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Does anyone here have any experience with the Penn Senator Special 113HN (Baja Special) in regards to bottom fishing for grouper/snapper/Black Sea Bass/other bottom dwellers.
Or can you recommend a reel that will stand up to grouper and has the ability to be a reel for trolling for kings/dolphin, etc. THE REEL MUST BE LIGHT....as in probably less than 30 oz.
I have 113HLWs and 114HLWs and they tend to be too heavy for my lady when bottom fishing.
The 113HN appears to be able to do moderately heavy bottom fishing, but it is kinda labeled as a casting reel.
The Penn Senator 113HN/Baja Special is a great reel that'll handle 40/50/60 lbs line. It's a great grouper and snapper reel. I've got mine spooled with 50lbs mono backed with 65lbs Spectra.
Not sure I'd use it for trolling though -- though I guess it'd work. I prefer lever drag reels for trolling. Trolling for king and dolphin is 20-30lbs country, so you'd be way over gunned with a 113HN. If you like Penn's reels, take a look at their Graphite LD's. If you like Shimano, go with the TLD 20 -- a great value.
I use Penn GTI 320's and 330's for rig/bottom fishing.Best fish was a 12' bull shark.The 320's have 30lb mono and the 330's have 50lb mono.There reels are level wind and I wouldn't use them for trolling.Deep dropping,anything over 350',I use penn 114's with 65lb power pro line.
The 113HN/Baja is just a narrow frame 113 with a higher speed gear (4.25 vesus 3.25), a bigger handle and a bar removed. The Baja is lighter than a 113 wide but heavier that a regular 113.
Most of the graphites(30# rated) are about as heavy as a 113H (28 oz) you might consider a 112H which is 25oz. Other choices would be to go to something like a Penn Seaboy 190 and take your chances of maybe go to something like an Avet.
By the way your 113 HLW is only 32oz so I think you will have to consider how much of a change under 30oz will be of any benefit.
The 113HN is more than "just" a faster retrieve 113H.
It has a 1-piece frame for more strength and rigidity.
The gears are larger/wider than a 113H, so it has more cranking power than a 113H, even though it has a faster gear ratio.
It has the "disengaging" pinon gear like a Penn 525MAG, making a better for casting than a 113H.
Drag washers are much larger than a 113H, generating more than 25 pounds of drag.
"Narrow" width makes it easier to handle and level wind when cranking jigs back at a fast pace or cranking hard on a fish.
Can't really say how it would be for "east-coast style" bottom fishing, but it works well for various west-coast styles, from yo-yo'ing iron jigs in 200 feet of water for yellowtail and amberjack in the 20 to 50-pound range, to dropping back live mackerel to striped marlin, to bouncing big leadheads in Alaska for giant lingcod and halibut to over 200 pounds.
For warmwater fisheries, I use 40 or 50-pound mono topshots of various lengths over 65-pound spectra on it, and in Alaska I use straight 80-pound spectra.
We did all of the early field-testing on this model at Baja's East Cape.
If price is not an issue, the newer Penn Torque TRQ300 is even better at all of the above, but does exceed your weight requirement by a few ounces.
If you are for sure going to use spectra line the little Torque TRQ200 will have enough line capacity, and has more than enough drag power and cranking power at 27 ounces.
Although you did not mention trolling, if trolling may be a duty, sometime in early 2008 there will be a "lever-drag" version of the Torque 300 which we are in the midst of field-testing.
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We boated a 144 lb halibut (65 1/2") last Friday on a 113H. This was the first test for the reel as my son purchased it the week before. It did everything needed but adding a larger power handle would be nice. The drag ran smooth and it did run a bit at first. It is spooled with 80 lb mono for backing and 120 lb tuff line. We were at 120' We are using a 113, 113H and a 330 for bottom fishing. My son caught a 40 lber on a 209 and light action rod. That was a bit of a struggle. Life has been good since July when I got the boat in the water.
I have 113HLWs and 114HLWs and they tend to be too heavy for my lady when bottom fishing.
The 113HN appears to be able to do moderately heavy bottom fishing, but it is kinda labeled as a casting reel.
Thanks in advance
My wife uses a 330 LW on a seeker rod. The 340 was to heavy for her. She does better with a level wind so the 33 works for her. Last weekend she was hooking up 2 - 1 to the rest of us so who am I to question her choice. She picked the rod and reel, I picked up the tab. This is used for bottom fishing in Alaska. She hasn't caught anything real big but has brought up a couple of 40 lbers which is what she likes.
for a lady i would get a 3/0 or 4/0 for bottom fishing.i would try and stay away from the high speed reels for this as they are harder to reel with big grouper or aj on.i also use my 4/0 trolling for grouper also.
i have been using shimano tekota 800's this year and i absolutely love them. i have them spooled w/ 50# mono and we have no trouble bringing up snapper, grouper, and aj's. at first i was leary about the level winds, but the have proved to be a great advantage and time saver. especially when i have 6 unexperienced anglers who are not accustomed to guiding the line on the reels. since you are looking to combine light trolling and bottom fishing into your set ups, you may want to consider Shimano TLD's or other similar reels. it's a lot easier to bottom fish w/ a lever drag than it is to troll w/ a star drag.
My wife loves to fish but has arthritis, we do a lot of bottom fishing in rips that require 16oz of lead. She really likes Penn Jigmaster. I put the power handles on them for more leverage. Good reels for short money, almost indestructable.
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Bottom fishing reel 
