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Random Quote: Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.
Its fugly. After using a couple of the 20K stellas (not mine Im cheap!) I gotta say Shimano has those things down to a art form. That reel had better function as promised or else no one is going to buy one...
__________________ Stupid is as stupid does... most of the time...
No disrepect intended but if the new Penn Spinning Reels are US made, where are they made? Penn closed the Lansdale, PA plant several years ago and the Philadelphia facility hass been a shipping location with no manufacturing for some years too.
So where is Penn making these reels in the US?
__________________ Capt. Lindsay Fuller June Bug Charters Beach Haven, NJ
IGFA Certified Charter Captain
Member - Beach Haven Charter Fishing Association
Life Member RFA and NRA
We Support JCAA, IGFA, Ducks Unlimited
Retired Officer of New Jersey Army National Guard
As someone who researches lots of reels (out of boredom I guess), the Saragosa (on paper at least) looks like the most reel for money out there as far as a jigging/popping reel w/lots of drag & line capacity for big fish...
No disrepect intended but if the new Penn Spinning Reels are US made, where are they made? Penn closed the Lansdale, PA plant several years ago and the Philadelphia facility hass been a shipping location with no manufacturing for some years too.
So where is Penn making these reels in the US?
The Lansdale plant made spinning reels specifically, and you are correct, it has been closed for a few years.
Not sure where you heard the Philly facility has no MFG.
Although the TRQ's are the only spinners, Penn makes 34 different reel models in the USA, more than any other reel company.
__________________ Penn Pro Staffer
The best kind of fish in the world is the one on the end of your line.
I like it. I've been hearing a lot about this at a local tackle shop. Submersible and bail less. I've looked at the Zee Baas and Van Staal. Cheapest of those two brands I could find was $750. If I can buy this thing for 600, I'll take 5 of them.
I like it. I've been hearing a lot about this at a local tackle shop. Submersible and bail less. I've looked at the Zee Baas and Van Staal. Cheapest of those two brands I could find was $750. If I can buy this thing for 600, I'll take 5 of them.
Comparing a penn anything spinner to a VS is a joke. I would not personally spend $600 on a spinner, but if I was going to spend that kind of $$ on a reel I would spend a little more and buy something proven and not an experiment. At least not until others joined the experiment with their money. And I do use some Penn gear including a 950 as a tuna rod backup but lets all stay in reality here.
Comparing a penn anything spinner to a VS is a joke. I would not personally spend $600 on a spinner, but if I was going to spend that kind of $$ on a reel I would spend a little more and buy something proven and not an experiment. At least not until others joined the experiment with their money. And I do use some Penn gear including a 950 as a tuna rod backup but lets all stay in reality here.
I need a submersible reels for my surf fishing poles. I wade out obscenely far and usually end up underwater quite a bit. If I can find one that fits my criteria for $600, that would be awesome. I am going to give the Penn some time and read up on reports about it. If I like what I hear, I will not think twice about buying a few of them. If they get sub par reports, I'll buy the VS or Accurate. I really like the ZB, but $1000+ per reel (the the fact there have been some issues with them) I think not
heres is a picture of the new penn torque spinner.a guy on ebay is selling it{600.00} after aquiring it at a tackle show.it comes in three sizes.supposed to be released in december 09.
Personally I am a bit surprised that I have not heard of anyone who has "test driven" these reels.
I have seen these reels on a few boards here in the northeast...mostly questions- but not a soul has claimed to have used them.
I thought they would have tried them out on the good sized BFT we have been getting....Sure the Penn 950 can handle the smaller ones, but over the 200 pound mark- I would start to question things.
To me, this is their market, and nobody has used one?
it's like test driving a 4x4 on pavement...
But if they work well, they are $300+ cheaper than the stellas (platnium standard?)..
No disrepect intended but if the new Penn Spinning Reels are US made, where are they made? Penn closed the Lansdale, PA plant several years ago and the Philadelphia facility hass been a shipping location with no manufacturing for some years too.
Personally I am a bit surprised that I have not heard of anyone who has "test driven" these reels.
I have seen these reels on a few boards here in the northeast...mostly questions- but not a soul has claimed to have used them.
Crow,
My understanding from the ICAST show back in July is that the Torque spinner was not going to be available for purchase until the end of the year (Dec) -- that's why no one is reporting 1st hand experience.
Steve (Tunanorth) said on a different post that he was hoping to get a Torque Spinner to take on a long-range trip out of San Diego in Nov and put it to work on some large YFT. He's a Penn Pro Staffer and will likely get a first crack at the reels.
Is the drag rating on these reels at full spool? or is the max drag at empty spool like shimano's?
have they improved the line lay on the spool? the pictures i have seen of braided line look pretty lumpy.
any chance you have a picture of the drag washer assembly or of the reel with the side plate romoved?
Thanks!
Yes, the drag on all Penns is measured with a full spool, although I tend to fill my personal reels a bit fuller than the test reels, so when I take my own readings they may vary 10-15 percent or so from the published numbers.
Our trip did not find any of the bigger tuna [darn it], but I managed to catch a few yellowfin in the 40-pound class, and my TRQ7S filled with 65-pound braid was pretty unfair on that grade of fish.
I have already returned my test reel for dissection by the engineers, and have not yet gotten one of the revised versions.
The line lay on mine was fine for offshore fishing, although I heard some of the surfcasters wanted more refinement in that area, I'll just let them deal with that.
Regarding taking apart the drag system [or sideplate], we are strictly prohibited from doing anything whatsoever to the test models; if they break, we are supposed to just send them back "as is".
We can't even tighten a loose screw or de-grease/grease bearings.
I did take the drag knob off [just adjusting the setting!], and the drag washers are huge, much larger than a silver dollar, and it looks like there is a stack at the top of the spool, and another one at the bottom, creating a sandwich or double-drag effect.
Disclaimer- affiliated
__________________ Penn Pro Staffer
The best kind of fish in the world is the one on the end of your line.
the line lay concerns me becasue i think it might be a problem at high drag.
the way there is almost a notch at the top and bottom of the spool looks like it is jsut asking for the line (spectra especially) to dig in there and bind up.
also when a fish is running the line comming off the spool with the bail roller in one place the line comming off the spool makes all kinds of noise even with near perfect line lay (stella) i can't immagine the noises comming from a spool with line lay that looks like the previous pictures. these noises comming from the line rubbing the line still on the spool also contributes to drag force fluctuations which could be a serious concern with this reel.
i'd reall like for this reel to be my next purchase but i just want more faith in it before i take the plunge. I'd like for the 7 size to be my "big fish reel" for when the bluefin showback up off hatteras. i am confident my 8000stellas have got enough ass to handle fish up to 150lbs but this year i think we are expecting some fish over 200lbs mixed in so i'd like the extra capacity the 7 size would offer as well as the extra drag (max full spool drag on my 8000fa is right around 24lbs with out over tightening the knob)
one more thing... how do i become a reel tester!!!! offshore i almost exclusively jig and pop so i think this type of fishing beats reels harder than any other.
Re: offshore
I spent 23 years based in Asia for a major Importer/exporter heres the facts.
The tag, label mean nothing, you do not know where it was made, there is a lot of trans shipments in Asia where it's made in one country then shipped to another for packing, labeling, finishing etc, so you really do not know where it was really produced.
I was once at a Leather garment co in -------- and they were producing coats and jackets with no labels or tags, they were shipped to Europe where they were labeled Made in ------- and shipped to stores all over the world. This has been going on for a long time at one point Japan built a free manufacturing zone called USA and goods produced there the tags read Made in USA, till the US Gov put an end to it.
do any of these reels share the same body? i.e. same body but different depth spool?
strictly looking at weight it looks like the 7 and the 9 might share the same body... also considering they have the same gear ratio.
