Penn Spinning Reels

[ronaultmtd]

I'm jumping off the Shimano train...company keeps changing model reels then not providing long term parts supplies- Stradix spinning reel is so hard to keep up with- seems to change every year, so I needed a new reel for light salt water lure tossing- I love conventional reels and have a stable full, but at night trying to cast 1/4 oz or lighter lures conventional casting outfit is not the most user friendly, especially in windy conditions...so I looked hard at options other than Shimano- (I have three older model Stradix reels)...after much research looking at Diawa Saltist and Abu Revos...I settled on a Penn Clash 3000- put it on a Castaway G-2 medium action 7' one piece rod...and loaded it with 200 yards of 20 # orginal Berkley Fireline- should be a near perfect outfit for tossing 1/2 oz. 52M Mirrolures and 5/8 oz Top Dogs...

[Grilled]

Penn has stepped up their game in terms of quality. I just picked up another battle to throw around plugs and topwater. My last one has been dunked and abused and i've never had to take it apart.

[RiverRunner]

Couldn't agree more about parts availability. I'm not sure if its just the supplier chain or a plan by Shimano, but it's a pain to get parts. Penn parts are easy to source, and you can be a novice to disassemble and repair. Between Scotts B&T and Alan Tani's site, you can rebuild a reel in just a few clicks and a little time. This winter i rebuilt a 710z/5500SS that were ebay steals. All they needed was a 2 dollar bail spring and i was back in business. Ended up modifying the 710z to a bailess using a mitchell 306 pum, and I'm chroming it since the old paint was pretty beat up.

Seems like the only bum Penn has released recently is the Captiva. Of course, I have the CV 5000. The reel feels smooth as butter, except when hooking up with anything bigger than a kingfish/perch and you can feel the reel twist. At some point I want to pick up a ssv for live lining.

[Yak67]

+1 On the Penn Battles- Truly tough and utilitarian. I have heard good things about the clash from my fishing partner.


Yak67
2015 Hobie PA-14
2016 Hobie Outback LE

[ronaultmtd]

My only criticsim is the country of orgin is Communist China- the 3000 Clash is a very lightweight reel for a Penn...I have had a bunch of Penn's over the decades and none could be called light weight- this one can- even fully loaded with 200 yards of 20# Fireline it is less than a pound...on the G2 Castaway 7'-0" medium rod the entire outfit is very light and feels really good in the hand- I'll let you know how it does fishing if I can get the weather to cooperate any time soon...looking at the tackle on Gulf coast light tackle charters for redfish and speckled trout- one Louisiana charter skipper has 6 Penn Battle 3000 reels mounted on Penn Legion 815S70 rods for his customers use...not a bad endorsement...

[D3NAL1]

Penn battle II are tough for sure, i love my revo but need something bigger. Will post up my lj3 for sale here soon

[Foursteps24]

I have 4 Penn reels and I love them . You wont be disappointed.

[ronaultmtd]

Spur of the moment trip yesterday evening- had to give the Clash 3000 a decent work out and see how it would perform- Wow! Just plain old fashion wow! Love the new light tackle lure outfit- drag is really good, smooth but powerful- caught a couple of dozen stripers right at dark- best two were 28 and 31 inches- no keepers but had one that screamed the reel before pulling the hooks that I know was well over 35 inches- the fish were focused on one lure- tried everything in the tackle bag but 90% were caught on one lure, and only one color of the lure...strange- it was as if there were no fish until I threw this particular lure then they hit it every cast...had one really strong fish pull off then a second fish (28 inches) ate the lure right at the kayak as I was retrieving it for another cast...really happy with the Castaway rod and the reel- darn near perfect combination- the Fireline performed great- no wind knots, no tangles, just like mono only better...

[Romo]

Well.... what was the lure?! Glad you liked the penn. I gave my 4500 SSVLL a workout yesterday too

Spur of the moment trip yesterday evening- had to give the Clash 3000 a decent work out and see how it would perform- Wow! Just plain old fashion wow! Love the new light tackle lure outfit- drag is really good, smooth but powerful- caught a couple of dozen stripers right at dark- best two were 28 and 31 inches- no keepers but had one that screamed the reel before pulling the hooks that I know was well over 35 inches- the fish were focused on one lure- tried everything in the tackle bag but 90% were caught on one lure, and only one color of the lure...strange- it was as if there were no fish until I threw this particular lure then they hit it every cast...had one really strong fish pull off then a second fish (28 inches) ate the lure right at the kayak as I was retrieving it for another cast...really happy with the Castaway rod and the reel- darn near perfect combination- the Fireline performed great- no wind knots, no tangles, just like mono only better...

[ronaultmtd]

XR10 Xrap- I spent two hours today changing all the treble hooks on all my XRaps- I threw away all the factory hooks and replaced every single one (13 XRaps) with Eagle Claw 4X Lazer treble hooks-the biggest fish I had on last evening bent the hook...

[ronaultmtd]

Sunday I took a trip down south to Greentop and picked up 2 Penn 7' Regiment spinning rods to pair up with the 3000 Clash and my Shimano Stradix 4000- Thursday afternoon I took the 45 mile road trip down to St. Mary's county for an evening fishing...I put the Stradix 2500 on the Castaway- anyway gave everything a hard work out by hooking several CNRs...and two keeper rock fish I brought home for dinner- I caught one 23 inch rock that had a big lesion/sore near its vent that I decided not to keep- got to say the Penn clash is lighter and smoother than my Stradix reels- it's gears are smooth like glass- reeling the Stradix is rougher under the load of fighting a 20 inch fish and CNRs...reeling the Clash under a heavy load is really nice- the CNC cut gear train is as advertised...and the Penn Regiment rods are nice, too...very light, fast tip yet with plenty of backbone for the CNRs...