Old reels

[GulfCat]

Any comments about the use of old Penn Levelwinds and such for modern day recreational fishing? Specifically, near-shore and off-shore (within 50 miles) Gulf of Mexico fishing?
There is a lot of technology out there, but some of these older reels can be obtained for less $$ and they look good to me.

[cfwegman]

Those old reels caught lots of fine fish.* I still use several Penn Senators.* Keep in mind Any*level wind, new or old,*may not like a big king ripping off half the spool of line in 15 seconds.

[GulfCat]

I have a couple of older Penns without the levelwind... the names escape me now.... might be a Jigmaster and ?? I forget the other.... Surf-----. Would those be better for trolling?

[HOTSPOT]

I use 4 Penn 209s for lead core trolling and 2 Penn 10s on my downrigger poles. They work good.

If I were king fishing, I would use a faster reel without the level wind feature.