the painted plastic scuff guards.
d) Long term opinion – Looks wise, it’ll probably look quite battered and scraped. If you buy’n’sell gear regularly, this won’t have much of a re-sale value if used the way I use my gear. Internally, I think it should have a reasonable lifespan, but will need a lot of TLC. I appreciate that a lot of people won’t fancy stripping a reel to component level every 6 months – nor should they actually have to!
Conclusion; Good reel. Insufficiently lubricated. Higher quality components would have got it an extra mark.
Total marks – 8 out of 10
This is the first technical review I’ve attempted – so thanks for reading!
Gordon Goldie
